How To Change Xbox Region/Location (Can You Get Banned For Doing It?)

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Have you ever wondered about changing the region of your Xbox? Maybe you heard about people doing it to get stuff a little cheaper, and you are always looking for ways to save money.

Obviously, you don’t want to do anything that can get you banned as that is the last thing you want to do. 

So can you get banned for changing regions on the Xbox?

Microsoft has not banned anyone’s account for changing the region of their Xbox. Microsoft said that at this time they were not considering placing bans on users who are clearly from one region but have their console set to a different one.

So you shouldn’t have any issues changing your region on the Xbox or being banned when you change your location but how exactly do you do that? Well, I will cover that in the next section. I will also cover why you might want to consider changing your Xbox region later in this article as well.

If you want to know more about changing the region on your Xbox, you will definitely want to keep reading this article. You can also watch this video below instead if you prefer.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KtG2Mu0xmU

How To Change The Region Or Country On Your Xbox One or Xbox Series X?

Changing the region of your Microsoft account is quite simple. All you have to do is:

• Log in to the Microsoft account
  
• Click on Edit country/region
  
• Update manually the country/region, ZIP code, State, and the Xbox time zone in the respective fields.
  
• Click on “save”.
  

Next, you need to move the region of your Xbox Live account

• Sign into the Xbox profile and click on “Next”.
  
• Select the option “region” from the dropdown box
  
• Finally, click on “I Accept”
  

Lastly, you need to change the region on the gaming console itself.

• Sign in to the Xbox One console
  
• Click on the Xbox button and open the guiding manual
  
• Click on system>settings>system>language and location
  
• Select the new location where you are from the list given and then click on “restart now”.
  

Why Would You Change Your Xbox Region?

Xbox is one of the things that all the kids of the world are talking about. Not only kids, even teenagers, and grown-ups are addicted to the powerful games of the Xbox.

There have been many improvements in the Xbox and the new generation machines are quite good for passing the time or blowing off some steam. Many people talk about changing regions on their Xbox but why would they want to do that in the first place?

There are a few different reasons why you might want to change regions on your Xbox account. The most common reasons to change your region are:

• You are moving to a different part of the world
• You want to save money on your Xbox game purchases (some regions of the world have cheaper prices)
• You want to purchase a game on the Xbox store that has not been released in your region yet
• You want to play a game that is only available in certain supported regions
• The Xbox game pass for that region has games that you want to download and play

Of course, there are a few other reasons besides these that might make you want to change your system’s region but these are the most common.

Since the Xbox is region-free you don’t have to worry about your current games not playing even when you change regions. The only thing you will have to worry about is whether the games that you want to purchase or play are available on that region’s Microsoft store.

Time and again, Xbox has proved its proficiency by becoming one of the preferred consoles of the people. There are different games available for every console and every user is delighted to try their hands at each game.

It’s a huge investment to buy an Xbox and that is why even if you change your country and region, you would want to carry your Xbox console along with you.

If you are in a different region, you can simply change your region to the one you are in to stay connected online. 

When Should You Consider Changing The Region On Your Xbox?

There are primarily two situations when you would think about changing the region on your Xbox. They are:

• When you have moved out to a different country

• When you are already in a region that is different from the one that your console is preloaded to.

• To try and play games from different regions of the world
  

Say for example you live in America but you know that a UK Xbox can get better games or cheaper games than you can get in your own region or country. That is the most common reason why people will want to go to the Xbox website or settings menu and change the region on their devices.

What Can I Lose Or Keep If I Change My Region On The Xbox?

If you are considering changing regions on your Xbox it is important to know what you can and cannot carry over from one region to another.

The profile information of the Xbox 

Your unlocked achievements, your gamer tag, and the other things on your Xbox would successfully move with you when you change the region.

The account balance 

The sad part is that the money in your Microsoft account would not move with you after you change the region. This is why most people just spend the money left in their account before they change the location of the account.

Money cannot be transferred to two different regions.

This can be an issue if you often get an Xbox Live card as a gift as you will be unable to use it to purchase digital content (or DLC) in a region where the card was not purchased at.

Game pass subscription or Xbox Live Gold 

If you have Xbox Live Gold or any subscription, it will move to your new account in the new region. However, if the subscriptions are not available in the new country, they might not work anymore in spite of being active.

If you realize that the subscriptions aren’t working at the new place, just cancel them to stop the recurring billing process.

Restrictions That Might Prevent You From Changing The Region On Your Xbox

If you are facing any issues while changing the region, then there are some conditions that might be responsible. The possible reasons are mentioned below:

• If you have changed the region or country within the last three months, you might have an issue trying to do it again.
  
• When you are not able to change the region successfully, be sure and check your account balance. For example, if the credit card allotted for your subscription expires. Then your Xbox Live account will be inactive and you would not be able to change the location.
  
• You can also face issues if you are a minor. Certain countries only allow Xbox usage at a certain age and can restrict it to minors not being able to use it. If you have moved to a country that follows such a rule, it might not allow you to change the region.
  
• There is also a possibility of you having problems while changing the region if your billing information is incorrect or incomplete.
  
• The system might restrict you from changing the region if you have any previous balance due on your account.
  

Is It Possible To Change The Region Or Location On The Xbox 360?

It is possible to change the region on the Xbox 360, but it’s not as easy as with Xbox One. You would have to migrate the whole Xbox profile and that could affect the other services and subscriptions. We have mentioned below the steps to change the region for the Xbox 360 console:

• Input the email address and password associated with your Microsoft account and press the button to “sign in”.
  
• You have to add the new billing address of your new region and the credit card details. So, enter them manually on the stipulated fields.
  
• On the console, go to the option “settings” and click on “System”.
  
• Under it, follow the path: console settings> language and location> location
  
• Select the location, which you want to use and you are good to go.

Changing the region of the Xbox is not a mandatory step to follow when you have changed locations but it is something many people choose to do.

Microsoft allows you to do it when you have not changed the location for three months so if you are planning to change your region just to get some games and then change back immediately this will not work well.

Most of the time it is better to simply stay in the region that you are in and buy the physical games from other regions rather than trying to change the region on your console over and over again.

Do You Need A VPN To Change Xbox Regions?

A VPN changes the IP address of your devices to help you get around region-locked content such as when watching Netflix, renting movies that aren’t available in your country, etc. But do you actually need to use a VPN server to change regions on your Xbox?

As of right now, you do not have to physically be in a region to set your Xbox to have that country’s region. All you need to do if follow the instructions mentioned above and you can easily change the region on your Xbox.

However, it is possible that in the future Microsoft will require you to be in a certain country to be able to change to that region on your Xbox. So if that happens then having a VPN would be necessary to be able to change regions and get the games and make other purchases in those countries.

But, for right now you do not need a VPN to change the region on your Xbox.

Conclusion

Now that you know you are not going to get banned for changing your location or region on the original Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X you can go ahead and do it without worrying about being banned from playing. 

There are many reasons you would want to change the region on your console, and a lot of people prefer to do this once they get tired of the games in their region and they want to try out some other games in different regions.

You will just want to make sure that you are not planning on trying to change your region back within 3 months as some people have had issues with that, and the system not allowing them to change it back that soon. 

No matter what region you are in, and what region you are from, Microsoft has some amazing games, and those games are fun to play online and against friends locally.

So go ahead and change that location, and enjoy playing games and trying out other games from different cultures.