How to watch ZDF outside Germany?

ZDF might be the best of all the German TV channels and they have an amazing live stream on which you can watch amazing TV shows, football live streams, winter sports, and lots of other great content. But, what can you do if you want to watch ZDF outside Germany?

You are probably reading this article because you have tried to watch ZDF outside Germany. If you try to watch the ZDF live stream abroad, you will get an error message telling you that the stream is unavailable outside Germany. It might look something like this.

As you can see from the screen shot, it is very easy to find the live stream at the ZDF website. You only need to press the Live-TV text in the menu and you will be taken there. But, what can you do about the error message? How can you unblock ZDF and get access to the TV channel and its live streams outside Germany?

Watch the ZDF live stream online outside Germany

This is what you need to do if you want to watch the ZDF live stream outside Germany. To get access to the content, you will have to make the ZDF website believe that you are located in Germany. Even if it might sound complicated, it is really easy if you use one of the VPN providers we recommend for this purpose.

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network that will secure your online activities. All your movements online will be encrypted and your traffic sent through a VPN tunnel. Whatever you seem to do online will be marked with the IP address of the VPN server you connect to, meaning that if you connect to a VPN server in Germany, websites will believe that you are located in Germany, and thus, you will be able to stream ZDF easily.

ExpressVPN

NordVPN

PureVPN

In the table above, you can see the three best VPN providers if you want to unblock ZDF and watch their live stream or some program on demand outside Germany. Feel free to check the websites of all three providers, but we recommend most of all using ExpressVPN as they will also give you access to German Netflix in addition to ZDF. That is quite special, as all other VPN providers are blocked by Netflix in Germany, but if you use ExpressVPN, you can even get access to the content available on Netflix in Germany, even when you are abroad.

This is how you stream ZDF abroad using a VPN

• First you have to sign up for one of the mentioned VPN services and download their VPN client.
• Open the VPN application and connect to a server in Germany.
• Restart your browser, or restart the ZDF application on your phone.
• You can now watch ZDF in Windows, on your Mac, on your iPhone, on your iPad, or on your Android device, no matter where you might be in the world.

Does this really work on iOS and Android systems as well?

Oh yes, it does! It is really easy. And if you haven’t installed the ZDF application yet, simply visit the Apple Store on your iPhone or on your iPad, or visit the Google Play Store on your Android device and search for ZDF. You will then find the ZDFmediathek & Live TV application which you can download and install.

Make sure to connect to a VPN server in Germany using ExpressVPN or one of the other VPN providers, open the ZDF application, and you can now watch ZDF live streams online all across the world.

More about ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is the best VPN provider at the market in this very moment. They have an impressing 30-day full refund policy, and if you are smart, you can share the subscription cost with some of your friends? How come? How does that work? You can use the ExpressVPN subscription at three different devices, or at three different locations at the same time. As a result, you can watch ZDF with ExpressVPN in France, while your sister in Australia can use the same credentials at the same time to watch ZDF in Australia, while your father can watch the ZDF live stream in the USA in between making photos of all his favorite attractions in New York.

Besides this, ExpressVPN will also help you unblock lots of other streaming services and live TV streams online, including American Netflix, Canadian Netflix, BBC, ITV, DasErste, Rai Italy, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and lots of other sites and services.

But, we shouldn’t forget that ExpressVPN most of all encrypts your online movements, making sure that you can surf safely, even if you surf the Internet using an open WiFi network in a restaurant, in a cafe, or in a hotel somewhere in the world.

Last, but not least, you will get three months for free if you sign up for the services of ExpressVPN for 12 months using the following link!

About PureVPN

PureVPN might not be as good as ExpressVPN when it comes to unblocking all sorts of streaming sites and Netflix regions, but they are still a brilliant service, and they will let you use your subscription on 5 devices at the same time. That makes them beat ExpressVPN when it comes to amount of devices you can use at the same time. They have a 31-day money back guarantee, and their download speeds are also good. ExpressVPN normally beats PureVPN in speed tests, but the speeds offered to you by PureVPN still should do the job as you try to unblock streaming sites such as ZDF in Germany and other sites.

PureVPN also supports popular features in their VPN client like a Kill Swith and Split-Tunneling. The Kill-Switch means that you can surf safely using open WiFi networks, and if the VPN connection should drop, all your Internet activity will be blocked, making sure that you do not leak any confidential information. The Split-Tunneling function means that you can set your Chrome browser to use the VPN connection (making you able to watch ZDF outside Germany), while the rest of your browser and Windows can surf without using the active VPN connection. ExpressVPN also supports these mentioned functions.

About NordVPN

NordVPN will also do the job if you want to unblock German TV channels like ZDF and DasErste (ARD). They have a very nice looking website, and their prices are just as good as the prices of PureVPN. Just like PureVPN, they have long money back guarantee, and they will also make you able to watch Netflix without any proxy and unblocker error message at all. Wonder how that can be done? Click the link to fund out.

NordVPN can be used at six devices at the same time, making it an ideal choice if you want to share your VPN subscription with some friends or family members. They are present with servers in more than 60 nations, and in total, they have more than 5000 servers registered to them. NordVPN is even the proud Cyber Security Partner of Liverpool FC.

ZDF is waiting for you!

Have you followed the instructions in this article? If you have, you should be ready to stream ZDF from abroad just about now. If you have any questions or comments, please use the comment field beneath, and I will do my best to help.

They do not call me The VPN Boss for nothing – I always find a way to unblock streaming services, and throughout the years I have acclaimed great experience finding the best services and writing about them!