Culvert VPNRestoring a VPN subscription on a new phone
To restore a VPN subscription on a new phone, install the app, sign in with the email you bought it with, and let Google Play confirm the purchase.
To restore a VPN subscription on a new phone, install the app from Google Play, open its account or Premium screen, and sign in with the same email you used when you bought the plan. The app checks with Google Play that the subscription is still active on the Google account you are signed into, and turns Premium on. If both the email and the Google account match, the whole thing takes under a minute and needs nothing from the old phone.
Why there are two accounts involved
A subscription bought through Google Play lives in two places at once, and a restore only works when both line up.
The first is your Google account. Google Play attaches every subscription to the Google account that paid for it, charges that account's payment method, and is the place you cancel or refund. The new phone must be signed into that same Google account, or Play has no purchase to report.
The second is the VPN account. The app needs to know which of its users owns the purchase, so that the same subscription can be recognised on a different device. That is what the email is for: it is the handle the subscription is attached to inside the VPN provider, separate from Google's records. This is also the only reason a free-tier app would ask for an email at all, and it is why Culvert VPN asks for one only at the moment you buy Premium.
If you did not enter an email when you bought, the purchase may be tied only to the phone it was bought on. Some apps offer a "restore purchases" button that asks Google Play directly; use it if the app has one, then add an email so the next phone is easier.
The steps
- On the new phone, sign into the Google account that paid for the subscription. You can check which one that is in Google Play, under Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions.
- Install the VPN app from Google Play.
- Open the Premium tab and choose to sign in rather than to buy.
- Enter the email you used when purchasing. Culvert VPN sends a one-time code to that address; there is no password to remember.
- The app confirms the subscription with Google Play and switches the phone to Premium.
If the app has a "restore purchases" option instead of, or as well as, a sign-in, run it after step 2. It asks Play for any active subscription under the signed-in Google account.
What restores, and what does not
| Item | Comes back on the new phone? |
|---|---|
| Premium locations and session length | Yes, once signed in |
| The device slot | Yes; it moves to the new phone |
| Renewal date and billing | Unchanged; it stays on the Google account |
| Excluded apps (split tunnelling) | No; it is a per-phone list |
| Always-on VPN setting | No; it is an Android system setting |
| Last connected city | No |
The per-phone settings are per phone on purpose. An exclude list is a list of package names installed on one device, and Always-on VPN is something Android asks you to enable for each app on each device. Expect to spend a minute re-doing Always-on VPN and the exclude list.
If it still shows the free tier
Work through these in order; the first three account for nearly every case.
- Wrong Google account. Phones often have two. Open Google Play, tap your avatar and check the account shown, then look under Subscriptions for the VPN. If it is not there, switch accounts.
- Wrong email. The email must be the one entered at purchase, not necessarily your Google account's address. Check the confirmation the app sent when you bought.
- Subscription lapsed. If a payment failed on the old phone, Google Play may have paused or ended the subscription. The Subscriptions screen shows its state and lets you fix the payment method.
- Slot not moved yet. Under a per-platform model the old phone may keep Premium until it next checks in. This is normal and resolves itself.
If none of these applies, the app's account screen usually has a support address; how Google Play billing works explains what the provider can and cannot see about your purchase.
The free account is a different story
A free-tier account with no email cannot be restored by signing in, because there is nothing to sign in with. It is created on the phone from a hardware-backed key, and the only way to bring it to another device is the recovery phrase shown when the account was made. That is a separate mechanism from the Premium restore, explained in why an account with no email needs a recovery phrase. For most people it does not matter: the free tier needs no account to use, so a new phone simply gets a new free account.
Culvert VPN restores Premium on a new phone by signing in with the email from your purchase in the Premium tab, then confirming the subscription with Google Play, and the app is on Google Play.
Questions people also ask
Do I need my old phone to restore the subscription?
No. The email you used when buying, plus the Google account the purchase is attached to, is enough. If the old phone is lost or wiped, nothing on it is needed.
Why does Google Play say I am subscribed but the app says I am on the free tier?
The app has not yet linked this phone to the account that owns the purchase. Sign in with the purchase email in the Premium tab; the app then asks Google Play to confirm the subscription and turns Premium on.
Will my old phone keep Premium too?
With one slot per platform family, the new Android phone takes the Android slot and the old one returns to the free tier. It keeps working, just without the Premium locations.