The Best VPNs to Change YouTube TV Location

YouTube TV offers live and on-demand content from over 100 US television networks, including CBS, FOX, and ESPN.

It’s only accessible in the United States and you can only watch content available in your home area, which is based on your IP location.

To watch TV broadcasts from other states, including out-of-market NFL games, you’ll need a VPN that can evade YouTube’s VPN and proxy detection.

Out of 62 VPNs we tested, only 12 were successful at avoiding detection and bypassing YouTube TV’s geo-restrictions.

Many popular VPNs do not work with YouTube TV. Our tests found that, out of 62 VPNs tested, only 12 worked. Here are some VPNs that did not make our list:

NordVPN

NordVPN is a great VPN in most cases, but our tests show that it wasn’t able to consistently access YouTube TV outside the US. For this simple reason, we don’t recommend it.

IPVanish

Similarly to NordVPN, IPVanish is a top VPN in most cases. However, it wasn’t able to consistently access YouTube TV to the extent we expect, so it didn’t make our list.

PrivadoVPN Free

PrivadoVPN is one of the few reliable free VPNs for streaming, but not in the case of YouTube TV. Our tests show that it was detected and blocked on numerous occasions.

If you live in the US, most YouTube TV channels are available wherever you are, however there are local sports, news, and weather channels that are only available in certain states.

The channels you are allowed to stream are based on what YouTube TV calls your Home Area. This is determined by the ZIP code you provide upon signing up.

You can change your Home Area location in YouTube TV by going to: Settings > Area > Update. You can only do this twice a year.

A better option is to use one of our recommended VPNs, which can bypass these regional restrictions, and allow you to watch blackout MLB games, for instance.

A VPN offers an easy fix to resolve Home Area issues, because you can switch between many virtual US server locations as many times you want.

For example, when we tried to live stream CBS Mornings from a virtual Los Angeles location, YouTube TV prompted us to verify our location based on our browser location. We ensured our VPN server matched our Home Area location, and the show streamed perfectly.

We then switched VPN servers to Miami. YouTube TV detected the region change and asked us to verify our home area again. We did and were granted access to local Miami channels without any issues. We then did the same for local Chicago channels.

A VPN like Private Internet Access is ideal for switching between Home Area locations because it has servers in every US state. In other words, it has access to every YouTube TV channel.

1. Upgrade Your VPN

The most common reason why a VPN is not working with YouTube TV is because many VPNs lack the necessary resources to bypass YouTube TV geo-restrictions. They use IP addresses that are known and blocked by YouTube TV.

You’ll know your VPN doesn’t work when you get this VPN/proxy error message:

Our tests show that ExpressVPN

is the best VPN for bypassing YouTube TV blocks. There are also a number of other top VPNs that work, including CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, and Surfshark.

If you want a free option, despite limitations including a data caps and server restrictions, both Proton VPN Free and Windscribe Free offer free US VPN servers that currently work with YouTube TV.

2. Connect to Another US VPN Server

Sometimes all you need to do to get your YouTube VPN working is change the US server you’re connected to.

It may be the case that IP addresses associated with one server have been identified and banned by YouTube TV, but other servers remain unknown.

For example, in our tests with Private Internet Access, we found that its West Coast server did not work with YouTube TV but its East Coast server did.

We used these specific servers to access YouTube TV (although this is subject to change):

VPN Service	Server That Works With YouTube TV
CyberGhost	YouTube TV dedicated server
Surfshark	LA Server
Private Internet Access	East Coast server
Windscribe	New York server
Hide.me	US Streaming dedicated server

However, we don’t recommend trying every available server in search of one that works. If the first few server changes don’t work, it’s likely that none will.

3. Clear Your Browser Cookies & Cache

Websites collect data about your location through cookies and other files in your browser’s cache. Your YouTube TV VPN might not be working because this information is being used to mark your real location, especially if you’re changing Home Area location.

This is easily fixed by deleting cookies and cache data in your browser.

4. Contact Your VPN’s Customer Support

Contacting your VPN’s customer support can be one of the quickest and most effective ways to fix your VPN, as long as the support is good. The best VPNs have 24/7 live chat support, which is the easiest way to get assistance.

A good customer support agent will know if the service works with YouTube TV and be able to recommend specific servers, or recommend other fixes.

5. Check for IP Address or DNS Leaks

It’s possible that your real location is being detected by YouTube TV as a result of a data leak. This happens when your DNS requests or real IP address falls outside the encrypted VPN connection.

This usually happens when using free or inferior VPNs. Quality VPNs have leak protection built into their service, or at the least an option to enable leak protection.

You can easily check if your VPN is working by using our IP & DNS leak test tool.

If your VPN is leaking data, you should contact customer support to see if they can resolve the issue. Otherwise, we suggest upgrading your VPN.

We calculate the overall rating of a YouTube TV VPN based on its performance in four relevant testing categories. Here is how our winning VPNs scored in each subcategory:

ExpressVPN achieved the highest rating because it consistently goes undetected by YouTube TV, has a sizable US server network, fast international speeds, and excellent cross-device compatibility including apps for Apple TV and router.

For a more detailed breakdown of these results and how they’re calculated, see our explanation below:

1. Consistently Unblocks YouTube TV (40%)

The most important factor is to find a VPN that works consistently to bypass YouTube TV geo-restrictions.

From our hands-on testing, we found that only a handful of VPNs work with YouTube TV. Here’s how the most popular VPNs performed:

VPN Service	Works with YouTube TV
ExpressVPN	Yes
CyberGhost	Yes
IPVanish	No
NordVPN	No
PIA	Yes
PrivateVPN	No
Surfshark	Yes
Windscribe	Yes
Windscribe Free	Yes
Hide.me	Yes
PrivadoVPN Free	No
ProtonVPN	Yes
ProtonVPN Free	Yes
AtlasVPN Free	No

We ran these tests multiple times to ensure that the VPNs work reliably.

2. US Server Locations (20%)

US server locations are important for three reasons. Firsty, more servers means a greater spread of users and therefore less congestion. This can equate to better performance and faster speeds.

Secondly, having more server choices gives you a better chance of finding a server that works with YouTube TV if the one you initially select does not work.

Finally, the more US server locations the VPN has, the more YouTube TV content is potentially available by circumventing the platform’s regional Home Area restrictions within the US.

With more servers, you can unblock more content, including local sports, news, and weather channels.

3. Speed (20%)

VPN speed is a crucial testing criteria for YouTube TV because it determines how quickly you’ll be able to stream YouTube TV content, and at what quality.

YouTube TV is only available in the US, and connecting into the US from far away countries can heavily impact your internet speed. But the fastest VPNs can connect into the US from anywhere in the world and only suffer marginal speed loss.

We use consistent test equipment and our own server to get an accurate assessment of each VPNs download speed. We calculate an average international speed score from the results.

4. Streaming Device Compatibility (20%)

The more dedicated apps a VPN has, the more devices you can watch YouTube TV on. We reward VPNs that have apps for Fire TV Stick, Android TV, Apple TV, and routers, as this gives you greater control over how you stream YouTube TV.

For devices that don’t support VPNs, like games consoles and Roku, it’s important that the VPN has easy-to-setup router options or a Smart DNS tool.