How to Watch American Netflix From a Different Country

With over 13,000 films and TV shows to choose from, including new releases, classics, and acclaimed originals, it’s little surprise that Netflix has become one of the most popular streaming platforms in the world.

The only issue is that some of those highly sought after titles are only available in certain countries. The Netflix library on offer is very different depending on whether you’re watching from the US, France, India, or Japan, for example.

Sometimes these geo-restrictions are down to licensing issues at Netflix – they may not have paid the production company that owns the material for the rights to stream that show in one particular part of the world.

Other times, the laws of a specific country mean that the content of a film or TV show is banned or censored there. Singapore, for example, has outlawed a ton of movies. In Vietnam, Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is a no-go. Germany asked for Night of the Living Dead to be taken down. In Saudi Arabia, you can’t watch one particular episode of Hasan Minhaj’s The Patriot Act. In China and North Korea, Netflix is outlawed altogether.

So what is a Netflix subscriber to do if they want to get around their country’s censorship? Or they find out that the show they’re most excited about is only available in the US? How to watch US Netflix in Europe?

In this article, we will explain everything.

How to Change Location on Netflix From Wherever You Are

If you’re wondering how to change Netflix country, or how to change Netflix region, Netflix doesn’t let you change your location manually. So the bigger question is how to change location on Netflix easily.

Netflix automatically loads the library for the region it detects you to be in, based on your IP address. This means that the only way to change your location on Netflix is to convince Netflix that you’re actually in the country you want to change to.

There is only one way to achieve this: you need to install a VPN. VPNs mask your true IP address by routing your internet traffic through another server. If you want to make it look like you’re in the US, for example, you have to choose to connect via a US server. Netflix will then see the US IP address and automatically show you the US video library.

It sounds easy – and it usually is.  But there are three important things to bear in mind.

1.You need to use a VPN that gives you the option of choosing the US as a server

Some very basic VPNs, especially free ones, will automatically allocate you a proxy server and may not offer the country of your choice. They may also be inundated with people from all over the world trying to use the same server, which means slower speeds and more chance of Netflix crashing anyway.

2.Netflix doesn’t want people gaming the system.

The company dedicates a ton of resources to identifying and blocking internet traffic that comes from VPNs – and often, it succeeds. There are, in fact, only a handful of VPNs powerful enough to reliably have Netflix unblocked. Two of the best VPNs that work with Netflix are ExpressVPN and NordVPN. I’ve explained how to use these below.

3.While VPNs are legal in most of the world, they aren’t legal everywhere.

What’s more, trying to bypass Netflix licensing rules can put you on shaky ground, legally speaking. This makes it all the more important to choose a VPN with rigorous privacy protections in place. Again, it’s well worth paying for the service. Especially as some individual countries, like China, will also attempt to block your VPN – and only a handful of VPN service providers (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, SurfShark) can bash through the Great Firewall.

How to Change Netflix Country with ExpressVPN – Detailed Tutorial

ExpressVPN is claimed to be one of the best VPNs in the world. Its consistently fast streaming speed with ping times minimally affected makes it an excellent option for streaming Netflix. Also, it’s known to work extremely well in high censorship countries.

1. Download and install ExpressVPN.
2. Click “select location” and choose the server country you want to connect to. For the US, you can then narrow this down to New York, New Jersey or Washington DC. To get the best connection speed and stability. it’s usually best to pick the one nearest to your actual location.
3. Press the connect button. As soon as it turns green, you’re ready to go.
4. Open Netflix and start browsing.

Find out more about all the features of this VPN in our ExpressVPN review.

Price: Starting from $6.67/month

ExpressVPN offers an amazing deal where you can save 49% (giving you 3 months for free) when you sign up for the year plan.

Visit ExpressVPN

How to Change Netflix Region with NordVPN – Detailed Tutorial

NordVPN has over 5,000 servers located across over 60 countries around the world. This is great for accessing many different Netflix libraries. They also offer real-time server load indicators so you’re guaranteed the fastest connection.

1. Download and install NordVPN.
2. Select the server country you want to connect to. For American Netflix, you can actually choose any server that is NOT based in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, India, Brazil, or Spain. Again, to get the best connection speed and stability. it’s usually best to pick the one nearest to your actual location.
3. Hit the connect button.
4. Open Netflix and start browsing.

Get to grips with the ins and outs of NordVPN in this review.

Price: Starting from $3.71/month

Visit NordVPN

What to Do if You Get a Proxy Error Message

Occasionally, Netflix might spot that you’re actually connecting from a VPN. If that happens, you’ll get an error message that says something along the lines of “proxy error” or “you seem to be using an unblocker or proxy”.

Don’t panic. Top VPNs have thousands of servers and IP addresses and the chances are that you’ll be able to get straight back in just by switching to a different one. Here’s what to do next

1. Close your browser.
2. Switch to a different server through your VPN before you reopen it. As we’ve seen, when you’re using either NordVPN or ExpressVPN this is really easy – you can just pick a different US location.
3. Open Netflix in a “Private” or “Incognito” browser.
4. If that doesn’t work, clear your cookies and refresh your cache. This is straightforward to do, but how you do it differs slightly depending on what browser you are using. If you’re not sure how to refresh your cache, click here for detailed instructions for each type of browser.
5. If that doesn’t work, restart the VPN application.
6. If that doesn’t work, restart your device.

In the vast majority of cases, this clears up the issue.

Proxy Workaround For NordVPN

The best option is to manually set up your devices to point to NordVPN’s DNS addresses. Close your browser, refresh your cache, close NordVPN, and then follow the relevant steps for your device:

On a Mac

1. Go to System Preferences > Network > Advanced > DNS
2. Press the + button
3. Add the following two numbers: 103.86.96.100 and 103.86.99.100

On Windows 

1. Go to Network and Sharing Center (or right-click the Network icon).
2. Select “Change Adapter Options” under “Change Your Network Settings”.
3. Right-click “TAP-NordVPN Windows adapter V9” and select Properties.
4. Highlight “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” and select Properties.
5. Check “Use the Following DNS server addresses”  and type in 103.86.96.100 and 103.86.99.100.
6. Repeat these steps, but instead of “TAP-NordVPN Windows adapter V9”, choose “Wi-Fi” or “Ethernet” this time.

On Android

1. Go to Settings > WiF.i
2. Long Press on “Current Network” and select Modify Network.
3. Select Advanced Settings.
4. Change “IP Settings” to “Static”.
5. In DNS1 and DNS2, add: 103.86.96.100 and 103.86.99.100

What Now?

Now restart your device, reopen the NordVPN app, select a US location, and open up Netflix in your browser. You shouldn’t get a proxy error message now.

If for any reason you still do, it’s probably a brand new problem, so give your VPN’s customer services a call. They should be able to help – and both NordVPN and ExpressVPN famously have great customer service.

Bottom line: How to Watch Netflix from Other Countries

In this article, we’ve focused on how to watch US Netflix in Europe and other places around the world. But what if you’re already in the US and want to know how to watch Netflix from other countries? If you want to tap into TV from back home or discover new movies from all around the world?

You may not realize it, but Americans can’t access many shows on Netflix that are available to users in other parts of the world. That includes:

• Rick and Morty (anywhere outside the US)
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (only available in the UK)
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine (available everywhere but the US)
• Hannibal (UK, Japan, Mexico)
• Orphan Black (UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Mexico)
• Star Trek – Discovery (everywhere but the US and Canada)
• Fargo (anywhere outside the US)

There are also a ton of enormously popular shows that many Americans may never have heard of, like iconic British shows ‘Peep Show’, ‘Doctor Who’, and the superb ‘The Thick of It’, the last two of which are only available in the UK. Or one of my personal favorites, the Australian show ‘Please Like Me’.

And that’s just a few English-language examples! There’s also a wealth of options in French, Spanish, German, Korean, and other languages available in these countries.

So how do you tap into these? Well, the good news is that the principle is exactly the same. Using your VPN, you simply need to select a server in the country you prefer to access Netflix from… and start browsing. Enjoy!

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