How to Change Your Location with a VPN

You can use a VPN to change your online location to virtually anywhere in the world.

When you visit a website, or use an online service, they can see your public IP address, which reveals your approximate geographic location. Sometimes that location can be accurate down to your city and even your zip code.

VPN software works by connecting you to a remote server in a location of your choice. When you visit a website or use an application, only the IP address and location of that VPN server is visible, making you appear in a different location.

Can a VPN Change My GPS or Phone Location?

A VPN changes your IP address, which many online services use to identify your location. However, there are other ways that your location can be traced, and many VPNs do not block all of these.

Most phones have GPS built-in, which uses a network of satellites to work out your geographic position. You can use a VPN to change your phone’s IP address location, but most VPNs will not change your GPS location. VPN services will not change your device’s MAC address, either.

A small number of VPNs do offer GPS spoofing on Android devices. While this will not literally change your GPS location, it can intercept the request for your GPS location and report the same location as your VPN server. The only VPNs with this feature are IVPN, Windscribe, Surfshark, and TorGuard.

Even when connected to a VPN, your cell phone provider can always tell where you are because it knows which cell towers you are connected to at any given time. If you want to receive calls or receive SMS messages, you can’t stop your service provider from knowing your location.

Can a VPN Change My Browser Geolocation?

HTML5 geolocation data, also known as browser geolocation data, refers to your device’s geo-coordinates as detected by a browser API.

Your browser can use this data to estimate your location based on the WiFi network you’re connected to, the device’s GPS, and any cell towers that might be nearby. This data can then be shared with third-party websites on request.

HTML5 geolocation data can be very accurate – sometimes to the street-level, depending on the availability of this information.

A HTML5 leak can expose your precise location even if your VPN is hiding your real IP address. If your IP and HTML5 locations aren’t the same, it’s possible that websites will know you’re not really where your VPN server is.

VPN services cannot change your browser geolocation, but most top VPNs include leak protection to prevent the data from being exposed. Some VPN browser extensions also include built-in HTML5 leak protection to help avoid this issue.

Fortunately, HTML5 geolocation is also strictly permission-based. That means websites have to request permission to get your location, usually via a browser pop-up. If you deny this request, your HTML5 location won’t be shared.

Can a VPN Change My Location on Social Media Apps?

Most social media apps use the GPS feature of your phone, and not just your IP address, to work out your location. That includes TikTok, Snapchat, and dating apps like Tinder.

Using a VPN might be enough to change your location on some social media websites, but it will not prevent mobile applications from collecting other data through your phone. This could include your GPS information, device ID, contacts, and billing address – amongst many other things.

To change your location on social media apps like TikTok or Snapchat, use a VPN that also supports GPS spoofing.

Why Change Your VPN Location?

Changing your VPN location protects your privacy and unblocks geographically restricted content.

Your real IP address can be used to find your approximate location, which can be dangerous for users sending sensitive personal information or living in highly-censored countries. That location data includes your country, city, time zone, and sometimes even your ZIP code.

Your location data can also be used for targeted advertising, surveillance, and some forms of online harassment. By hiding this essential information, you can stop doxxing and DDoS attacks, avoid copyright trolls, and even prevent your ISP from seeing your browsing history.

Changing your location also lets you access geo blocked content on streaming services. For example, if you live in the US, you can use a VPN to access Japanese Netflix from home. If you live in Europe, you can change your Netflix region to the US by choosing a VPN server in America.

Moreover, you can change your online location to access geo-restricted video games. For example, the best VPNs for PUBG Mobile allow you to play PUBG in regions where the game is banned, such as India.

Using a VPN service is the easiest and most reliable way to change your IP address and virtual location, especially on desktop and mobile devices.

VPN software works by replacing your IP address with the IP address of a server in a different location. When you connect to a VPN server and visit a website, the website will see the IP address and location of the VPN server instead of your real physical location.

With the right VPN, you can choose from servers in dozens of different countries. You can switch between VPN locations by simply changing servers in the app.

Watch the video walkthrough below to see how to hide your true location using a VPN. If you’re already connected to a VPN server, you can also use these instructions to switch servers and change to a specific VPN location:

How to Change Your VPN Location for Free

The easiest way to change your IP address and location is to use Windscribe, a highly-rated free VPN service. The VPN has custom apps for most platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and even Fire TV devices.

The free version of Windscribe lets connect to servers in 10 countries, making it the best free VPN for Germany, the US, UK, France, Hong Kong, and more.

Windscribe Free does come with a 10GB monthly data cap, but its default AES-256 encryption makes it significantly more secure than free web proxies such as Hide.me’s Proxy, which only works to redirect your browser traffic.

How to Find Your VPN Location

Once you’ve connected to a remote VPN server, you can browse the internet or use an application from that virtual location. However, you may want to double check which VPN location you’re browsing from.

Where Should You Set Your VPN Location, and How Often Should You Change It?

The VPN location that’s best for you will depend on what you’re trying to achieve with the VPN. If you’re simply looking to protect your privacy, choose the VPN location closest to your physical location. This will reduce the distance your data has to travel, and improve your chances of getting the best speeds.

If you want to unblock geo restricted content in a particular country, you’ll need to connect to a VPN server in that country. Some streaming services block known VPN IP addresses, so if your chosen server doesn’t work, try another VPN server in the same location.

The most secure VPN services will not keep logs of your activity, so it shouldn’t matter how often you change VPN servers. However, you should switch if you notice a server getting particularly overcrowded or slow.

Every server is assigned a range of IP addresses, so it’s likely that each time you connect to the same server you will get a different IP address.

If you find your VPN is not connecting you to a new location, try these troubleshooting tips:

1. Make sure you’re using a reliable VPN service. Some poor-quality VPN services – especially free ones – simply do not work to change your virtual location.
2. It may seem obvious, but make sure the VPN is turned on and you’re connected to a VPN server. Some VPNs can unexpectedly disconnect, and some VPNs can simply fail to connect altogether.
3. Use a leak test to make sure your VPN is not leaking IP, DNS, or HTML5 data that could reveal your true location. If a website detects your public IP address or default DNS servers, your virtual location may not be changed.
4. Ensure you’ve chosen a server in your desired location. Some VPNs will connect you to your nearest or fastest server unless you configure them otherwise.
5. Try connecting to a different VPN server in the same location. Some servers may be unreliable if they are overloaded, and they may fail to unblock content if a particular service has identified that the IP address belongs to a VPN.
6. Delete your browser’s stored cookies. Websites can use cookies to store identity and location data, and cookies are not blocked by running a VPN.
7. Disable location services. Turning off location services prevents apps from asking where you are.

A VPN is the easiest way to change your virtual location on mobile and desktop devices. However, there are alternative methods you can use to change your location on other devices, such as games consoles or Smart TVs.

Web Proxy Servers

The simplest alternative to VPN services is to use a web proxy. Proxy servers are similar to VPN services in that they enable you to send your browser traffic through a remote server in a different country. This changes your IP address and apparent location, allowing you to unblock some geographically restricted content.

A good web proxy will also encrypt your traffic using HTTPS, but many free web proxies don’t. In fact, many free proxy servers are actually dangerous to use, and even the encrypted services are far less secure than a trustworthy VPN.

Smart DNS Services

If you need to change your location on a different device, the best alternative to a VPN is a Smart DNS service.

Smart DNS services work by changing your DNS server location instead of your IP address. This allows you to bypass geographic restrictions on devices that are not compatible with VPN software –but it will not protect your privacy.

The benefit of Smart DNS versus a VPN is that it doesn’t require you to install any software. To use it, simply subscribe to the Smart DNS service and use their instructions to change the DNS settings on the device of your choice.

The Tor Browser

You can also use the Tor Browser to change your location and unblock restricted websites. Tor routes your traffic through at least three randomly selected servers. By the end of this process, your traffic will appear to originate from the location of the last server in the chain.

It’s technically possible to hide your true location with Tor, but it’s incredibly slow. Your traffic’s exact route through the network is also chosen at random, which means it’s difficult to choose the exact location you want to change to.