Netflix and Firestick together make the perfect cord-free source of video streaming on larger screens. All you need is a stable internet connection, a Netflix plan of your choice, and a Firestick device. A vast majority of people take advantage of the Netflix and Firestick duo to enjoy an enhanced streaming experience on their TV.Things are all fun and games until the Netflix app on your Firestick device stops working for some obscure reason.
At some point you may bump into a problem which stops from your Firestick device from reaching Netflix service. This is often shown by an error code 0013 along with a message “Sorry, we could not reach the Netflix service”. While it can be typically hard to pinpoint the exact issue, below are a couple of quick fixes you can try to resolve the notorious error.
Troubleshooting Guide
The below methods have been tested by a number of Netflix Firestick users facing the same problem and they worked like a charm. Feel free to try them yourself and share the love with others too.
Solution 1: Test Your Internet Connection
The first thing you may try is check your Wi-Fi network for connectivity issues. You can do so by testing the network on a different device like a smartphone or PC. If you find that there’s no connection on the other device too, then the issue is with your network. If Netflix is working fine on the other device, then the problem lies within Firestick’s specific connection to Netflix. In case you don’t have another to test the network connection on, you can try running any other streaming channel like Hulu or Amazon Prime on Firestick.
Solution 2: Power Cycle Your Firestick Device
Turn off and then turn on your Firestick device. While it is the most obvious solution, it is also the one that works most of the time. Basically your Firestick is tiny Android computer thus turning it off and on can actually restore your device’s connection to Netflix. Simply unplug the device for 30 seconds, and then plug it back again. If it still doesn’t resolve the issue, move on to the next solution.
Solution 3: Clear Cache
Firestick is like a small computer with limited storage and it’s quite possible that the data being stored for Netflix maybe causing the problem. The next thing you can try is clearing the Netflix app data and cache from your Firestick device by following the steps below.
- Press the home button your Firestick device and go to ‘Settings’ from the main menu
- Under settings, choose ‘Applications’ and then ‘Managed installed applications’
- Scroll to the Netflix and select it
- Click ‘Force stop’ and then scroll down to click on ‘Clear cache’
- Once all data and cache is cleared, power cycle your device to give it a fresh start
- Go to Firestick home screen and open Netflix again
If that solves the problem, good for you. If it doesn’t, try the next solution.
Solution 4: Remove and Reinstall Netflix app
You can also try uninstall and reinstall the Netflix app to see if it solves the problem. You can do so by following the steps below.
- Go to Firestick home screen and choose ‘Settings’
- Choose ‘Applications’ and then ‘Managed installed applications’
- Open ‘Netflix’ and choose the ‘Uninstall’ option
- Go back to Firestick home
- Type in ‘Netflix in the search bar at the top of the screen and hit the search icon
- Open Netflix app from the list
- Click on ‘Install’
Now once Netflix has been reinstalled you’ll be required to enter your credentials again. Login and see if the problem still persists. If it does, scroll down to solution no. 5.
Solution 5: Update Netflix app on Firestick
Problems may also arise if the Netflix app on your device has a pending update. If that’s the case with you then simply updating the app to the latest version can get you back to streaming in no time. Once you open the app you’ll be notified if there’s an update available. Even if that doesn’t help, you can try updating Firestick firmware as a quick fix.
Solution 6: Update Netflix app on Firestick
Even updating Netflix app doesn’t help, you can try updating Firestick firmware as a quick fix. Here’s how:
- Go to Firestick home screen and go to ‘Settings’
- Go to ‘System’ and then tap on ‘About’. Here you can see Firestick's current firmware version
- Click on ‘Check for system update’. If Firestick has a pending update available it will automatically begin to download
- Once the download is completed, click on ‘Install system update’. You can also let it auto install by restarting the device
Solution 7: Reset Firestick
As a last resort, you can reset Firestick back to its default settings to resolve the error using these steps.
- Go to Firestick home and open ‘Settings’
- Go to ‘System’ and scroll down to choose ‘Reset to factory defaults’
- Now you may be prompted to enter a pin (if you’ve set one). Enter it and choose ‘Reset’
Now Firestick will be restored back to its default settings and hopefully it will get Netflix up and running.
