How to Change DVD Drive Region Code in Windows 10

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Last Updated: January 20, 2022

DVDs are used all over the world. Almost all DVDs are coded with a region code to play only in a specific region with a player that has a matching region code. One of the reasons is to control release dates.^{[1]
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Research source} This wikiHow will show you how to change the region code of your DVD drive so it can play discs made for the chosen region.

Note: Since most drives limit the number of times you can change it, be careful about changing it many times. It's best to only follow these steps if you're moving.

Steps

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Open File Explorer. This can be done by clicking the taskbar icon
or pressing ⊞ Win+E.
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Right-click on the drive and choose Properties.
The tabs are located at the top of the DVD drive properties window.
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Open the properties of the device that the type is labeled as "DVD/CD-ROM Drives". Click the Properties button towards the bottom.
- The name of the drive will be different depending on the type of DVD drive your computer has.
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Change the region. Click on a geographic region name to play DVDs meant only for that region.
- Underneath, the current region code and the one that will be set when you choose a country from the list right above will be shown. Here is a color-coded map of DVD regions with their corresponding region numbers:
Click the OK button.

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Question

This didn't work on my device. Why?

Community Answer

In some cases, a DVD player's hardware has its own memory that manages region codes. Perhaps this is the case with your device.

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Question

It says I have used up all of my available changes, even though I never changed it. What happened?

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Top Answerer

If you bought your PC used, there's a chance the previous owner changed the region multiple times. If it's new and unused, your OEM probably disabled this choice.

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After changing my Sony DVD player to region 1, disks will not play. How can I change the hardware back to region 0?

Community Answer

You should be able to change the region back to region 0 the same way you change it to region 1. If you reach the 5 maximum times to change your hardware region, you can't switch it back to region 0 anymore. If that happens, you will need to unlock your DVD player or convert the disc to region free with Winx DVID ripper or Makemkv.

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Tips

Not all drives are capable of changing region. Some come from the manufacturer with the ability to change region disabled.

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Warnings

Most drives have a set number of times you can change regions before it disables region changing. This number is stored inside the drive's hardware itself and can't ever be reset—even if you reset, reinstall Windows or physically move the drive to a new PC.

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