Wondering why Disney Plus downloads won’t play offline? Well, it’s simpler than you think.
Disney Plus downloads are a great way to view content while on the go, without having internet access or cellular reception.
Well, sometimes we download content the night before, only to realize that the downloads won’t play offline, so in this guide, we’re sharing the reason why!
If Disney Plus downloads are not playing offline, the initial step is to re-download the same movie or series again. This can help resolve any issues with the downloaded content and ensure it plays correctly offline.
In case that doesn’t work, it’s important to verify that the Disney+ membership is intact and check whether the downloaded content has expired.
Let’s continue unwrapping!
Disney Plus Downloads (All-In-One Explanation!)
The Disney Plus app, available for mobile (Android & iOS) as well as for PC (Windows and macOS), allows users to download their favorite tiles.
When downloaded, the TV shows and movies can be watched on the go, without using any of your internet data.
The downloaded titles consume your device’s storage, as they’re being saved into the local memory for later use.
However, the downloads cannot be exported from the device, since they are encrypted by Disney, preventing piracy.
How Long Do Disney+ Downloads Last?
The downloaded movies or TV shows will remain on your device until the Disney Plus app has been deleted or the cache data has been erased.
The downloads will remain on your device’s local storage even when your subscription ends, but they won’t be accessible until a renewal.
If you log out from the Disney app on your device, all of the downloaded content will be removed (automatically) and you’ll have to re-download everything.
In addition, you need to connect to the internet every 30 days on your Disney app device to prevent automatic downloads deletion.
Note: You are able to download the same movie on up to 10 different devices associated with your Disney Plus account.
Why Disney Plus Downloads Not Playing Offline?
- The Disney Plus downloads are now expired (30 days).
- The Disney+ subscription has ended or payment failed.
- The Disney Plus application is on outdated firmware.
- More available storage is needed on the Disney+ device.
- Corruption in the Disney Plus device downloaded content.
- A digital rights management (DRM) device violation was found.
Disney Plus Downloads won’t Play Offline – 7 Ways To Fix!
1. Retry Downloading a Media!
In this first step, you need to identify whether the downloads on your device are expired or not by simply redownloading a movie or series.
In case the offline content works when downloaded again, it’s likely that you need to re-download everything.
- Disney+ downloads expire (automatic deletion) after 30 days of inactivity!
Inactivity generally means not connecting your device to the internet for 30 days or simply not opening the Disney+ app on your device at all.
This is a preventative measure to preserve your device’s storage by deleting the downloads when you haven’t used them in a while.
How to Correctly Download on Disney Plus?
- Open the Disney Plus app on your device.
- Click or tap on your in-app Profile frame.
- Select a TV show or a movie for download.
- Click or tap the “Download” icon on the left.
- Info: The button is a down-pointing arrow.
- Then, in the app go to the “Downloads” page.
- Wait for the selected media to be downloaded.
- Lastly, click or tap the downloaded media to play.
Note: You cannot prevent your downloads from being automatically erased when the conditions are met, nor export the content while on your device.
2. Verify the Disney+ Subscription
One of the reasons why the downloads on your Disney Plus device won’t play offline is due to an expired subscription or a failed payment.
You can view the billing status of your Disney+ membership from the Disney+ app or the disneyplus.com web portal.
First, you need to sign into your account, and from there select your profile and navigate to the Account tab, from where you will find the Subscription tab.
Then, by looking into the billing history, check the billing date and whether the most recent payment was successful.
Note: Disney Plus has a grace period after a failed payment where downloads might not be available but the access for streaming online remains for a short while.
3. Update your Disney Plus App
Note: Skip this step if you’re unable to connect to the internet!
How to Update Disney Plus on Mobile?
- On your mobile, open Google Play or App Store.
- Ensure that your device is connected to the internet.
- Using the magnifying glass, search for “Disney+”.
- Then, tap the application’s tile to open the tab.
- If there’s an “Update” button press to update.
How to Update Disney Plus on Computer?
- Hop on your Windows or macOS-operated computer.
- Verify that you’re currently connected to the internet.
- Then, open the Microsoft Store or the App Store.
- Find the “Disney+” app, and press “Update” to upgrade.
When your Disney+ app has been updated, test the downloads and if they won’t work, then you would need to re-downloaded them all.
If even fresh downloads are not playing, keep reading!
4. Free Up Available Device Storage
When your device doesn’t have enough storage to effectively embed the content you’re trying to get from Disney+, on different devices the outcome could be weird.
On some operating systems you’ll receive an error and in other cases, the movie or series will remain partially downloaded.
- If your Disney+ downloads are crashing or stuttering, clear storage and re-download!
To clear available storage on your device, here are a couple of options:
- Uninstall unused applications on the device.
- Delete any unnecessary downloaded content.
- Erase the cache data of frequently used apps.
On mobile devices, deleting apps and cache happens from Settings or Storage.
On Windows and macOS, you need to use the Control Panel or the File Manager, respectively. When you have enough storage, follow the steps earlier to correctly download media from Disney Plus.
Tip: You can choose the quality under “Advanced Download Settings”, allowing you to lower the size of the download by compromising quality.
5. Download in Different Quality!
One of the reasons why the downloaded Disney Plus content is not playing when offline is due to unsupported file quality.
Even if rarely, some devices might not be able to output the quality that the downloads are being received in, ultimately preventing the playback when offline.
To alter the settings for downloads quality, follow the steps below:
- Open the Disney Plus application on your device.
- Then tap on your Profile icon, and go to Settings.
- You will see the available storage on your device.
- Then, underneath select “Download Quality”.
- Next, choose between High, Medium, or Standard.
Note: We recommend downloading a movie in all 3 different qualities to check which one will not play offline and which one will.
6. Cleanly Reinstall the Disney App!
The so-called “file corruption” is one of the main reasons why the downloaded content from Disney+ is not playing offline.
Unfortunately, in such cases, it’s impossible to watch the content and the only way to overcome this hurdle is by performing a clean reinstallation on the app!
- Reinstalling Disney+ or clearing the cache removes the downloaded content!
- On Android go to Settings > Apps/Storage > Uninstall.
- On iOS, tap and hold the app’s icon, then select “Remove”.
- On macOS, use the File Manager to erase Disney Plus.
- On Windows, go to the Control Panel or Microsoft Store.
Then you can cleanly redownload the Disney Plus app from the official content store for your operating system.
For Android (Google Play), iOS, and macOS (App Store), and for Windows (Microsoft Store). The same goes for the official content store sources on smart televisions.
7. Overcome a Disney+ DRM Violation
Disney Plus uses digital rights management (DRM) to protect content copyrighted material.
The same goes for Disney Plus downloads, and it’s likely that a software, app, or service on the host device is causing a DRM violation, which prevents the streaming entirely.
Software against DRM is known as “DRM Removals” such as Aimersoft converter, Requiem, VideoByte, and many more. If your device is equipped with malicious software against DRM, the Disney Plus downloads on your device will not work.
The best possible way to verify this suspicion is to test downloading Disney Plus content on any other available device.
In case the downloads on your secondary device work, then you need to find and remove the DRM removal software or disable a service in relation to such an operation.
Tip: The fastest way to remove malicious software from your device is by factory reset!
Quick Recap:
In this guide, we’ve learned why Disney Plus downloads won’t play offline and what are the most effective ways to solve the problem. Now we know about download expiration, file corruption, app subscription, and DRM, which all play a vital role in offline playback.
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Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.