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By Alma Fabiani

Published Sep 17, 2023 at 09:00 AM

Reading time: 4 minutes

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We’ve all been there: after a long day, you sink into your sofa and start scrolling through Netflix’s homepage, on the hunt for something to take your mind off things. Ten minutes later, you’re still scrolling, unable to find a single contender that feels just right. Five minutes later, you’re ready to throw the towel in and settle for your go-to show, whether that’s Friends, The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Gilmore Girls. But what if I told you that there’s a list of secret category codes you can use on Netflix to access some genres and subgenres you’ve never been suggested before?

Before I let you in on how to order off the secret menu if you will, let’s first go over the reason why Netflix seems to always recommend similar movies and TV shows, even when you’re in the mood to dig for something entirely fresh and different.

To put it simply, the streaming giant’s algorithm works in a very similar way to the TikTok algorithm—it collects information about the type of content you like and don’t like, and recommends you more similar options. It might throw you a curveball here and there, but that’s probably in an attempt to promote one of Netflix’s new shows.

As confirmed by Tudum, aka the official companion site to Netflix, this mysterious list of category codes dates back to the earliest days of the company, when it was still in its DVDs-only phase. Rumour has it, a very dedicated fan scraped the genre tree for all the codes and shared the list online. From there, other individuals have helped update the list with the thousands more that have been added since.

In case you’re curious as to how some of these more recent categories are created, it appears that the Netflix team draw insipration from anything and everything. For example, when Pete Davidson rapped about wanting to watch “short-ass movies” on Saturday Night Live in 2022, the streaming platform responded with a collection of the same name.

Before you fall down this rabbit hole, however, it should be noted that users wanting to explore these collections can only do so through their web browser. Start by typing in netflix.com/browse/genre/ and then add a specific ID code to the end of the URL. This basically automatically directs you into one of Netflix’s many subfolders for every subgenre of the TV and cinema world, no matter how bizarre. With this method, all available titles are displayed, not just the first 20, as usual on the Netflix homepage.

Action & Adventure (1365)
Asian Action Movies (77232)
Classic Action & Adventure (46576)
Action Comedies (43040)
Action Thrillers (43048)
Adventures (7442)
Comic Book and Superhero Movies (10118)
Westerns (7700)
Spy Action & Adventure (10702)
Martial Arts Movies (8985)
Military Action & Adventure (2125)

Anime (7424)
Adult Animation (11881)
Anime Action (2653)
Anime Comedies (9302)
Anime Dramas (452)
Anime Features (3063)
Anime Sci-Fi (2729)
Anime Horror (10695)
Anime Fantasy (11146)
Anime Series (6721)

Children & Family Movies (783)
Movies for ages 2 to 4 (6218)
Movies for ages 5 to 7 (5455)
Movies for ages 8 to 10 (561)
Movies for ages 11 to 12 (6962)
Education for Kids (10659)
Disney (67673)
Movies based on children’s books (10056)
Family Features (51056)
TV Cartoons (11177)
Kids’ TV (27346)
Kids Music (52843)
Animal Tales (5507)

Classic Movies (31574)
Classic Comedies (31694)
Classic Dramas (29809)
Classic Sci-Fi & Fantasy (47147)
Classic Thrillers (46588)
Classic War Movies (48744)
Epics (52858)
Classic Westerns (47465)

Comedies (6548)
Dark Comedies (869)
Mockumentaries (26)
Political Comedies (2700)
Stand-up Comedy (11559)
Teen Comedies (3519)
Satires (4922)
Romantic Comedies (5475)
Slapstick Comedies (10256)

Biographical Documentaries (3652)
Crime Documentaries (9875)
Historical Documentaries (5349)
Military Documentaries (4006)
Sports Documentaries (180)
Music & Concert Documentaries (90361)
Travel & Adventure Documentaries (1159)
Political Documentaries (7018)
Science & Nature Documentaries (2595)
Social & Cultural Documentaries (3675)

Dramas (5763)
Classic Dramas (29809)
Dramas based on Books (4961)
Dramas based on real life (3653)
Sports Dramas (7243)
Gay & Lesbian Dramas (500)
Independent Dramas (384)
Teen Dramas (9299)
Military Dramas (11)
Period Pieces (12123)
Political Dramas (6616)
Romantic Dramas (1255)
Showbiz Dramas (5012)
Social Issue Dramas (3947)

Art House Movies (29764)
African Movies (3761)
Australian Movies (5230)
Belgian Movies (262)
Korean Movies (5685)
Latin American Movies (1613)
New Zealand Movies (63782)
Russian (11567)
Scandinavian Movies (9292)
Southeast Asian Movies (9196)
German Movies (58886)
French Movies (58807)
Eastern European Movies (5254)
Dutch Movies (10606)
Irish Movies (58750)
Japanese Movies (10398)
Italian Movies (8221)
Indian Movies (10463)
Chinese Movies (3960)
British Movies (10757)

Gay & Lesbian Movies (5977)
Gay & Lesbian Comedies (7120)
Gay & Lesbian Dramas (500)
Romantic Gay & Lesbian Movies (3329)

Horror Movies (8711)
B-Horror Movies (8195)
Creature Features (6895)
Deep Sea Horror Movies (45028)
Foreign Horror Movies (8654)
Horror Comedy (89585)
Monster Movies (947)
Slasher and Serial Killer Movies (8646)
Supernatural Horror Movies (42023)
Vampire Horror Movies (75804)
Werewolf Horror Movies (75930)
Zombie Horror Movies (75405)
Satanic Stories (6998)

Independent Movies (7077)
Experimental Movies (11079)
Independent Action & Adventure (11804)
Independent Thrillers (3269)
Romantic Independent Movies (9916)
Independent Comedies (4195)
Independent Dramas (384)

Music (1701)
Kids Music (52843)
Country & Western/Folk (1105)
Jazz & Easy Listening (10271)
Latin Music (10741)
Urban & Dance Concerts (9472)
World Music Concerts (2856)
Rock & Pop Concerts (3278)
Musicals (13335)
Classic Musicals (32392)
Disney Musicals (59433)
Showbiz Musicals (13573)
Stage Musicals (55774)

Romantic Movies (8883)
Romantic Favorites (502675)
Quirky Romance (36103)
Romantic Independent Movies (9916)
Romantic Foreign Movies (7153)
Romantic Dramas (1255)
Steamy Romantic Movies (35800)
Classic Romantic Movies (31273)
Romantic Comedies (5475)

Sci-Fi & Fantasy (1492)
Action Sci-Fi & Fantasy (1568)
Alien Sci-Fi (3327)
Classic Sci-Fi & Fantasy (47147)
Cult Sci-Fi & Fantasy (4734)
Fantasy Movies (9744)
Sci-Fi Adventure (6926)
Sci-Fi Dramas (3916)
Sci-Fi Horror Movies (1694)
Sci-Fi Thrillers (11014)

Sports Movies (4370)
Sports Comedies (5286)
Sports Documentaries (180)
Sports Dramas (7243)
Baseball Movies (12339)
Football Movies (12803)
Boxing Movies (12443)
Soccer Movies (12549)
Martial Arts, Boxing & Wrestling (6695)
Basketball Movies (12762)
Sports & Fitness (9327)

Thrillers (8933)
Action Thrillers (43048)
Classic Thrillers (46588)
Crime Thrillers (10499)
Independent Thrillers (3269)
Gangster Movies (31851)
Psychological Thrillers (5505)
Political Thrillers (10504)
Mysteries (9994)
Sci-Fi Thrillers (11014)
Spy Thrillers (9147)
Steamy Thrillers (972)
Supernatural Thrillers (11140)

TV Shows (83)
British TV Shows (52117)
Classic TV Shows (46553)
Crime TV Shows (26146)
Cult TV Shows (74652)
Food & Travel TV (72436)
Kids’ TV (27346)
Korean TV Shows (67879)
Miniseries (4814)
Military TV Shows (25804)
Science & Nature TV (52780)
TV Action & Adventure (10673)
TV Comedies (10375)
TV Documentaries (10105)
TV Dramas (11714)
TV Horror (83059)
TV Mysteries (4366)
TV Sci-Fi & Fantasy (1372)

Romantic Christmas Movies (1394527)
Christmas Children & Family Movies (1474017)
Family-friendly Christmas Movies (1394522)
Christmas Children & Family Movies from the 1990s (1476024)
European Christmas Children & Family Movies (1527063)

Reality TV (9833)
Teen TV Shows (60951)
90-Minute Movies (81466194)
Binge-Worthy British Crime TV Shows (1192582)
Cyberpunk (1964512)
Don’t Watch Hungry (3272152)
Watch in One Weekend (3182735)