Past and Now: How to Search on Pluto TV?

How to search on Pluto TV? Pluto TV is one of the best places to find and stream on-demand content, as well as live TV shows for free - without any subscription. The service is available in select regions, and it offers a massive library of free content - interesting ones you'd love to watch over and again.

While Pluto TV looks all good and exciting to everyone - because it can be gotten on any device, from mobile devices to streaming devices, PCs, TVs, and gaming consoles, it has a limitation that keeps bothering its users. The limitation is the “Search” function.

Well, that was previously. Currently, it is easy to search for movies and TV shows on the Pluto TV website and applications.

1. Pluto TV Overview

Founded in 2013, Nick Grouf, Pluto TV is an ad-supported internet TV streaming service that provides all of its content for free. Yeah, you heard that right, Pluto TV does not have any premium (PRO) subscription plan; you just sign up with a valid email, verify your account, and start watching Live TV or on-demand titles for free.

Pluto TV generates revenue from the adverts served on the website and its applications across devices. Currently, Pluto TV is owned and operated by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS. This service is not available to everyone; it is only available to people living in the United States, some parts of Europe, Latin America, and Brazil.

So, basically, if you reside outside of these regions, you’d have to mask your IP address - probably using a VPN - to access the service. However, the company promises to expand its reach into many other regions and countries, in the coming years.

One of the reasons a lot of people prefer Pluto TV to other similar Live TV streaming services is because you can get the Pluto TV app on any device you own. More so, it offers free on-demand content in clear HD quality.

2. How to Search on Pluto TV (The Old Ways)

Previously, when Pluto TV launched newly, there is no "Search" feature available across its apps, and even on the web version. Thus, for you to stream a TV show or on-demand title, you have to find your way - scrolling through an enormous library of on-demand titles to finally select, open, and stream the one you wanted to watch.

Well, users laid complaints to the company and developers, and pretty much, the complaints were heard. Currently, in 2022, there is a big "Search" bar on the web version of Pluto TV, which allows you to quickly look up TV shows or on-demand titles instead of browsing through the massive libraries.

Before this search function was integrated; there were tricks adopted by early Pluto TV users to narrow the search for their favorite shows, which they want to stream. Hereunder are those tricks and tips.

2.1 Select a Service

Pluto TV offers two services: Live TV and On Demand. You can switch between the two from the top of the website's interface. So, choose Live TV if you're looking for a particular live show, but toggle to the On Demand section if you're looking for a title to watch.

2.2 Search with Genres and Categories

When browsing through Pluto TV's On Demand section, you'd notice that the titles are arranged into genres and categories: sitcoms, comedy, trending, reality TV, action, etc. If you know the category the movie you're searching for falls into, simply expand the category and keep scrolling to find the movie.

This search method is recommended when you don’t know the title of the movie, but can easily identify it when you see the cover art or anything similar. It may take time to find a title using this method.

2.3 Always Add to Watchlist

If you're streaming on Pluto TV and come across a show you find to be very interesting, the first thing to do is to add the show to your "Watchlist." That way, you can always come back to watch the show by looking it up from the watchlist instead of searching a whole library or category.

Well, if you forgot to add the show to the watchlist, you're forgiven, the modern interface of Pluto TV now supports searching for live TV shows and on-demand titles quickly.

2.4 Search on Google

This method only works if you know the title of the show. For example, you go open your browser and search for the show on Google, following this format: the Equalizer on Pluto TV. This way, you’re instructing Google to bring up the Equalizer movie page on Pluto TV; so, you’d just click on the link and get started with the movie.

3. The New Way to Search on Pluto TV

Finally, in 2021, Pluto TV added the "Search" feature that has been the main topic for debate regarding the service. So, from, April 2021 till now, you don't have to follow those procedures mentioned above; the new way to search on Pluto TV is dead-simple; it works just as the search feature on any app or website you've ever used.

So, when you launch the service, look beside the “On Demand” option, you’d find the new “Search” bar there; simply tap/click on the bar and enter the movie name you want to search for.

Below is an example of how Pluto TV search results would appear on your device. We searched for “The Equalizer” movie.

As you can see, the on-demand title, “The Equalizer” appeared first on the search, followed by many other similar titles, including Live TV programs. You can quickly search on Pluto TV by going to https://pluto.tv/en/search and typing the title of the show or movie you want to stream.

However, this search feature is not yet rolled out for all devices that support Pluto TV streaming. The company assures that the feature would soon be available across all of its versions.

Web-version users and PC streamers are already enjoying this feature. However, the search feature still requires improvement to allow users to filter search results based on different parameters.

4. Can You Download Pluto TV Shows and On-Demand Series?

Yes, you can, but you need a Pluto TV downloader program. Pluto TV is not like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max that allow you to save certain titles for offline stream. All Pluto TV shows and on-demand titles are available for free; the company makes money by serving ads to its users as they stream online.

But then, with 3^rd-party programs, you can download shows and on-demand titles from Pluto TV - have them saved on your mobile device or PC. Interestingly, there are pretty many third-party tools that allow you to do this - record or download Pluto TV shows, but the StreamFab Pluto TV Downloader stands out with its outstanding features and extensive support for advanced technologies.

Below is a comprehensive guide on how to download TV shows, movies, and Live streams from Pluto TV using StreamFab Pluto TV Downloader.

4.1 Features of StreamFab Pluto TV Downloader

StreamFab Pluto TV Downloader is a PC program that runs on both Windows OS platforms and macOS platforms. It is a professional tool for downloading videos and live shows from a wide range of supported streaming services, and video-hosting/sharing websites.

This downloader lets you grab Pluto TV shows in clear HD quality, 720p, along with AAC audio track. It saves the shows as MP4 files, and lets you decide how to save the subtitles; either as separate SRT files or have them remuxed into the videos as the download is ongoing.

Interesting, StreamFab Pluto TV Downloader removes ads from your favorite Pluto TV shows and allows you to download in bulk, thanks to Batch Mode. There is nothing to worry about when using this downloader; it also preserves the metadata info of the downloaded shows. Below is the guide.

4.2 How to Download Pluto TV Shows

First of all, you need to download and install StreamFab Pluto TV Downloader on your MacBook or Windows PC. Then, launch the program and follow the steps hereunder.

• First Step:

Launch the program and click on “VIP Services.” look out for Pluto TV from the cards of supported service. Double-click on the Pluto TV card - when you find it - and sign in to your account (optional).

• Second Step:

Search for the content you wish to download to your PC and click the Play button. As the movie or show starts playing, a download button would pop up at the top-left corner, click on the button to add the "Playing" show/movie to your "Download Queue."

• Third Step:

As the first video starts downloading, you can proceed to download other videos you like by playing them and clicking the download button to add them to the queue. Notwithstanding, StreamFab Pluto TV Downloader can detect all episodes of a series and download all of them at once.

To view the download progress, navigate to the “Downloading” tab from the left pane. You can pause and resume ongoing downloads at any time.

Final Wrap-up

This article has comprehensively detailed how to search for shows on Pluto TV, as well as explained the steps involved in downloading your favorite Pluto TV content using StreamFab Pluto TV Downloader.