Having trouble downloading, installing, or updating apps because you get an error that your account is not in this store? Wondering why and what you can do about it?
Several users have reported that an error message prevents users from buying/downloading/updating apps. The error message is: Account Not In This Store. Your account is not valid for use in the … Store. You must switch to … Store before purchasing.
For example, account not in this store. Your account is not valid for use in the German store. You must switch to the US store before purchasing.
This message often appears when you are in a different country or region other than your home country, like when traveling for business, taking a vacation, or working and living abroad.
Quick Tips
Follow These Quick Tips To Get Your App Store Working Again
If applicable, change your country or region for the iTunes and App Store
If in a Family Sharing Group, verify the country and region settings with the designated Family Organizer
Sign out of the App Store and then sign back in
Make sure you do not have any restrictions on your device
Try turning WiFi on your device off and back on again (add a restart in-between if it doesn’t work at first)
Check that your billing address on your Apple ID is set to your current country of residence address
Sign out of your Apple ID on the iTunes & App Store and then sign back in
Update your country of residence for your Apple ID
Seeing Account Not in this Store in Error? Sign Out of App Store and Sign Back In!
When you sign out of the App Store app, you usually see a prompt to sign back into the App Store with your Apple ID in the current region or country you’re located in.
How To Sign Out of App Store
Open the App Store app and choose the Today tab
Tap the profile picture or icon in the upper-right corner
Choose Sign Out
At the prompt, enter your Apple ID and password
Tap Sign In
Wait while the App Store connect to Apple’s Servers and verifies your credentials
When the sign in is successful, tap your Name and Apple ID
Look at the Country/Region setting and confirm it’s correct
If it’s incorrect, open a web browser (like Safari) and go to your Apple ID account page and change your Apple ID information
You must also enter a payment method for your new country or region
Spend any store credit before changing regions/countries
Cancel all subscriptions including Apple Music
If in a family sharing plan, leave that family sharing group. Country and Region settings are managed by the family organizer
Once you verify information is correct, tap Done
Toggle WiFi
Several readers let us know that simply toggling WiFi off, waiting 20-30 seconds, and then toggling WiFi back on fix this issue. If that didn’t work, try adding a restart or force restart in between the toggling off and on and see if that does the trick.
Check Any Restrictions
First, check that you don’t have any restrictions enabled by going to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
For older iOS, go to General > Restrictions
Sign Out and In of iTunes & App Stores to Fix This Account Issue
Tap Settings > Apple ID Profile > iTunes & App Stores
You see your Apple ID; tap it, and a pop up shows up
Tap Sign Out
Enter your Apple ID and password to sign back in
Go to the Home Screen or App Store and try downloading your app again
Try Changing Your iTunes and App Store Country
When you change your Apple ID (App Store or iTunes Store) country of residence, you must spend any current balance you have before you change to a new country setting. Store balances DO NOT transfer.
Update Country or Region on your iDevice
Go to Settings > iTunes & App Store
Tap on your Apple ID
Choose View Apple ID
Tap on Country/Region
Choose Change Country or Region
Choose your new area
Make sure you choose a location that matches your payment method’s billing address
Agree to the terms and conditions
Enter a payment method that has your current address (new location) as the billing address
Tap Next, and you’re good to go!
Can’t Change The Country?
If you are unable to change your country, it’s likely that you are part of a Family Sharing Plan. Ask the Family Organizer to change the country or region or leave the Family plan.
Your Apple ID country or region updates for all of your Apple services on all of your Apple products that use the same Apple ID
Update Settings in iTunes or Via Apple ID Website
Open iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC and sign in to your Apple ID Account Information page and select Account > View My Account at the top of the iTunes window
Enter Your Apple ID and Passcode if requested
On the Account Information page, look to the right of Country/Region and choose Change Country or Region
From the select a country or region menu, choose your new country or region
Click Change
On the Welcome to the iTunes Store page, tap Continue
Agree to the Terms and Conditions and Apple Privacy Policy
Enter your new payment information and billing address
When you change your billing address from your Apple ID account page or through the iTunes Store or App Store, it updates your billing address for all of the Apple services with which you use the same Apple ID
When you change your billing address from your Apple ID account page or through the iTunes Store or App Store, it updates your billing address for all of the Apple services with which you use the same Apple ID
Seeing your country cannot be changed at this time. Learn more?
If your country or region is grayed out and not allowing you to make any changes, it’s likely that your account still has a credit on it. Spend that remaining balance, and it should work.
If you belong to a family sharing group, you must exit the group before changing your country and region.
Before you change your country or region
Your store credit is associated with the individual country’s or regions store, so spend any remaining credit before changing your country
Download all your past purchases to your device(s)
Cancel any subscriptions, including Apple Music! These must be subscribed to again in the new country’s store
Back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iTunes (your iCloud account is tied to your country, so it’s safer to trust iTunes for this backup)
If you’re a part of a Family Sharing group, you might not be able to change your country or region until you leave that Family Sharing group
When you shift iTunes and Apple Store countries or areas, you should download all your past purchases before you change your country or region. You may be able to re-download them after you make the change, depending on the new store’s availability and local laws, but it’s not guaranteed.
Only One iTunes/App Store Allowed
At this time, you cannot purchase any media (music, apps, and so forth) from an iTunes or App Store different from the store where you list your residence on your Apple ID account.
Your billing address (and your credit card) determine which country’s Apple Store you can make purchases from.
When you visit another country, even if for an extended visit, Apple does not allow you to purchase apps from any other iTunes or App stores other than your resident country’s store.
Reader Tips
For folks seeing this on the Mac App Store, try the following:
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.
In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.
I changed my country to Australia from US and between this process,I was using a VPN set to Australia.Now,the store was changed to Australia but I can’t download any apps or games (aka Warzone Mobile) because this same error shows up.I did sign out and sign in again but didn’t work.Help needed.
“his message often appears when you are in a different country or region other than your home country,”
No it does not. It has nothing to do with travelling, Your article is misleading.
This is because you have recently changed your icloud region to different billing country. However the App Store on some devices get out of sync.
I know this because I change my region approximately 3 times a year to access apps that are restricted to specific countries or regions. Also, I nearly never in the country that my icloud region is set to.
The app store is out of sync. Usually, logging in and out of my iphone, and rebooting it, solves the problem.
I can’t watch anything on my Apple TV app I just purchased. It’s telling me the shows/movies/etc… are not available in my country or region. I still live in the same are since 1985. When I go to change my country or region it tells me I have 2 or more Apple TV’s and must cancel the devices.
This is why people are ditching Apple products.
Not just computers phones and those stupid watches too.
Greedy company scrambling to achieve a Darwin award.
THANK YOU. I was about to try to waste my itunes money because that’s what it kept prompting me to do and it was getting frustrating so thank you very much.
This happened to my kids and me (we have 5 iPhones + several macs all joined together through Family Share) and I tried all of the above plus spending 3 hours on the phone with Apple Support and talking with four different members of their Apple Support team. All the regions were the same; we turned on and off the computers, iPhones, AppleID, iTunes and App Store several times.
That wasn’t the problem. Four IT specialists later, they finally pinpointed the problem.
The problem was that we had all initially used my husband’s Apple ID to set up the iPhones. All of the apps were automatically downloaded because they were part of his profile. My husband’s Apple ID must have the region set to US. So when we tried to update the applications that were initially downloaded via his Apple ID, we received this error message (because we are not living in the US). The only way to fix this was to delete every single application and then re-download them again using our own IDs. Takes a lot of time, but only a fraction of the time I spent on the phone with the Apple IT Service team.
I own an iPhone 6s. For the last three weeks, I have been getting an “Account Not In This Store” error message when I attempt to download updates for my apps.
With respect to my Apple account, only my credit card information needed updating (and I have done that) as my previous card expired in October 2018. My only other change was from the US store to the TT store.
I have tried the tips listed in the “toolbox”, however, I am still encountering the same error message when I try to download. I have been trying for the last week to resolve this condition; I am now out of ideas!!!!
I set everyday ipads and iphones devices for business users and I create the iCloud id which is set correctly to the country and billing address with NONE as form of payment and address filled correctly. Once i sign into apple store in the device, when trying to download anything, it gives me this crap message.
The way out is, go to your country region select another country and go back and select the country in which you register in first place, its takes, STUPIDLY, back to the payment details, which you need to put NONE as form of payment and do not filing anything again(address)…as you/i already done via apple id website when registering the icloud account.
WHY I NEED TO TO AGAIN INTO THE DEVICE!? …pathetic!!!
Thanks Karen – after trying all the other above ideas, it was your sign out from the App store and back in that got me back from the US store to my home UK store.
I have never lived in another country, my billing information is US, the computer and iPhone are in the US, but keeps saying I am trying to purchase something from UK store and need to switch, except I’m unable to do that.
I PURACHASE I PHONE X IN KUWAIT VIVA ,NOW ICANT DOWNLOAD AND UPDATE APPLICATIONS IN APPSTORE..NOW THE DOWNLOADING TIME NOW IN INDIAN STORE U MUST SWITCH IN TO KUWAIT STORE TO COING MESSAGE,HOW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM
Inadequate answer. On my new Macbook with High Sierra MacOs there is no such setting as iTunes & App Stores > Apple ID > View Apple ID. My company in New Zealand purchased this for me when I was there and now back home in the U.S. I am suddenly unable to purchase anything from the APple Store.
It says I need to change Store Location so I click that, but then it just hangs
Please follow these steps to change the store on your MacBook. Please note: if you have any store balance remaining, you will NOT be able to change your iTunes Store. You must spend the full balance before you can change your store–balances do not currently transfer
Update Settings in iTunes or Via Apple ID Website
Open iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC and sign in to your Apple ID Account Information page and select Account > View My Account at the top of the iTunes window
Enter Your Apple ID and Passcode if requested
On the Account Information page, look to the right of Country/Region and choose Change Country or Region
From the Select a country or region menu, select your new country or region
Click Change
On the Welcome to the iTunes Store page, click Continue
Review the Terms and Conditions and Apple Privacy Policy and select I have read and agree to these terms and conditions
Click Agree
Enter your new payment information. You have to enter a valid payment method for your new country or region
Enter your billing address
Click Continue
When you change your billing address from your Apple ID account page or through the iTunes Store or App Store, it updates your billing address for all of the Apple services with which you use the same Apple ID
“Your account is not valid for use in the Spanish store. You must switch to the Swedish store before purchasing.” So I click “Change Store” and nothing happens.
I am British and prefer to use English. I am resident in Sweden, my AppleId is there, my bank account is there. I am in Spain for an extended period but am not formally resident here.
Sorry to hear about your issues with the iTunes/App Stores. Try going into your Settings App and updating the information there.
Tap Settings > iTunes & App Stores > Apple ID > View Apple ID
Tap Country/Region
Choose Change Country/Region
Select the region where you are located
Review the Terms and Conditions and Apple Privacy Policy and select Agree
Provide Credit Card info if requested
Update your payment details to reflect your current country of residence and billing address
Your Apple ID country or region updates for all of your Apple services on all of your Apple products that use the same Apple ID
If the problem persists, contact Apple Support to help sort out the issue. If you’re a resident of Sweden and your billing address is also Sweden, your store should be Sweden, not Spain.
I downloaded whatsapp from India store, while in USA.
Now the update ask to change the store in USA. I tried all the options but it does not change the country to India – even after putting indian credit card info. I created new apple ID through my friend in India, used that and again it changed the region to US, without me doing anything after using that to login to iTunes/App Store on my phone in USA.
As I am already using whatsapp, i dont want to lose all the data in there by deleting & downloading again.
Unfortunately, Apple makes a move to a new country/region rather difficult. Here’s their current info.
What to do before changing your country or region
Re-download any past purchases that you want to keep on your device. Your Purchased section no longer shows items that you purchased from the store in the previous country or region. You won’t be able to update these apps or content without downloading or purchasing them again in your new country or region. Additionally, if you use iCloud Music Library, the content in your library won’t appear in your library after you change your country or region.
Spend any store credit remaining on your Apple ID. You must also wait for any pending store credit refunds to process before you can change your country or region.
Cancel any subscriptions and wait for any memberships, pre-orders, iTunes movie rentals, or Season Passes to complete.
Update your payment method. For example, only German credit cards can be used to buy content from the German iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and App Store. Have your credit or debit card for your new country on hand.
Back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iTunes. You might need to temporarily downgrade your iCloud storage until you switch to the new country.
If you’re a part of a Family Sharing group, you might not be able to change your country or region. Learn how to leave a Family Sharing group.
My (foreign) employer requires me to install apps from the (foreign) app store. 1st option did not work for me. 2nd option requires me to register a ‘local’ credit card number, which I do not have and a local address. This is very complicated. I assume I need to change this back to my original account details after installation of the apps (and do this again for downloading any updates). Is there an easier way to resolve the issue?
I tried both solutions, but it still doesn’t work. I even rebooted my iPad, and it doesn’t work even after doing that. Help, please? I have this problem since I downloaded iOS7…
Ask the Family Organizer to change the country or region or leave the Family plan.
Saad Al Ferdous says
I changed my country to Australia from US and between this process,I was using a VPN set to Australia.Now,the store was changed to Australia but I can’t download any apps or games (aka Warzone Mobile) because this same error shows up.I did sign out and sign in again but didn’t work.Help needed.
Kaylee says
Hi it didn’t work
Helder says
Ayy it actually worked, thank you so much.
Onyeka says
I’m so grateful for this
It’s really helpful and now I can have access to my App Store again
sophie says
“his message often appears when you are in a different country or region other than your home country,”
No it does not. It has nothing to do with travelling, Your article is misleading.
This is because you have recently changed your icloud region to different billing country. However the App Store on some devices get out of sync.
I know this because I change my region approximately 3 times a year to access apps that are restricted to specific countries or regions. Also, I nearly never in the country that my icloud region is set to.
The app store is out of sync. Usually, logging in and out of my iphone, and rebooting it, solves the problem.
Paula says
I can’t watch anything on my Apple TV app I just purchased. It’s telling me the shows/movies/etc… are not available in my country or region. I still live in the same are since 1985. When I go to change my country or region it tells me I have 2 or more Apple TV’s and must cancel the devices.
Mansour says
Sign out and in solved it for me thanks alot
Ern says
I met this messege when I tried to download a game (Animal Crossing). I will try this method to download the game.
ReB says
Tried on an iPhone and it worked 100%
grk says
I’ve upgraded to OSX catalina. I went to view my account and updated the region.
It worked Thanks!!
Skive Jems says
This tips are great and it works for me!
Salamat po ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Génesis says
Yep
Brian Buxton says
This is why people are ditching Apple products.
Not just computers phones and those stupid watches too.
Greedy company scrambling to achieve a Darwin award.
vic says
THANK YOU. I was about to try to waste my itunes money because that’s what it kept prompting me to do and it was getting frustrating so thank you very much.
Natalie Tarnopolsky says
This happened to my kids and me (we have 5 iPhones + several macs all joined together through Family Share) and I tried all of the above plus spending 3 hours on the phone with Apple Support and talking with four different members of their Apple Support team. All the regions were the same; we turned on and off the computers, iPhones, AppleID, iTunes and App Store several times.
That wasn’t the problem. Four IT specialists later, they finally pinpointed the problem.
The problem was that we had all initially used my husband’s Apple ID to set up the iPhones. All of the apps were automatically downloaded because they were part of his profile. My husband’s Apple ID must have the region set to US. So when we tried to update the applications that were initially downloaded via his Apple ID, we received this error message (because we are not living in the US). The only way to fix this was to delete every single application and then re-download them again using our own IDs. Takes a lot of time, but only a fraction of the time I spent on the phone with the Apple IT Service team.
Dinara Akhmetova says
Thank you!!!!
Margaret Ross says
WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!?!?
Oscar Baptiste says
I own an iPhone 6s. For the last three weeks, I have been getting an “Account Not In This Store” error message when I attempt to download updates for my apps.
With respect to my Apple account, only my credit card information needed updating (and I have done that) as my previous card expired in October 2018. My only other change was from the US store to the TT store.
I have tried the tips listed in the “toolbox”, however, I am still encountering the same error message when I try to download. I have been trying for the last week to resolve this condition; I am now out of ideas!!!!
Natalie Tarnopolsky says
Try deleting your apps completely and then downloading them again.
Alex Fraguglia says
IT’s A FLAW FROM APPLE.
I set everyday ipads and iphones devices for business users and I create the iCloud id which is set correctly to the country and billing address with NONE as form of payment and address filled correctly. Once i sign into apple store in the device, when trying to download anything, it gives me this crap message.
The way out is, go to your country region select another country and go back and select the country in which you register in first place, its takes, STUPIDLY, back to the payment details, which you need to put NONE as form of payment and do not filing anything again(address)…as you/i already done via apple id website when registering the icloud account.
WHY I NEED TO TO AGAIN INTO THE DEVICE!? …pathetic!!!
Karen says
Signing out of the App Store and signing back in prompted the link back to the Au store.
John Mc says
Thanks Karen – after trying all the other above ideas, it was your sign out from the App store and back in that got me back from the US store to my home UK store.
Lisa says
I have never lived in another country, my billing information is US, the computer and iPhone are in the US, but keeps saying I am trying to purchase something from UK store and need to switch, except I’m unable to do that.
SK says
Hi Lisa,
Since you have tried and been unable to switch your information, call Apple directly and explain the problem to them.
There might be something on your account at their end that’s making this challenging.
Sam
joe says
I sign out and sign in again and its solved the problem.
Nana Yaw says
Amazing. signed out and signed in again and it worked.
Thanks!!!!!
Jasmine says
iPhone payments mode can’t changes it show disabled. Please advise
Dinesh says
Please change my account from us store to Indian store
SK says
Hi Dinesh,
We cannot change your store. That switch is something you must do on your own–you can do this on your Apple device or via a computer.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
On your device, tap Settings > Apple ID > iTunes & App Store
Tap your Apple ID, then tap View Apple ID–sign in if asked
Tap Country/Region, then tap “Change Country or Region”
Tap your new country or region, then review the Terms & Conditions
Tap Agree in the upper-right corner, then tap Agree again to confirm
Select a payment method and enter your new payment information and billing address, then tap Next
Your Apple ID country or region updates for all of your Apple services on all of your Apple products
Change on a computer
Open iTunes and select Account > View My Account
Sign in with your Apple ID, then click View Account
On the Account Information page, click “Change Country or Region” to the right of Country/Region
From the “Select a country or region” menu, select your new country or region
Review the Terms & Conditions, then click Agree. Click Agree again to confirm
Sam
ANAS says
I PURACHASE I PHONE X IN KUWAIT VIVA ,NOW ICANT DOWNLOAD AND UPDATE APPLICATIONS IN APPSTORE..NOW THE DOWNLOADING TIME NOW IN INDIAN STORE U MUST SWITCH IN TO KUWAIT STORE TO COING MESSAGE,HOW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM
zahid Naeem says
acoount is not in this store ipnoe 7 i try the country region but not slove my problem please help me
Cindy says
Inadequate answer. On my new Macbook with High Sierra MacOs there is no such setting as iTunes & App Stores > Apple ID > View Apple ID. My company in New Zealand purchased this for me when I was there and now back home in the U.S. I am suddenly unable to purchase anything from the APple Store.
It says I need to change Store Location so I click that, but then it just hangs
Cindy
SK says
HI Cindy,
Please follow these steps to change the store on your MacBook. Please note: if you have any store balance remaining, you will NOT be able to change your iTunes Store. You must spend the full balance before you can change your store–balances do not currently transfer
Update Settings in iTunes or Via Apple ID Website
Open iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC and sign in to your Apple ID Account Information page and select Account > View My Account at the top of the iTunes window
Enter Your Apple ID and Passcode if requested
On the Account Information page, look to the right of Country/Region and choose Change Country or Region
From the Select a country or region menu, select your new country or region
Click Change
On the Welcome to the iTunes Store page, click Continue
Review the Terms and Conditions and Apple Privacy Policy and select I have read and agree to these terms and conditions
Click Agree
Enter your new payment information. You have to enter a valid payment method for your new country or region
Enter your billing address
Click Continue
When you change your billing address from your Apple ID account page or through the iTunes Store or App Store, it updates your billing address for all of the Apple services with which you use the same Apple ID
Hope that clarifies.
Michael Collinson says
“Your account is not valid for use in the Spanish store. You must switch to the Swedish store before purchasing.” So I click “Change Store” and nothing happens.
I am British and prefer to use English. I am resident in Sweden, my AppleId is there, my bank account is there. I am in Spain for an extended period but am not formally resident here.
Any solution?
SK says
Hi Michael,
Sorry to hear about your issues with the iTunes/App Stores. Try going into your Settings App and updating the information there.
Tap Settings > iTunes & App Stores > Apple ID > View Apple ID
Tap Country/Region
Choose Change Country/Region
Select the region where you are located
Review the Terms and Conditions and Apple Privacy Policy and select Agree
Provide Credit Card info if requested
Update your payment details to reflect your current country of residence and billing address
Your Apple ID country or region updates for all of your Apple services on all of your Apple products that use the same Apple ID
If the problem persists, contact Apple Support to help sort out the issue. If you’re a resident of Sweden and your billing address is also Sweden, your store should be Sweden, not Spain.
SK
unsatisfied customer says
JHC, can Apple be any more worthless!?!?!?!
Every software company in the world about is available internationally, yet Apple decides to be different. Reason why? Tax reasons?
By the way I can’t change stores because I have to “spend the balance in the current store first”.
It’s insane! Apple get your stuff together, this sucks!!!
Whatsapp user says
I downloaded whatsapp from India store, while in USA.
Now the update ask to change the store in USA. I tried all the options but it does not change the country to India – even after putting indian credit card info. I created new apple ID through my friend in India, used that and again it changed the region to US, without me doing anything after using that to login to iTunes/App Store on my phone in USA.
As I am already using whatsapp, i dont want to lose all the data in there by deleting & downloading again.
Anyone else facing the same? Solution please.
Reinaldo says
It does not allow me to change region before I spend my credit in the US store!
Elizabeth says
Hi Reinaldo,
Unfortunately, Apple makes a move to a new country/region rather difficult. Here’s their current info.
What to do before changing your country or region
Re-download any past purchases that you want to keep on your device. Your Purchased section no longer shows items that you purchased from the store in the previous country or region. You won’t be able to update these apps or content without downloading or purchasing them again in your new country or region. Additionally, if you use iCloud Music Library, the content in your library won’t appear in your library after you change your country or region.
Spend any store credit remaining on your Apple ID. You must also wait for any pending store credit refunds to process before you can change your country or region.
Cancel any subscriptions and wait for any memberships, pre-orders, iTunes movie rentals, or Season Passes to complete.
Update your payment method. For example, only German credit cards can be used to buy content from the German iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and App Store. Have your credit or debit card for your new country on hand.
Back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iTunes. You might need to temporarily downgrade your iCloud storage until you switch to the new country.
If you’re a part of a Family Sharing group, you might not be able to change your country or region. Learn how to leave a Family Sharing group.
Anjali Arya says
It does not work as it asks for a credit/debit card details of that country. Did not resolve the problem for me.
Jeroen says
My (foreign) employer requires me to install apps from the (foreign) app store. 1st option did not work for me. 2nd option requires me to register a ‘local’ credit card number, which I do not have and a local address. This is very complicated. I assume I need to change this back to my original account details after installation of the apps (and do this again for downloading any updates). Is there an easier way to resolve the issue?
martin arellano says
Neither worked for me
ian says
neither worked for me
Paul says
Second option worked for me. Thanks 🙂
Julie says
I tried both solutions, but it still doesn’t work. I even rebooted my iPad, and it doesn’t work even after doing that. Help, please? I have this problem since I downloaded iOS7…
Javeed says
Thanks for the solution.