If you are moving to another country and you own an iPhone, you need to remember to change your Apple App Store country. Once you change your billing address and payment method, there are things that you need to keep on top of. Your existing installed apps may not be available in your new country. Your subscriptions and credit balance will be affected, and you may also pay more due to the new currency. Here’s how to switch over and the checklist of things you need to remember.
QUICK ANSWER
If you want to change your App Store country, go to your iCloud settings on your iOS device. Go to Media & Purchases > View Account > Country & Region. Change the country, then tap Agree. On a MacBook, open the Music app, then go to Account > Account Settings > Change Country or Region.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
What you should know first
How to change your Apple App Store country
What you should know before changing your Apple App Store country
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Before changing your App Store country, there are some things you need to consider first.
If you are in a Family Sharing plan, and you live in another country than the other members of the plan, then changing your App Store country will not be possible.
Some apps are restricted to certain countries or geographical regions. This means that if you switch App Store countries, those apps could stop working, disappear entirely from your device, or at the very least, will stop receiving future updates. This also applies to books, music, TV shows, and music.
You need to cancel all of your active paid subscriptions and wait until the subscription period is over. All memberships, pre-orders, movie rentals, or Season Passes must also be finished first, and all pending store credit refunds must be processed.
Changing to another country will most likely mean switching to another currency, which could mean a higher price than you are used to paying. On the flip side, you may end up paying less if you’re lucky.
For the country you are switching to, you need to enter a valid billing address and a valid form of payment based in that country. Foreign payment methods will likely not be accepted. One workaround is to pay with a PayPal balance. The PayPal account could be registered in a different country, and Apple will likely not notice.
You will lose any remaining credit balance on your iCloud account. Therefore, ensure you use it up before switching countries.
How to change your Apple App Store country
We will cover how to do this on both an iOS device and a MacBook. For the iOS device, we will show an iPhone, but obviously, it’s the same on an iPad.
iOS
Go to Settings and tap on your name at the top of the screen.
Tap Media & Purchases. This will pop up a menu at the bottom of the screen. Select View Account. You will be asked to log in.
Now select Country/Region. If you have any currently running subscriptions, it will tell you to end them first. Then select the country you wish to switch to.
Pretend to read the Terms & Conditions, then tap Agree.
Enter your new billing address and payment method. Save your changes and exit.
MacBook
If you would prefer to do this on the MacBook, then open the Music app. Then go to Account > Account Settings. You will be asked to log into your Apple ID.
Under Account Information, click Change Country or Region.
The rest is then the same as the iOS method. Cancel any active subscriptions, change the country, accept the terms and conditions, and add your new address and billing method.
If you are part of a Family Sharing plan, you may not have permission to change anything yourself. The plan owner needs to do it. Or if you are in a Family Sharing plan, and the others are in a different country than you, that can also stop you from changing anything.
No, you only need to change it on one. Assuming all of the devices are logged into the same iCloud account, the App Store change will be immediately synced over.
Yes, but each account must have a billing address and payment method for that country. You must also log in and out to access each account (you can’t be logged into both simultaneously.) App updates will also not download and install until you log into the account.
No, they will remain there. However, to get any future updates, you will need to set up a second account in the country you downloaded the app.
If you no longer use the email address that's associated with your Apple ID, or you no longer have access to it, you can change it. You won't lose access to your contacts, purchases, or other account information.
If you no longer use the email address that's associated with your Apple ID, or you no longer have access to it, you can change it. You won't lose access to your contacts, purchases, or other account information.
Nope. Still only one Region at a time, and only one Apple ID at a time. Also, logging out of one Apple ID and logging in to a different one can only be done once every 90 days.
Go to Settings > App Store, then do any of the following: Automatically download apps purchased on your other Apple devices: Below Automatic Downloads, turn on Apps. Automatically update apps: Turn on App Updates.
If you can't change your country or region, make sure that you canceled your subscriptions and spent your store credit. Complete these steps before you try to change your country or region. If you're a part of a Family Sharing group, you might not be able to change your country or region.
If you are trying to zero your balance and still have a valid credit or debit card, you may purchase an item from the App or iTunes Stores for more than your balance. The remainder will be billed to your card, leaving you with nothing in your account balance.
What will I lose if I change my Apple ID? You will lose your Apple Music subscription, apps, and iCloud storage plan. You will keep data like photos and videos as long as they are saved to your device and not just your iCloud storage plan.
After setup, you can find the "Forgot password or don't have an Apple ID?" option in Settings: iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch: Go to the Settings app and tap Sign in to your iPhone.Then tap "Forgot password or don't have an Apple ID?" and follow the onscreen instructions.
You can only use an App Store for a country where you are a legal resident, have a payment method issued by a bank in that country with a verifiable billing address in that country. You can't change countries just because you want apps only available in that country's app store.
When you downgrade iCloud storage, your Information is not deleted. However, new items may not be uploaded to iCloud. After you change your region or country, then resubscribe to the iCloud storage plan you'd like, after changing your payment method.
If your App Store icon isn't showing up no matter what you do, you may need to fully reset the settings on your device. Select Transfer or Reset iPhone/iPad > Reset. There are a number of options that pop up in the contextual menu. Select Reset All Settings.
Apple.com/bill appears on your billing statement when you buy an app, music, movie, or other content from Apple. It also appears when a subscription renews and when a family member buys apps or content from Apple.
Normally once funds are in Apple Account balance the only way to get them out again is to spend them. You can't redeem or return Apple Gift Cards, App Store & iTunes Gift Cards, or unused Apple ID balance for cash, except as required by law.
Go to Settings->General->Language & Region->Region and set it to a region where Apple Pay is supported. Do note, the card must be from the region you have the phone set to.
Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.