You go online and everyone is talking about this amazing new Android game. You look for some gameplay videos, you get excited, and you head over to the Play Store in order to find and install it. To your surprise and disappointment, it’s nowhere to be found.
Unfortunate as it might seem, we’ve all been there before. Google Play, like any other online service, restricts some of its content to users from certain countries. So if you cannot find an app, game, or whatever else you were looking for in the app store, chances are it’s region-locked.
Before you get too disappointed, however, you should probably know that there are a couple of ways to change your Google Play Store region.
Let’s look at both of them step-by-step.
1st Method: Changing your Store Settings
This method will usually not require you to pay a single penny. You’ll just need some time and patience.
- Visit the Google Payments page.
- Log in with your Google credentials.
- Look at the right top corner and you’ll find the Settings link. Click on it to continue.
- Once there, find your home address and click on the Edit button next to it.
- Add an address in in your new region.
- Now, take your Android phone/tablet and open the Play Store.
- Find any priced item and try to purchase it.
- Go through all the steps but stop just before you actually buy the item.
- Close the Play Store app.
- Still on your Android device, go to Settings > Apps and open the Play Store menu.
- Tap on the Clear Data option and accept the warning.
- Open the Play Store app itself once again. You should now see your new region!
These steps should work for most people without an issue. However, there are some restrictions:
- If you have more than $10 in your Payments Balance or if you have a Checkout Merchant account, you can’t switch regions.
- If you have money in your Google Play/Wallet balance and you change to a different currency, you wont be able to use it until you revert back (i.e., it will not be transferred).
- In some cases, you might have to force the change by actually purchasing an item, so choose something super cheap and go with it!
2nd Method: Use a VPN
As always, you can just use a VPN to get rid of any pesky geographical restrictions that companies like Google might apply. However, there are some additional steps you must take if you choose to use a VPN for this.
First, you must remove your old account:
- Open the Settings app in your Android device.
- Go to the Accounts menu.
- Tap on Google.
- Tap on the three-dotted icon on the top right corner.
- Select the Remove account option.
- Confirm the warning and you are done.
Next, you will have to get a VPN. We recommend that you choose one from the list below:
- Provider
- Rating
- Our Review
- Price
IPVanish- 2386 Votes
- $6.49 / month
Once you have set up your VPN, you should log back into your Google Play Account.
- Launch the Google Play Store app.
- Enter your email and tap on Next.
- Type in your password and tap on Next again.
- Once you are logged in, choose whether you want Google to automatically back up your device data online or not. This is entirely optional.
- In the next screen, you will be able to set up your payment info. This is not necessary and you can skip it for now.
- Once you see the Google Play homepage, then you should be able to see apps and games from your new region!
To go back to your old region, all you have to do is revert this process.
Which means four steps:
- Remove your account.
- Remove VPN.
- Log back into your account.
- Set up Google Play again.
If you have any questions regarding changing your Google Play region, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!