Geo-spoofing: How to change your location online – Comparitech
If you want to unblock region-locked websites and services, you’ll need a VPN. We’ll show you how to pretend to be in a different country and let you know the best VPNs to fake your location.
Geo-spoofing is the process of changing your location or country online so you can appear to be in a location of your choosing. It’s hugely popular and usually achieved by using a VPN. There are lots of reasons to use geo-spoofing but the most common are to access blocked content, apps and streaming services or to conceal your real location to protect your privacy.
Chances are you’ve come across geo-blocked content online. This is often due to copyright and licensing issues, which is why streaming services such as Netflix or Disney+ have different content from one region to another. Additionally, some countries have very strict online censorship, which might mean that anything from online gambling to political blogs could be blocked. Fortunately, a VPN lets you fake your location, providing you with access to otherwise restricted content. This means if you travel abroad you can still connect to your usual home streaming services, websites and apps.
A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, offers a number of benefits. First, it lets you fake your location which enables you to view content that’s usually inaccessible in your current location. However, VPNs also offer several security advantages. In particular, they encrypt your internet traffic and hide your real IP address and location. As such, you can enjoy greater online freedom and improved privacy and anonymity when using a VPN.
How to pretend to be in a different country (fake your location) with a VPN
The process of faking your location is the same whether you’re connecting to a server in the US or Australia. Below is our short step-by-step guide explaining how you can quickly and easily spoof your location.
Here’s how to fake your location with a VPN:
1. First, sign up with a VPN provider – we particularly recommend NordVPN. However, Surfshark and ExpressVPN are two strong alternatives.
2. Next, download and install the appropriate VPN app for your device. Many of the best VPNs also offer browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
3. Open your VPN app (or browser extension) and connect to a server in the country from which you want to browse. For example, you’d use a server in the US to unblock Netflix US.
4. You now have a new, temporary IP address which you can use to unblock geo-restricted online content.
5. Still finding blocked content? Try clearing your browser’s cache and cookies. You may also connect to another server in case the IP address you’re using has been blacklisted. Alternatively, contact your VPN’s customer support for further guidance.
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How to fake your location in Google Chrome
Some browsers such as Google Chrome use the latest geo-location API which means they may be able to detect your location even if you’re connected to a VPN. The best way to protect against this is to connect to a VPN’s browser extension. However, you can also block location sharing by turning off geo-location settings within your browser.
Here’s how to fake your location in Google Chrome (with a VPN):
1. Click on the three dots in the top right corner of your Chrome window and select Settings.
2. Click on the Advanced tab on the left hand side of the screen.
3. Select Privacy and Security and then Site settings.
4. Select Location underneath the Permissions section.
5. Finally, click the toggle button so that location-sharing is blocked. Now you can simply follow the steps above to set up the VPN of your choice.
How to fake your location on Android
It’s also possible to fake your location on your Android device. However, it’s worth knowing that this is more difficult on iOS as it requires the phone to be jailbroken.
Here’s how to turn off location tracking on Android:
Go to Settings
Search for Security and Location.
Turn off Location.
Note that the menu layout and titles vary from phone to phone. As such, it may be easier to simply type ‘location’ in the search bar in order to quickly find what you’re looking for.
Best VPNs to fake your location
Ready to unblock geo-restricted content while enjoying greater online privacy? Here’s our list of the best VPNs for faking or spoofing your location:
NordVPN: Best VPN for faking your location. Unblock Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Offers over 5, 000 servers including P2P and Double VPN servers. 24/7 support and a strict no-logs policy.
Surfshark: Budget choice. Secure an unlimited number of devices simultaneously. Unblock Netflix and Disney+. No-logs VPN with Double VPN servers. Includes 24/7 live chat support.
ExpressVPN: Good all-rounder with consistent connections and servers in over 90 countries. Secure with encryption and very user-friendly. Unblocks Netflix and includes 24/7 support.
CyberGhost: Easy for beginners. No-logs VPN with very fast servers in 90 countries. Connect up to 7 devices simultaneously. Includes 24/7 live chat support and very strong security.
IPVanish: Servers in 15 US cities for watching Netflix US abroad. Allows up to 10 simultaneous connections. No-logs policy and encryption for your online security.
PrivateVPN: High-speed VPN for streaming and torrenting. Easy-to-use apps and live chat support. Protects your privacy with a no-logs policy and encryption.
Hotspot Shield: Fake your location with 70 countries. Servers in 27 US cities for watching Amazon Prime Video. Beginner-friendly apps and secured with encryption.
There are plenty of factors to consider when choosing a VPN. These include the available server locations, connection speed, and security features. We based our selection of the best VPNs for faking your location on the following criteria:
Servers in dozens of countries
Fast, consistent connections
Protects your privacy with encryption
Beginner-friendly desktop and mobile apps
Offers live chat and email support
Supports multiple simultaneous connections
What is geo-spoofing?
You may have come across the term “geo-spoofing”. Spoofing your location is just another term for faking or hiding your location. This requires changing your IP address. One of the easiest ways to spoof your location is to use a VPN. This allows you to connect to a server in another country and obtain a different IP address.
Why would I want to pretend to be in a different country?
There are two main reasons to use a VPN to fake your location. The first is to access geo-restricted content. For many people, this means streaming services such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer. However, some countries have strict online censorship which can mean blocks for anything from social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to news and political sites. Connecting to a server abroad and obtaining a new IP address is a way around this.
The second reason to pretend to be in a different country with a VPN is security. A VPN helps protect your online privacy. In countries with limited freedom such as China and Saudi Arabia, a VPN can be essential for avoiding government surveillance. A VPN secures your data with encryption and hides your location, protecting you from hackers and snoopers. Plus, if you choose a no-logs VPN, you can rest easy knowing that your personal information stays private at all times.
Can I use a free VPN to pretend to be in a different country?
While there are plenty of free VPNs on the market, we recommend you stay away from them. If you want to fake your location, free VPNs can prove limiting due to the lack of servers and server locations. Furthermore, the average free VPN service is very slow. This is often down to heavy server load as well as bandwidth throttling by VPN providers.
The poor performance of free VPNs makes for slow browsing but is particularly frustrating when streaming and torrenting. Even if you find a free VPN that offers reasonable speed, it’s possible you’ll encounter poor unblocking abilities. For example, most free VPNs are unable to unblock popular streaming services such as Netflix and DAZN.
Despite all this, we still haven’t mentioned the biggest flaw of free VPNs — security. When you use a free VPN service your data may not be secured with encryption. The service may also lack a kill switch that protects your data from leaks. While some free VPNs make money through advertising, some log your browsing data and sell it to third parties.
anonymoX for Chrome – Download
Surf anonymously with ChromeanonymoX for Chrome is an add-on that gives you fast, anonymous browsing in the click of a button. If you’re concerned about privacy online, anonymoX is a good option. When enabled, you’ll be able to pick a random IP, delete cookies and view your public IP, all with a view to making life online just that little bit problem with many IP hiders and proxies is that they are complicated to set up and can seriously slow down browsing. Not so with anonymoX. It installs as easily as a regular Chrome add-on, and automatically enables a random “identity”. By clicking on the anonymoX icon beside the address bar, you’ll then be able to pick a specific identity from the list provided, including US, European and Asian IPs. anonymoX goes a step further by also helpfully prompting you to delete your cookies when leaving a website or changing identities, preventing that site from recognizing you. The app also lets you swap between its own service and Tor, and you can enable anonymoX information in the bottom add-on bar, showing you what identity you are currently connected to, and which IP is publicly visible. Clicking on this information will allow you to change it. anonymoX is a good little service, although not particularly flexible. The configuration options are pretty much limited to what you see in the interface, but this means, of course, that the service is very simple to use. Using most identities, we also found anonymoX to be pretty fast, but, as always, some locales were slower than others, especially when choosing the US. If you are looking for casual and infrequent IP hiding when using Chrome, anonymoX is a good free option. You could always upgrade to the premium service, but if you are looking for slightly more detailed and/or configurable anonymization, we suggest you look free, casual anonymization, anonymoX is a great, easy-to-use Chrome tool. PROSVery easy to usePick between geographic localesGenerally very fast
How to Spoof your Location on Desktop, Android and iOS – PureVPN
Why Would You Fake Your Location? Think about the numerous services and applications that feed on your location. Whether it’s for security reasons or recreational purposes, faking your location comes with its own set of advantages. Dating Faking your location on a dating app can get you results outside your physical radius and match with someone available elsewhere. You might be looking for people outside your area/city if you’re travelling to a destination or plan on moving there in the future. Setting a different location can keep you ahead in the dating game. Gaming GPS powers Location-based games such as Pokémon GO. If you’re not in the mood to physically head out and catch Pokémon characters, you can simply connect to the VPN service and travel anywhere around the globe. This will trick your phone into believing you’re in a particular location while you’re comfortably sitting on your sofa at home. TV Shows/Movies Online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu host a vast catalogue of TV shows and movies, but most of them are subject to geo-restriction. If you’re in a region where the catalogue is limited, connect with a VPN to unlock TV shows and movies unavailable in your region. For example, connect to the US IP address to access local US content from anywhere in the world. Deals/Discounts Several deals and discounts are taking place at a given time. However, not all of them are available in each region. By spoofing your location, you can avail deals and discounts that are unavailable in your region. For example, if there’s a deal on a product on Amazon’s US store and you reside in the UK, you can connect to the US IP address and avail the discount instantly. Online Privacy Faking your location is an excellent way of obscuring your online identity. You can virtually travel around the globe while sitting in a location. You can also use your fake GPS location to fool your family or friends in your location-sharing app, hide your actual location from apps that request it, and even set your actual location if GPS satellites aren’t doing a great job finding it for you. GPS Spoofing Problems While GPS Spoofing can be fun, it isn’t always helpful. Since GPS spoofing isn’t a device native feature, it’s not like you can tap a button to get it going. Also, spoofing your GPS location doesn’t always work for each app on your device that feeds on your location. Installing a fake GPS location app on your device means that all apps that need your location data would use the fake location. If you’re using a fake location to avail of deals/discounts in a particular region, other apps would also assume you are in that region. This can get annoying as all your preferences would change each time you change your location. If you’re tricking your device to believe you’re in a particular location, it will affect not just one but all the apps installed on your device. Things like weather, maps, family-based location sharing, checking-in and other location-essential apps would get confused. Faking GPS Location on Android Smartphones Here’s how you can fake your GPS location on an Android device: Head over to Google’s Play store > Fake GPS Location – GPS Joystick. Once installed, launch the app and tap the ‘Set Location’ option. Open the map to select the fake location of your choice via the help of the Latitude and Longitude line in GPS Joystick. Hit Start > Draw Permission Required > Settings. Select Permit drawing over other apps and go back. Hit Start, enable a mock location. Head over to the phone’s Settings > About > locate the Build Number. Keep tapping the Build Number until you enter Developer Mode. Head back to your phone’s Settings > Developer Options > under mock location, tap GPS Joystick. Head over to the GPS Joystick app and tap Start. To check if your new location is active, head over to Google Maps. Once there, you will be able to see your updated location. Faking GPS Location on iPhone Unlike an Android phone where you can conveniently fake a GPS location, iPhone requires more effort. You’ll have to use a computer, and it only works with iPhones running iOS 12 or older. Install iTools on a computer and connect your iPhone to the computer. Open iTools and click the Virtual Location button. Type the location of your choice to fake the location and press Enter. The faked location would move on the map. Click Move Here. Once done, exit iTools and disconnect your iPhone from the computer. iPhone Location Spoofing Another software enables you to fake your GPS location, and that too requires a computer. It’s worth mentioning that you want to do this without jailbreaking your iPhone. The app is called iSpoofer, and it’s available on Windows and Mac. The trial period of the app is free for three days, which is more than you need to fake your GPS location on an iPhone. The app works well with iPhone and iPad devices. On a Windows or Mac device, download and install iSpoofer. Plug your iPhone into your computer > open iSpoofer> select Spoof. In case a message appears about the three-day trial, select Continue Trial. Tap OK when prompted to download an iOS Developer Disk Image file. Now, choose the location where you want the GPS to be faked on the map. Select Move to hover to a location. That’s it. Your fake location has been updated. Here are some more guide to further erase your online presence: How to Block Someone on Facebook Anonymously How to Protect Webcome from Being Hacked Turn Off Location Sharing on Chrome Super Cookies Is Jailbreaking Safe How to Delete WhatsApp? How to Uninstall Dropbox from Your Desktop or Mobile How To Delete Skype Account Is NSA Spying on Me How to Delete Your Google Voice History How To Delete Google Photos How to Delete Safari How To Delete Instagram Account How to Hide Browser History from ISP How To Close Amazon Account How To Delete Tinder Account How To Delete Twitter Account How To Delete Facebook Messenger
Frequently Asked Questions about spoof ip chrome
How do I spoof my location on Chrome?
Spoofing your location is just another term for faking or hiding your location. This requires changing your IP address. One of the easiest ways to spoof your location is to use a VPN. This allows you to connect to a server in another country and obtain a different IP address.Apr 8, 2021
How do I spoof an IP address?
It installs as easily as a regular Chrome add-on, and automatically enables a random “identity”. By clicking on the anonymoX icon beside the address bar, you’ll then be able to pick a specific identity from the list provided, including US, European and Asian IPs.Jun 12, 2019
How do I use anonymoX on Chrome?
Head over to Google’s Play store > Fake GPS Location – GPS Joystick. Once installed, launch the app and tap the ‘Set Location’ option. Open the map to select the fake location of your choice via the help of the Latitude and Longitude line in GPS Joystick. Hit Start > Draw Permission Required > Settings.