11 March 2020

How to Change Your Netflix Region and Watch Region-Blocked Content


Want to change your Netflix region? If you want content that’s only available in the United States or United Kingdom, you need a VPN and a little know-how. This guide covers exactly what steps you’ll need to take to get the content you need.

Jump ahead:

Requirements

Why Might You Want to Change Your Netflix Region?

Have you ever seen an online recommendation of something to watch on Netflix, but when you go to Netflix you can’t find the show or movie? Or maybe you’ve noticed that when you travel abroad, the content available to you on Netflix changes?

This is because Netflix offers different content to users depending on where in the world they are accessing the service from. It doesn’t matter if you registered your account and you pay for it in Canada, for example—if you travel to the US, you’ll see US content when you log in to Netflix.

So what do you do if you want to watch Netflix UK, say, when you’re in the US? In that case, you’ll need to change your Netflix region. Here, we’ll show you how to watch Netflix from other countries, so you can view more content or keep watching your favorite shows even when traveling abroad.

How to Use a VPN to Change Your Netflix Region

Fortunately, there is a way to change your Netflix region by using a service called a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN works by encrypting all the data that your device sends over the internet, and routing that data through a server in another country.

Using an encrypted VPN service has two effects:

  1. Encryption prevents third parties, like your Internet Service Provider, from observing the contents of your internet traffic.
  2. Routing your traffic through a VPN server allows you to watch content on a site like Netflix as if you were in a different country, effectively allowing you to change your Netflix region.

To make this work, you’ll need a trustworthy VPN provider which usually means you’ll have to pay for your VPN. Free VPNs are available but they come with many compromises so you should avoid using free VPNs.

Step 1: Choose a VPN Provider

To begin, you’ll need a VPN provider that works with Netflix. Netflix tries to prevent users from accessing their service using a VPN, so many VPN connections are blocked. If you try to access Netflix using a blocked VPN, you’ll get an error message.

There are some VPNs that do work with Netflix. However, remember that Netflix is constantly updating its VPN detection, so these servers or providers could stop working in the future. For now, though, we’ve had success using Netflix with VPNs including Surfshark, Mullvad, and CactusVPN, but our preferred VPN for accessing Netflix is ExpressVPN. (Use this link to get discounted plan rates!)

Step 2: Install the VPN Client

After choosing a VPN provider, you need to install a VPN client onto the device you’re going to use to access Netflix. Here’s how to do that:

  • Go to the website of your VPN provider. For this example, we’ll use SurfShark.
  • Find the Apps or Download section and download the app for your particular operating system or device.
  • Click the Download button to download an .exe (or executable) file for Windows, or follow the link to the app store for Android or iOS devices.
  • Once the app is downloaded, Windows users should open the .exe to install the VPN client onto your device.
  • The app will install. Once it’s installed, you can open the app and log in using your username and password.

Step 3: Connect to a Server

Now you can start using your VPN client. Once you’re logged in, look for a section of the app called Locations or Countries. This is where you can select which VPN server you want to connect to.

You should connect to a server in the country you want to watch Netflix from. So, for example, if you’re based in France but you want to watch content from Netflix US, you should connect to a US server.

You can choose any city within the country, as it doesn’t matter for accessing Netflix. Select a server and click on it to connect.

Once you’re connected, all of your traffic will be routed via the server in the location you’ve chosen.

Step 4: Watch Your Content on Netflix

Now all you need to do is go to the Netflix website, log in with your usual account details, and start watching content from the new location.

For example, having connected to a server in the US, we were able to access all the “Rocky” movies which were not available on Netflix in the country of testing, Germany.

This same method works to access Netflix from other countries too. You can connect to a server in Japan to access anime on Netflix, or use a server in Sweden to watch Scandinavian crime dramas which aren’t available elsewhere in the world.

Issues to Consider When Using a VPN With Netflix

As mentioned in the section on picking a VPN provider, no VPN is guaranteed to work with Netflix all of the time. You might sometimes connect to a server, but find that you get an error message when you try to stream content from another country on Netflix.

If this happens, you can switch to another server in the same country. Just find another server in your VPN client and try that one. Sometimes, this will work as only certain servers are blocked. This is why it’s helpful to have a VPN provider with many servers available.

If you want to change your Netflix region without using a VPN, you could try a proxy service instead. However, remember that a proxy will not encrypt your data so it is more risky in terms of security. (What’s the difference between a proxy and VPN?)

How to Change Your Netflix Region Permanently

Finally, if you are relocating to a new country, you might want to change your Netflix region permanently. As long as Netflix is available in your new country, it will be easier for you to pay for your subscription if your Netflix account is set to the same region where you live.

There will likely be a difference in monthly price between your old and new countries. If you wish to be billed in the currency of your new country, you will need to cancel your Netflix account and restart it in your new country. This is rather inconvenient but you won’t lose your profiles and once it’s done you can access content from your new country easily.

If you have relocated and you want to watch content from your old country, then use a VPN or proxy as described above.

Use a VPN to Access Netflix From Other Countries

Using a VPN, you can easily change your Netflix location to access content from other regions. However, you should also know that using a VPN to change your region is against Netflix’s terms of service. Although we’ve never heard of Netflix banning anyone for using a VPN, technically it is possible that your account could be suspended if you are caught using a VPN to access the service.

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