How to fix Hulu can’t fast forward?

Emma's user avatar
Emma
December 12, 2023

Hulu is a free online streaming TV provider. It is known for its ad-supported service that allows you to watch TV shows and movies. Hulu allows fast-forwarding across all of its plans, but the content you can skip depends on your subscription. With the Hulu (No Ads) plan, you can quickly forward all content in your streaming library. If you have a Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV subscription, you can forward many on-demand series and movies. Most content from add-on services such as HBO Max or Showtime lacks ads. However, some content outside of the Hulu library comes with ad breaks due to streaming rights restrictions. There are a few ways to fast-forward on Hulu. Here is a guide on how to fast-forward on Hulu.

How to Fast-Forward on Hulu Mobile or Desktop?

Fast-forwarding from the Hulu mobile or web apps offers less control over time increments but can be easier and quicker to use.

  1. Click or tap and drag the indicator on the progress bar to the right until you reach your preferred stopping point.
  2. If you want to move ahead in smaller blocks of time, select the 10-second forward icon below the playback bar.
  3. If you’re using a computer, select the playback bar and press the forward arrow on your keyboard to move ahead 10 seconds at a time.

How to Fast-Forward From the Hulu TV App?

In addition to the fast-forward button, you can use the directional pad on your TV remote to fast-forward on Hulu.

  1. Press the fast-forward button on your remote once to advance by the default number of seconds.
  2. Press fast-forward additional times to increase the fast-forwarding speed. For example, Hulu on Roku defaults to a rate of x4 (four seconds) on the first tap and increases to x32 (32 seconds) with further presses of the fast-forward button.
  3. Use the right button on your TV remote’s directional pad to fast-forward in fixed increments. The default speed is typically 10 to 15 seconds ahead.
  4. Alternatively, press and hold the right button on the directional pad to skip ahead rapidly in 10- to 15-second bursts.

Why I Can’t Fast-Forward on Hulu?

A Hulu premium subscriber with no ads plan can skip the ad but a person with ads or a free account can use the fast-forward feature for a limited amount. Some content on Hulu is ad breaks non-skippable doesn’t matter if you have no ads plan. Also, you cannot fast-forward on Hulu+ Live TV. If you are streaming episodes that aired on the same day, then you might not be able to skip or fast-forward them. You cannot skip or fast-forward content on live tv.

What to do When Hulu Fast-Forward is Not Working?

Here are some fixes that can help you in resolving this problem.

1. Restart The Stream

When the stream skips randomly, the easiest fix is to restart the stream again. Use the buttons on your TV remote, use the device as applicable, and back out of the movie or show that you’re watching. After backing out of the screen, put it back on again and skip around to see if the issue comes up again.

2. Clear the Cache of Hulu

If the problem persists, then you can try clearing the cache of the Hulu app. Clearing the cache helps the Hulu app rebuild it, which might fix it.

On Mobile Device

  1. Go to settings.
  2. Select the application option.
  3. Locate and select the Hulu app.
  4. Go to the storage option.
  5. Clear cache from here.

On Firestick

  1. Go to firestick settings.
  2. Go to applications.
  3. Select manage installed applications and select Hulu from the list.
  4. Force stop the app.
  5. Clear cache and data.

On Roku

  1. Go to the Roku home screen.
  2. Press the home button on Roku 5 times.
  3. Press the up button.
  4. Hit the rewind button twice.
  5. Fast-forward twice. 
  6. Now your Roku device will restart.

3. Update the Hulu App

If clearing the cache or restarting the app doesn’t work, then updating your device firmware to its latest version can help you in fixing the problem. To update your device firmware you can follow the steps mentioned in this post below.

Roku

  1. Go to the Home screen.
  2. Scroll and select settings.
  3. Go to system.
  4. Select system update.

Firestick

  1. Go to settings.
  2. Select my fire tv.
  3. Select about.
  4. Select install update or check for updates.

Samsung tv

  1. Go to home screen then select settings icon.
  2. Select support option.
  3. Choose software update.
  4. Select update now.

4. Reinstall the Hulu App

If the shows and movies on the Hulu app are still not fast-forwarding, you can also try reinstalling the Hulu app. Reinstalling the Hulu app can resolve a lot of issues. Follow the steps below to reinstall the Hulu app on your device.

  1. Delete the Hulu app from your device.
  2. Reboot your device.
  3. Install the latest version of Hulu.
  4. Launch the Hulu app and check if the fast-forward feature is working or not.

5. Contact Hulu

If the Hulu app still doesn’t work after reinstalling the app, don’t hesitate to contact Hulu support. Explain the issue you are facing, the team at Hulu can help you in resolving this problem. Contact Hulu through their official support website, or create a forum post that details your issues.

Can I Fast-Forward Videos on Hulu Without Streaming Rights Restrictions?

The main reason why Hulu is considered better than other streaming services is that it has a wide range of content from many different sources including Netflix, HBO Now and Amazon Prime Video. However, some Hulu content will contain ads, such ad breaks will not let you fast-forward videos due to streaming rights restrictions. One way to work around fast-forwarding limits on contents outside of the Hulu library is to download Hulu videos as MP4 or MKV files on your computer. Then you can play the downloaded Hulu videos on any device without ads.

What you can use is Pazu Hulu Video Downloader a powerful video downloader for Hulu, which can help you download movies and TV shows as MP4 or MKV files. You can easily download any Hulu video to your computer and directly copy them to other devices for playback. Pazu Hulu Video Downloader allows you to download videos from Hulu with high quality and bitrate as needed, the best video quality is 1080p. At the same time, Pazu Hulu Video Downloader has the ability to save multi-language subtitles and audio tracks after downloading. And the subtitles can be saved in three modes (Internal Subtitles, External Subtitles, and Hardcode Subtitles), which enables you to choose certain subtitles on different media players. After downloading, you can watch all your desired content from Hulu without ever having to worry about the fast-forwarding issue. Now follow below steps to save Hulu videos on multiple devices.

Follow below steps to download Hulu movies and TV shows to MP4:

Step 1. Run Pazu Hulu Video Downloader on your Mac or Windows.

Download, install and launch Pazu Hulu Video Downloader on your Mac or Windows. Log in your Hulu account and choose hulu.com, hulu.jp or hulu.jp/store.

Hulu Downloader

Select a profile.

choose Hulu profile

Step 2. Search Hulu movies/TV shows to download.

Directly search for the Hulu movies/TV shows you want to rip and burn to DVD. 

search Hulu videos

Or copy&paste the link of the movie/TV show from  Hulu website. Then click the Search icon.

search Hulu videos

Step 3. Choose video format/quality

To customize output settings before downloading Hulu videos, click the “Settings” button on the top-right corner. Here you can adjust the “Output Format”, “Audio” and “Subtitle” language, or the subtitle type based on your needs. You need to choose MP4 as it can be supported while burning to DVD.

  • Video format: MP4 or MKV
  • Video codec: H264 or H265
  • Enable hardware acceleration or not
  • Audio language: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese
  • Subtitle language: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese
  • Subtitle type: Embedded subtitles, Independent subtitles, Hardcoded subtitles
  • Interface languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese
Hulu to MP4

Step 4. Start to download Hulu videos

Finally, just press the download button for each Hulu video to start the downloading process.

download Hulu movie to MP4

After the movie is downloaded, click History button to quickly locate it. 

download Hulu movie to MP4

For the TV series, you will need to select the episodes first as there is more than 1 video contained in the result. Then click Download button.

download Hulu TV show to MP4

When the Hulu videos are downloaded offline, you can find the downloaded results under “History” tab. Then you can begin the next process to burn then to DVD on Windows/Mac.