9

I've tried:

  • updating my google wallet (UK credit card & billing/home address).

  • set default home address.

  • changed postal code on gmail.

  • force stop and cleared cache on Google Play app.

  • cleared the browser cache (both on the phone and on the PC).

  • Used a GPS spoofer + setting localisation to GPS only.

I live in the UK, but I bought my new phone back home (in the Faroe Islands). This is my first Android device, so I'm new to the play.google environment.

The only thing I can think of that is causing it not to work, is the fact that I cannot purchase things in the Faroe Islands (in Google Play as well as play.google.com) Since all suggestions online say that I have to "buy" an app, then clear the cache, etc..

Soooooeh, any suggestions? :p My device is not rooted and I'm running Marshmallow

Any help is much appreciated c:

5
  • Just curious, why do you need to change your Country in Google Play?
    – AL.
    Aug 5, 2016 at 3:01
  • 2
    Because I can't access paid apps, and most apps in general; Because the Faroe Islands is not properly supported. I live in the UK atm, so I just want to change the country of my Google Play in order to get past this limitation
    – user179853
    Aug 5, 2016 at 4:41
  • I tried all these steps earlier today. I rebooted as well. It has been about 6 hours and it finally started working. Also, something else to note, I browsed the google play store and looked at paid apps. Not sure if that matters. But finally, while I was browsing, my countries apps appeared.
    – zechdc
    Sep 4, 2016 at 10:37
  • I tried some solutions to change an old country to a new country but I couldn't do it so I finally restored my android phone then the problem was solved. Jun 18, 2021 at 22:30
  • @Kai, I just stuck with my UK store, until recently, when they decided to support the Faroe Islands. So this is no longer an issue for me :)
    – user179853
    Jul 15, 2021 at 18:00

7 Answers 7

6
+50

Method 1 (Requires 2 Phones signed in with same google account):

  1. Phone 1:

    • Open Google Play Store and Download HotSpot Shield or Zenmate. Once you have downloaded.
    • Clear cache and data of Google Play Store by going into Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Store.
    • Now open VPN app (Zenmate) and Change your location to UK and connect the VPN. Open Google Play Store and Accepts the terms.
    • Accept the terms.
    • Now Move out of Google Play Store.
    • Do not exit the app from the background.
  2. Phone 2:

    • Now perform the following steps on Phone 2.
    • Clear cache and data of Google Play Store on Android Phone.
    • Open Google Play Store. You don’t need VPN on this phone.
    • This time, accept the terms and rules. It will take you to UK’s Google Play Store.
  3. Phone 1: Disconnect from VPN and Head back to Google Play Store.

Method 2: (Same thing on a single phone, but you will need VPN everytime you use Play)

  1. Install the VPN app provided by your VPN provider on your Android device.
  2. Choose a VPN server belonging to UK.
  3. Establish a VPN connection.
  4. On your Android device, go to Settings -> Apps.
  5. Under “Downloaded”, search for the Google Play Store app.
  6. Click on it.
  7. Press “Clear Data” and “Force Stop.”
  8. Exit settings.
  9. Relaunch the Google Play Store App.

I have tried Method 2, it worked for me. For both methods, you need a VPN which provides a UK server(free/paid depending on you).

Set server locations where you want your Google Play location to be, most of the VPN's provide free access to US servers.

0
6

I had a similar issue moving from Germany to the UK and spent over an hour on the phone with Google support.

In addition to what others already wrote above, I had to do two things:

  • Cancel any Google subscriptions you have on your old profile (I had to cancel my Google Play Music Family Plan)
  • Make sure you not only add a new country profile on pay.google.com, but also add a payment method from the new country

It takes between 24-48 hours for the Google system to process the new profile and to authorize the new payment method.

Only after waiting that long could I do what the others described: cleared cache and storage of the Google Play app (under Apps & Permissions on Android 9) and the new profile finally appeared under Accounts. It is crucial that at this point you need to have an IP address locating you in the country of the new profile, so you might need to use a VPN.

If none of this helps, the support also recommended to sign out of the Google account on your phone and sign in again.

3

I had the same problem as I moved from US to India a week back. Here are the steps I used to resolve this issue.

Go to google payments and create a new profile for UK

  • Go to payments.google.com and click on your current profile and click on edit option (symbol of a pen) available next to your listed country.
  • Now you will get an option to add a new profile for a different country

Go to google play store and change the profile

  • Click on settings and select Country and Profiles option.
  • Here you will be shown both the countries corresponding to your profiles which were created in Google payments
  • Select UK and start using google payments. Do remember that you can only change the country once every year.

I also had more than 20 dollars in my US profile, so I first spent the money on some useful apps to bring it below 10 dollars and then switched the profile. You need not do this if you don't have money in the old profile. Also you don't need to buy anything from google store just to change countries.

1
  • For me this was the most helpful answer, although the last steps were a little different. To change to the new profile, I went to hamburger menu -> Account -> Country and Profiles. I had the second country listed with a checkbox next to it, I clicked it and that was it.
    – Muganwas
    Feb 5, 2021 at 16:37
2

Step 1- Go to google payments and create a new profile. Enter new country and other details. (you can go to google payments by clicking payment methods in the menu in play store. Then choose more payment settings)

Step 2- Force close Google Play Store and 2 other Google Play services in apps in your phone settings.

Step 3- Open Google Play Store. Go to account. You'll find countries and profiles.

1

Google is making it easier, as reported today, to change the country to a different one. From Android Police on 2018/03/20:

Now, Google appears to be taking one teeny tiny step toward making the switch easier for some people. If your Play Store country is set to country A (whether you lived there or, uhm, fooled Google into thinking you did because you made a purchase with a valid payment method and to a valid shipping address in that country), and the Play Store detects that you've moved to country B (likely based on your IP address), you'll get a new option in the Account settings: Country and profiles. There you'll see which country your Store account is on and an option to quickly switch to the new country - provided you have a valid payment method there.

There are some caveats to this:

Keep in mind that this Country and profiles option won't be there for everyone and won't let you switch to any country you want. It appears to only show up when it detects a discrepancy between your setting and your IP address.

1
  • What if I has no payment profile (no payment method) yet? What country is bound to my account?
    – Suncatcher
    Apr 24, 2018 at 11:06
-1

I had the same issue and the easy answer was that I had to change the country in my pay.google.com, that is where it was taking the wrong country from. After I changed the address associated with my payments, the change country option became available in the google play profile, and I could change from Hungary to Spain.

-1
  • first login into the browser by the URL payment.google.com
  • then select menu, create new payment account fill details in the fields, save it and log out of google account.
  • open google play store go to the menu, account and select your new added country.

Thats it!!!!!!!!!! :) :) (Y)

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