It’s very frustrating while watching your favorite shows and Hulu keeps skipping episodes. It usually happens at a commercial break. When the app returns to the show from ads it will jump to the end of the next episode.
Before your frustration starts getting bigger, it might be wise to check whether other users have the same issue. If it’s only you that have this issue, keep reading to learn about our proven-to-work methods to fix the “Hulu skipping episodes” problems.
Why Does Hulu Skip Some Episodes?
There are many reasons that can cause Hulu to jump to the next episode while you’re watching.
It could be a bug from the Hulu app itself or a bad internet connection. Or maybe you’re using a VPN that can mess up your Hulu playlist. The Hulu servers might be down.
Whatever the cause might be, these troubleshooting guidelines will help you get back on watching Hulu without skipping/jumping episodes.
How to Fix Hulu Skipping Episodes
We recommend trying the fixes one by one until you can find out what the culprit is. That way you’ll know what approach to take in order to fix this problem.
- Check Hulu Servers
- Restart Your Streaming Device
- Update the Hulu App
- Reset the Hulu App
- Check and Reset Your Internet
- Turn Off VPN and Web Extensions
- Delete Hulu Watch History
1. Check Hulu’s Servers
There is one particular scenario in which the user is not capable of addressing the episode skipping problem. This could have to do with the Hulu servers. There could be an outage, or they may simply be temporarily off-line via pre-planned reasons.
If you are not sure, you can use the helpful DownDetector tool to quickly check on Hulu’s status. You will receive a map that will indicate areas where the Hulu service is currently down.
If your area is on the map, then you just need to wait it out and check DownDetector again to see if things are back up and running. Hulu is imminent aware of any downtime and works quickly to restore services.
Lengthy downtimes can result in negative views of the service and a negative view of the company. So this isn’t something that Hulu would allow for extended periods of time.
2. Restart Your Streaming Device
Have you tried turning it off and back on again? Well, this simple solution tends to resolve many problems with Hulu services like Hulu subtitles not working.
Once in a while, the Hulu app simply needs a reboot. That’s why it’s important to reset your streaming device. Sometimes, power cycling the device triggered a necessary update that will resolve problems.
To do so, simply unplug your streaming device for about 10 to 15 seconds. Then, plug it back in, and wait for it to fully reload. Open up the Hulu app, and give it another shot.
3. Update The Hulu App
It’s very unlikely that you are alone when you’re experiencing episode skipping issues with Hulu. If others have experienced it, they have likely reported it, and Hulu has become aware of the issue.
If they’re aware, then it’s possible that they’ve patched the issue with their system. In order to prevent it again, they may offer a more stable fix via an application update. Checking for whether an update is available, then installing it could take care of the issue.
4. Reset The Hulu App
If Hulu is skipping episodes, one of the simplest solutions can be to simply exit the app completely, then run it again. However, there is a bit of a caveat to this.
Simply returning to the home menu on most streaming devices does not equate to a full “exit” of the app. The issue here is that you want to completely close the app.
The trick is to exit Hulu and open another app. Next, you let that app fully load, then return to the home screen and open Hulu again. The last app the device has opened is now not Hulu. So the streaming device will newly start Hulu.
Check this out: How to Fix Hulu Not working on Roku
5. Check and Reset Your Internet
Many times, the streaming resolution plays a part in whether the skipping issues occur.
If a particular episode is currently available only in 4K, it requires 16Mbps of data to stream, and if your internet connection is lagging, you may not be reaching those bandwidths. Therefore, the episode in question simply cannot play, so it gets skipped to the next one.
If you’re aware that your connection can typically handle these episodes, you can address it by resetting your internet connection.
You can do this by either power cycling your modem or your router. In both cases, you’ll need to unplug the device for about 10 to 15 seconds, then plugging it back in and allowing a few minutes to reconnect. Once that happens you can try the app again.
6. Turn Off VPN and Web Extensions
Another aspect worth mentioning on the connectivity front is the use of a VPN. This is a very common tool people use to protect the privacy of their internet usage, but it may impact the ability of Hulu to work properly.
As you may already know Hulu has a geo-blocking system which means that you can only access it if you’re in the US territory. Since the VPN bounced the signal around in order to confuse ISPs about your location, the streaming privileges from that region might apply to the Hulu app.
Because Hulu is accessible only in the US and in certain US-controlled military installations, your connection must not be visible to Hulu as being from somewhere else.
7. Delete Hulu Watch History
Sometimes, if the skip error occurs, it registers the episode as having been watched already, even though you never actually saw it. This information is cached locally to your device in order to save time, that information is retained for future uses and views.
However, this history is not necessary and can be deleted. The steps on how to delete it vary depending on whether you do it from a mobile device or the web.
Conclusion
If you’ve tried all the above fixes, and Hulu still skipping episodes, you may need to visit the Hulu help forums or contact Hulu support.
When contacting Hulu, you’ll need to provide certain details from your account, the streaming device you’re using, as well as the show you’re having trouble with. They can then look into it on their end.
For questions, comments, or concerns, please use the comment section below.
