How to Change Your Amazon Firestick Region

How to Change Your Amazon Firestick Region (And Actually Watch What You Want)

Amazon operates over a dozen separate regional storefronts — and your Firestick is locked to whichever one you signed up with. That means a UK Amazon account can't download US-only apps, a US account can't access content available only in Australia, and if you move abroad? Half your library just vanishes. It's one of the most quietly frustrating things about streaming in 2024.

Why Your Firestick Is Region-Locked in the First Place

Amazon ties your Firestick to your account's billing country. So the apps available in the Appstore, the Prime Video content you can access, and even which channels you can subscribe to — all of that is determined by where Amazon thinks you are.

It's not just Prime Video either. Apps like Peacock, HBO Max (in certain regions), ITVX, BBC iPlayer, and Channel 4 are only available in specific country versions of the Amazon Appstore. If your account is registered to the wrong country, you literally can't install them — they don't show up in search.

And even if you manage to install an app, many streaming services do a second check on your actual IP address. So you need two things working together: your Amazon account set to the right region, and a VPN routing your traffic through a server in that country.

What You'll Need Before You Start

• A Firestick (any generation works)
• A VPN — more on which one in a second
• A payment method accepted in your target region (a virtual card or PayPal works well here)
• About 20 minutes

Do You Need a Paid VPN? Yes, and Here's Why

Free VPNs sound tempting. They're also, almost universally, a bad idea for this specific use case. Streaming services — Amazon included — actively block VPN IP addresses. The free ones use shared IP pools that get flagged almost immediately. You'll connect, try to load something, and hit a proxy error within minutes.

Paid VPNs rotate their IP addresses, maintain dedicated streaming servers, and actually have the infrastructure to keep up with Amazon and Netflix's detection systems. It's not a scam upsell. It's just the reality of how this works in 2024.

We'd go with NordVPN here. It has dedicated servers optimised for streaming, works consistently with Amazon Prime Video across US, UK, and Australian servers, and the Firestick app is actually good — not an afterthought. It runs about $3.99–$6.99/month (around £3.20–£5.50 / €3.70–€6.50 depending on the plan length you choose).

If NordVPN isn't for you, ExpressVPN and Surfshark are both solid alternatives that work reliably with Firestick. ExpressVPN is faster but pricier; Surfshark is the budget pick if you're connecting multiple devices.

Step-by-Step: How to Change Your Amazon Firestick Region

Step 1 — Change Your Amazon Account Country

This has to be done from a browser, not the Firestick itself. Open Amazon.com (or your regional equivalent) on your laptop or phone.

1. Sign into your Amazon account
2. Go to Account & Lists → Account
3. Scroll to find Country & Language Settings
4. Click Change next to your country
5. Select the country you want to switch to
6. You'll need to add a valid address and payment method for that country — a virtual card (like Wise or Revolut) issued in the target country works well here

Save the changes. Amazon may ask you to confirm your payment method before the switch goes through. This is normal.

Step 2 — Install NordVPN on Your Firestick

1. On your Firestick home screen, go to the search bar and type NordVPN
2. Select it from the results and click Download
3. Once installed, open the app and sign in with your NordVPN account (you'll need to create one at nordvpn.com first if you haven't already)
4. Connect to a server in the country you want — if you're switching to a US account, connect to a US server; UK account, UK server, and so on

Step 3 — Restart Your Firestick and Re-sync

1. With the VPN connected, hold the home button on your remote and select Settings
2. Go to My Fire TV → Restart
3. When it boots back up, the Appstore should now reflect your new region
4. Search for the app you couldn't find before — it should now appear

What About on Mobile (iOS and Android)?

If you're using the Amazon Prime Video app on your phone rather than the Firestick, the process is simpler — you just need the VPN, not the account region change, to access different content libraries.

On Android: Download NordVPN from the Play Store, sign in, connect to your target country server, then open the Prime Video app. The content library will update automatically.

On iOS: Same process — NordVPN is in the App Store. Connect first, then open Prime Video. One extra note: if you also want to change which apps are available to you on your iPhone, you'll need to change your Apple ID region separately in Settings → [Your Name] → Media & Purchases. That's a whole separate process, but for just watching content, the VPN alone does the job.

Common Problems (And How to Fix Them)

"The content isn't available in your region" — even with the VPN on

Try switching to a different server in the same country. NordVPN has multiple US servers, for example — if one's flagged, another usually isn't. In the app, look for servers labelled "Streaming optimised" and try those first.

The Appstore still shows the old country's apps after switching

Make sure the VPN is connected before you open the Appstore. Also try deregistering your Firestick from your account and re-registering it — go to Settings → My Account → Deregister, then sign back in. This forces a full refresh.

Streaming is really slow or keeps buffering

This is usually a server load issue. Disconnect and reconnect to a different server in the same region. If you're consistently getting bad speeds with NordVPN's auto-select, try manually picking a server city closer to where you physically are (even within the target country).

Payment method not accepted when switching regions

This is the most annoying one. Amazon wants a payment method registered to the target country. A Wise or Revolut virtual card in the right currency is the cleanest fix — you can get one for free and it takes about 10 minutes to set up.

FAQ

Will changing my Firestick region cancel my existing Prime subscriptions?

Not automatically, but it can affect them. Your Prime membership is tied to the regional Amazon store, and channel add-ons (like BritBox or Paramount+) may not carry over to a different region. Check what you're subscribed to before switching.

Can Amazon ban my account for using a VPN?

Amazon's terms of service don't explicitly prohibit VPN use. They can restrict content access if they detect a VPN, but account bans for VPN use alone are extremely rare. The main risk is a temporary content block, not losing your account.

Does this work for the Amazon Appstore specifically, or just Prime Video?

Both — but they work slightly differently. Changing your account region opens up different apps in the Appstore. Using a VPN unlocks different Prime Video content libraries. You often need both for the full effect.

I live in Europe — can I access the US Amazon Appstore?

Yes. Follow the steps above to switch your account region to the US, use a US VPN server, and you'll have access to the US Appstore and US Prime Video library. Just be aware that some apps (like US cable network apps) may require a separate US subscription.

What if I travel and want to switch back?

Just reverse the process — reconnect to a server in your home country, go back into Amazon account settings, and switch the region back. It's not instant (Amazon can take a few hours to update everything), but it works.

Does NordVPN work on older Firestick models?

Yes, NordVPN supports Firestick from the second generation onwards. If you've got a really old first-gen Firestick, you might need to sideload the APK — but honestly, at that age it might be worth upgrading the device itself.

Our Honest Recommendation

Changing your Firestick region is genuinely doable — it just requires two things working in tandem: updating your Amazon account country and having a reliable VPN running. Skip either one and you'll hit a wall.

Get NordVPN, switch your account region, restart the stick, and you're watching. That's the short version. And if you hit a snag, the fixes above will cover 90% of what goes wrong.

The 10 minutes of setup is absolutely worth it when you can finally watch the show everyone's been talking about — regardless of which side of a border you happen to be on.