Select the product you need help with

How to change the country/region of your Windows Phone 7 Marketplace account

Article ID: 2692008 - View products that this article applies to.

Summary

The Marketplace country is determined by the account locale (Country/Region + language) of the User ID associated with the Microsoft account (formerly known as Windows Live ID) used to Sign in.

Collapse this tableExpand this table

IMPORTANT As soon as an account locale is associated to a Microsoft account, it is permanent and cannot be changed.

If you want to access the Marketplace of a country different from the one associated with your current account, or if you want to switch between catalogs in markets where more than one Marketplace is offered, you must reset your phone and complete setup again by using a different Microsoft account.

IMPORTANT Resetting your phone returns all settings to their default states (factory settings) and keeps the current version of your operating system. A reset will also delete all personal content from the phone. This includes text messages, ringtones, contact groups, and any pictures, music, or videos. Most of this content will be lost and un-restorable except for media files (photos, music, and videos).

To prepare for a reset: Connect your phone to your computer by using the USB cable that was included with your phone, and then use the Zune software or Windows Phone app for Mac to sync your photos, music, and videos. After the reset, you can restore these media files back to your phone.

To change your Microsoft account, reset your phone:

On Start, flick left to the App list, tap Settings
Collapse this imageExpand this image
and then tap About.
Tap Reset your phone, located at the bottom of your screen,and then Tap Yes. Tap Yes again to confirm the reset.
When your phone restarts, it will guide you through several steps to set up your phone. When you arrive at the Sign in with a Microsoft account page, sign in with the new ID that you want to use. This will be the Microsoft account used to access Marketplace, Xbox LIVE, and the Zune Music Pass on your Windows Phone.

Note After you reset your phone and sign in with a new Microsoft account, you can continue to use your previous Microsoft account for your email.

To learn more about how to reset your phone, and then restore your media content, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

2606900

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2606900#reset)

Your Windows Phone 7 doesn't work or respond as expected

To set up a secondary Microsoft, Windows Live, or Hotmail account:

On Start, flick left to the App list, tap Settings
Collapse this imageExpand this image
and then tap Email+accounts.
Tap Add an account, and then tap Windows Live.
Tap the Email address box, and then type your Microsoft, Windows Live, or Hotmail account.
Tap the Password box, and then type your password.
Tap Sign in.

If you set up additional Microsoft accounts on your phone, this means that photos in those additional accounts won't be synced to your phone, and you won't be able to use those Microsoft accounts to play Xbox LIVE games or use a Zune Music Pass.

Back to the top | Give Feedback

More information

Marketplace Country

Marketplace country is determined ONLY by the locale of the user ID associated with the sign in account. Marketplace locale is NOT affected by the Country/region setting of the Microsoft account or the Region+language settings on the phone.

The Marketplace account locale also determines:

Content availability (apps, music, games)
Billing account country
Currency and app prices
Regional ratings and reviews
Localization of the app category lists

The account locale consists of a country and a language. For example, the locale for the United States is (United States - English).

Note Some countries may have more than one locale.

Locale Selection

The locale of the Marketplace account is determined by one of these methods:

If the Microsoft account that is used for signing in has never been associated with a country, you will be prompted to select a country/region during Account setup. The country/region selection defines the account locale.

Collapse this imageExpand this image
Collapse this imageExpand this image
If the Microsoft account used for signing in was previously used for Xbox LIVE, Zune, or a premium service, the account locale will default to the locale of the service.

Collapse this imageExpand this image
Collapse this imageExpand this image