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Write a Portability Audit for Your Video Provider Before You Need One

Before you change providers or cancel, check which parts of your streaming account can leave with you: viewing-history exports, profile transfers, purchases, and offline downloads, each with its own rules.

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If you are thinking about changing providers, cancelling, splitting a household, or trimming subscriptions, the time to find out what you can keep is while your account is still active. Most of what a streaming service holds about you can be exported as a copy, but very little of it moves directly to another company. Profile features may transfer inside the same provider, purchased titles stay tied to the account that bought them, and offline downloads depend on conditions that often disappear when your subscription or device changes.

Treat portability as four separate questions, because each one has a different answer and a different deadline.

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Four questions to answer separately

  • Can I export my personal account data? Netflix documents a viewing-history download and a broader copy of account information. Neither one is an import file that another service can read to rebuild your history.
  • Can a profile move within the provider? Netflix’s Profile Transfer lets a profile move to a separate Netflix membership. It is a transfer within one company, not a route to a competitor.
  • Can purchases or rentals be watched somewhere else? Purchased and rented titles follow rules set by the store and the Google Account used to buy them, and those rules are not the same as subscription viewing.
  • Can offline downloads survive cancellation or a device change? Usually not. Downloads are conditional access inside a provider’s app, and they can be removed when you log out or when your plan or device no longer qualifies.

Run the audit in this order

  1. Sign in to each service on the account you want to audit. For Netflix, open the profile’s Viewing activity and download the list as a CSV. Netflix describes the file as spreadsheet-compatible. Repeat this for every profile on the account.
  2. Keep a private copy of each CSV somewhere you control, such as an encrypted folder on your own computer or a backup drive. A CSV records what you watched and when. It does not preserve the licensed video, and a copy of the file cannot restore access to a title.
  3. Request a full copy of your account information through the provider’s privacy or data-copy route. Netflix’s Help Center page on personal information lists account details, plan selection, notification preferences, payment and billing information, profile details, content interaction history, and access and device information. Allow for the processing window the provider states, and start the request early.
  4. Check whether a profile transfer exists, which profile features it keeps, and whether it can move a profile to an account you can actually reach. Record the answer for each service.
  5. List every purchased and rented title, the Google Account or store account it sits on, and any device limits shown for it. Keep that list separate from your subscription history.
  6. Before you cancel, record the offline-download conditions that apply to your plan and device: the eligible plan, the supported device type, whether the subscription must stay active, how often the device must reconnect, and what happens when you log out.
  7. Write down the cancellation date, the billing route, and any retention or refund terms shown in your own account. The sources behind this guide do not establish one set of cancellation, refund, or retention rules across providers or regions, so these details must come from each provider’s own pages.

Provider-by-provider boundaries

Netflix

Netflix’s help article on viewing history and device activity says you can open a profile’s Viewing activity and download the list as a CSV. It also says that if your account is no longer active, you must download a copy of your information to see your viewing history. That makes the export a pre-cancellation task, not something to do afterwards.

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Profile Transfer is the only Netflix mechanism here that carries anything forward. Netflix announced it on October 17, 2022, and updated the announcement on July 11, 2023 to allow transfer to an existing Netflix account. The company’s product manager, Timi Kosztin, described it this way: “Today, we’re launching Profile Transfer, a feature that lets people using your account transfer a profile — keeping the personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games, and other settings — when they start their own membership.” (About Netflix, October 17, 2022.) The announcement describes a transfer to another Netflix membership. It does not establish migration to a different streaming service.

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Disney+

Disney+’s US help article on downloads, dated June 4, 2026, sets out the conditions for offline viewing. Downloads require a specified eligible plan and a supported mobile device. The subscription has to remain active, and the device must connect to the internet at least once every 30 days. Logging out removes downloads, and some titles are available only for a limited time. The article also states that downloads are not available on TV-connected devices or on computers.

Because these rules come from a US help page, check your own country’s plan list and device list before relying on them. Plan eligibility and device support can differ by region.

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YouTube Premium offline features

YouTube’s help page on Premium memberships and device limits says Premium offline features can be used on up to 10 devices at a time, and that device swaps are limited to four in one year. Those limits describe what your account may do on your devices. They do not produce a portable video file you can take to another service.

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YouTube purchases and rentals

YouTube’s help page on downloading purchased movies and TV shows separates purchases from rentals. A purchased movie or episode can be downloaded on up to five devices using the Google Account that made the purchase. A rented title can be downloaded on one device at a time and remains subject to the rental period. UHD versions are not available for download. Check the help page for your device and purchase, because the details can change.

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Google Data Portability API scopes

If you also use Google TV or YouTube, Google’s developer documentation for the Data Portability API lists individual scopes for copying data associated with Google services. The documented examples include self-reported video-provider preferences, watched-media marks, ratings, YouTube playlists, and channel subscriptions. The reference was last updated April 20, 2026. These scopes cover specific data categories. They do not amount to a universal tool for moving a streaming-provider history from one company to another.

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Side-by-side view of the documented details

The table compares only what the cited provider pages state. Where a page is silent, the cell says so rather than filling the gap with a guess.

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Service or feature Exportable data Profile or history transfer Purchases and rentals Offline downloads
Netflix Per-profile viewing-history CSV; full account copy on a verified request, with a response of up to 30 days (Netflix Help Center, checked October 2026) Profile Transfer to a separate Netflix membership, including existing accounts from July 11, 2023; keeps recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games, and settings (About Netflix, October 17, 2022, updated July 11, 2023) Not stated in the cited Netflix pages Not stated in the cited Netflix pages
Disney+ Not stated in the cited help article Not stated in the cited help article Not stated in the cited help article Eligible plan and supported mobile device; active subscription; internet connection at least once every 30 days; removed on logout; not available on TV-connected devices or computers (Disney+ Help Center, dated June 4, 2026)
YouTube Premium Not stated in the cited help page Not stated in the cited help page Not applicable to subscription downloads as stated Up to 10 devices at a time; four device swaps in one year (YouTube Help, checked October 2026)
YouTube purchased movies and TV shows Not stated in the cited help page Not stated in the cited help page Downloadable on up to five devices using the purchasing Google Account; UHD not downloadable (YouTube Help, checked October 2026) Covered in the purchases column
YouTube rentals Not stated in the cited help page Not stated in the cited help page One download device at a time; subject to the rental period (YouTube Help, checked October 2026) Covered in the purchases column
Google Data Portability API Scopes for watched-media marks, ratings, video-provider preferences, YouTube playlists, and channel subscriptions (Google for Developers, updated April 20, 2026) Not a streaming-provider migration tool Not stated Not stated

Where audits usually go wrong

  • Waiting until after cancellation. Netflix’s inactive-account rule means the viewing history you need may only be reachable through a copy you requested while the account was still open.
  • Treating a CSV as a backup of content. The file records activity. It does not keep the licensed video, the download, or the access rights.
  • Assuming downloads survive a plan change. Disney+ ties downloads to an active subscription, a qualifying plan, a supported device, and a reconnection every 30 days. Any one of those can break the download.
  • Mixing purchases with subscriptions. A bought YouTube title follows purchase rules and a Google Account, while a subscription’s viewing record follows the provider’s own export tools. Keep the two lists apart.
  • Assuming the same rules apply everywhere. The provider pages cited here describe specific services, dates, and regions. Confirm the rules shown for your own country and plan before you cancel.

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