By default, you set your country during the initial installation of Windows 10. The system uses this country selection to configure your time zone, time and date, display language, and keyboard language. Once set, most users never need to modify this setting. However, if you recently moved to a new region or chose the wrong country during setup, you can easily change it with just a few clicks. In this tutorial, I will show you two methods to change the country in Windows 10: using Settings and PowerShell. Let’s get started.
Before You Start
- You need administrator rights to change the country.
Change Country in Windows 10 Using Settings
- Open Settings by pressing Windows key + I.
- Click the Time & Language option.
- Select the Region tab.
- Select your country from the “Country or region” dropdown menu.
- Restart your computer.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, open the Settings app in Windows 10. To do that, press the “Windows key + I” keyboard shortcut or search for “Settings” in the Start menu.
After opening the Settings app, click the Time & Language option and navigate to the Region tab. This is where you can change the country and regional format settings in Windows 10.
On the right panel, select the country of your choice from the “Country or region” dropdown menu.
The change is automatically saved. You can safely close the Settings app. Restart your computer to ensure the settings are applied.
Optional Configuration:
Optionally, you can also change the “Regional format” to the region you want. The regional format determines how the time & date and currency symbols are displayed.
Change Country in Windows 10 Using PowerShell Command
If you prefer using the command line, you can change the country using PowerShell in Windows 10. Here’s how:
Important note: You need to know the geolocation ID of the country you want to set. You can find this ID under the “Geographical location identifier (decimal)” column on the official Microsoft support page.
- Right-click on the Start button.
- Select the Windows PowerShell (Admin) option.
- Run the following command while replacing “GEO_ID” with the actual ID of the country.
Set-WinHomeLocation -GeoID GEO_ID
For example, to set Japan as your country, you will replace GEO_ID with 122.
Once done, close the PowerShell window and restart your computer.
Wrapping Up — Changing Country/Region in Windows 10
As you can see, whether you use the Settings app or PowerShell command, changing the country or region in Windows 10 is pretty easy. While both methods are straightforward, I generally recommend using the Settings app for its simplicity. However, if you prefer the PowerShell approach, make sure to use the correct geolocation ID provided on the Microsoft support page (follow the above link).
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist. Windows 11 users can follow this guide to change the country in Windows 11.
