Video streaming platforms like Prime Video protect the distribution rights of content by placing certain location restrictions. As a result, if you see the error message “This video is unavailable in your country or region,” there is a high chance that you are attempting to watch geo-restricted videos in your region.
Fix ‘This Video is Currently Unavailable to Watch in Your Location’
Now that you know why the issue is coming to your screen, you might be wondering how to resolve it. Worry not; to avoid geo-restrictions, there are some methods that you can try to watch the content from your region. Read on to check them out, and also ensure to go through each method thoroughly before selecting a way because some methods added in this article may require you to pay for it while others are free.
Restart Your Device
One of the most common and well-known methods that works for half of the problems a user faces on their device is restarting. It refreshes the device and gives it a power nap to start from fresh as it clears temporary data and erases background processes that might be the reason for the issue. Hence, restart your device and see if the problem persists or not. If yes, move on to the next fix.
Check if the Streaming Service is Down
Another thing you need to check before moving forward is whether the servers of the streaming service are down or not. There are many instances when platforms face downtime, no matter how big the company is. To check the downtime, just visit an outage detector website like DownDetector, search for the streaming service, and check the spike of the graph, where a huge spike means a lot of users are experiencing an error on the platform and it’s most likely down. If it’s down, just wait for some time, as it can take a few hours for the company to fix the issue. If it’s not down, move on to the next solution below.
Use a VPN
For most users, the issue can be easily fixed with a VPN. For those unfamiliar, VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and it allows users to change their IP address to another country or server and mask the original IP address. In simple words, it makes your network virtually private. After connecting to a VPN, you can easily access the websites blocked in your region. Here’s what you need to do: Step 1: Firstly, select a VPN service of your choice. To get an idea, you can check out our best free VPN article. You can use Paid and Free VPN. Free VPN may not work all the time. Step 2: Download and install the VPN on your device, whether it’s Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Roku, Firestick, or others. Step 3: Open the VPN and log in using the credentials. Step 4: Connect to a server in another country where the video might be available. Step 5: Refresh the video page, and the issue should be removed. If yes, enjoy the video. On the other hand, if you get the same error, connect to a server in another country, and try again; it should eventually work. Using a Virtual Private Network is one of the best ways to unblock a video that’s not available in your location or country.
Use a Proxy
You can also use a proxy to access the video that is unavailable in your location. For those unfamiliar, a proxy is a server or system that acts as an intermediary gateway between the user and the Internet. While there are several proxies available on the internet, you can use Hide.me as it’s somehow safe and free compared to others. Here’s how you can use Hide.me’s proxy: Step 1: Visit the Hide.me proxy browser. Step 2: Enter the video address in the box. Step 3: Select a proxy location from the available ones. You can also choose more settings as per your choice from the More options. Step 4: Tap Go next to the video address, and then you will see the restricted video on your device.
Update Your Browser
If you are watching the video on a browser like Chrome or others, you need to update it, as there are many instances where the error can be caused by an outdated browser. So, if you’re running an outdated browser version, ensure to update it to the latest one. You can also try streaming the video on a different browser to see if the issue is arising because of the browser version. Follow the below steps to update your browser. Step 1: Open the browser in which you are watching the video (in our case, it’s Chrome). Step 2: Click on the three-dot icon at the top, then choose Settings. Step 3: Tap on About, and it will automatically check your browser version and update it if a later version is available. Once done, the browser will restart, and you should be able to watch the video without any issues.
Update the App
Just like the above method, if you are getting the error on the streaming platform’s app in which you are watching the video on your mobile device, you can try updating it. Here’s how you can do it: Step 1: Open the App Store on your device. Step 3: Check if there is an update available. If yes, click on Update to install the latest version. Once updated, check if the “This Video is Currently Unavailable to Watch in Your Location” issue persists or not. Most probably, it should be fixed.
Download the Video
You can also try downloading the video for which you are getting the error. There are several online video downloading websites available on the internet that allow you to download any video from different streaming platforms. Search “XYZ video downloader” in Google, where XYZ refers to the streaming platform, then visit the website and enter the video link. Follow the on-screen instructions to download the video.
Modifying the Video URL
If you get an error on a YouTube video, you can easily access it by modifying its URL. Here’s how you can do it: Step 1: First, navigate to the video on a browser if you watch it on the YouTube app. Step 2: Replace the “watch?v=” with “v/” in the URL field, then hit enter. As soon as you do, YouTube will reload the video, and it should play without any error messages.
Clear Browser Cache
You can also try clearing the browser’s cache and cookies. If the above method does not work then try one of the above methods after clearing cookies as cookies are used to detect real locations that can conflict with the new IP and result in a situation where you still can’t unblock the video. Hence, clear the browser’s cache, then try using one of the methods we have provided above in the article. Step 1: Open the browser; in our case, it’s Chrome. Step 2: Navigate to Settings, then tap Privacy and Security. Step 3: Click on Clear Browsing Data. Step 4: To delete everything, select All Time in the Time Range. Step 5: Select the checkboxes for “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files.” Step 6: Finally, click on Clear Data.
Disable Hardware Acceleration
Although hardware acceleration is used to accelerate graphic-related tasks by using the additional hardware resources on your system, it may at times cause a few issues, like “this video is currently unavailable to watch in your location” on streaming platforms. You can try disabling the feature in your browser. Step 1: Open the Chrome browser. Step 2: Click on the three-dot icon at the top, then select Settings. Step 3: Choose System from the sidebar. Step 4: Turn off the toggle for Use hardware acceleration when available.
Use a Different Browser or Device
If, after trying all the fixes, you still see the same error message while trying to play the video, you need to use a different browser or device to watch the content. Many users have reported that they can get rid of the issue by switching the browser or device. Hence, you can give it a try. For example, if you use the Chrome browser to watch the video, switch to Edge, Brave, or others. You can also switch to the mobile app of the service if there is any. On the other hand, if you are watching on the mobile app, switch to a browser or log into another device’s app. You might be interested in: