Changing Your Phone Number Without Losing Accounts
Contents
When you give up a phone number, the carrier eventually gives it to someone else. Every account still tied to the old number then sends its login codes and password resets to a stranger, and you can no longer receive them. To change numbers safely, move each account to the new number or to an authenticator app while the old SIM still works, and let the old line go only after that.
What happens to your old number?
A disconnected number goes back into the carrier’s stock. In the US, carriers must hold a disconnected residential number for at least 45 days and at most 90 days before it can go to a new subscriber, and business numbers can be held for up to a year. A carrier may also cancel a prepaid line that goes several months without a top-up or a call. Each carrier sets its own period, so check the terms if you plan to keep an old prepaid SIM in a drawer.
The new owner sees nothing from your past. They receive only the messages that arrive after the number becomes theirs, but that includes any code an account sends because someone, possibly them, asked for a password reset. In a 2021 Princeton study, researchers sampled 259 numbers that two US carriers offered to new subscribers and found 171 of them still linked to accounts on popular websites. The post on getting back in when the number is gone covers what remains possible once that has happened.
Which accounts should you move first?
Move the accounts that can reset other accounts first.
| Priority | Account | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main email | It resets almost everything else |
| 2 | Apple ID or Google account | They hold backups, passwords and app purchases |
| 3 | Password manager | Its recovery route protects every stored password |
| 4 | Banks, payment apps, crypto exchanges | Money moves, and many confirm payments by SMS |
| 5 | Messaging apps | On WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal the number is the account |
| 6 | Carrier account for the new line | It controls the new number itself |
| 7 | Social networks, shopping, travel, work tools | Lower stakes, but each one is a reset route |
| 8 | Government, tax and health portals | Often slow to update, so start early |
How do you find every account that has the number?
Nobody keeps a complete list, so collect it from three places.
- Your inbox. Search for “verification code”, “security code”, “your code is” and the last four digits of the old number. Each sender is an account.
- Your password manager. Many entries store the phone number in a field or a note. Search for the number in full and without the country code.
- Your old phone’s text messages. Scroll back through codes and alerts from the past year. Short-code senders and brand names show which services text you.
Write the list down and tick each account off as you move it.
How do you move each account?
- Keep the old SIM working until you finish. Many services send a code to the old number before they accept a new one, and some send to both.
- Add the new number before removing the old one, where the service allows two numbers.
- Switch two-factor to an authenticator app where you can. An account that uses an authenticator no longer depends on any phone number, so it needs no update the next time you change numbers.
- Use the built-in change-number option in messaging apps. WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal each have one in account settings that keeps your groups and settings while the account moves to the new number. Re-registering from scratch on the new number starts an empty account instead.
- Remove the old number from each account once the new route works.
- Ask for the bank’s process early. Some banks change a number only in a branch, by post, or after a call to confirm your identity.
When the list is done, wait a couple of weeks and watch the old SIM. Any code or alert that still arrives there names an account you missed.
Should you keep the old number instead?
Keeping it is often cheaper than chasing every account, especially if you are moving abroad.
- Move it to the cheapest plan your carrier offers, or port it to a low-cost carrier. A pay-as-you-go plan with one small top-up and a text every few months keeps many numbers active, but read the carrier’s inactivity rules.
- Keep the SIM in a second slot or a spare phone so codes still reach you. Dual-SIM phones can hold the old number alongside the new one.
- Porting to a calling app such as Google Voice keeps the number alive cheaply, but number lookups then list it as VoIP. Many banks and some apps refuse VoIP numbers or do not deliver codes to them, as explained in why services block VoIP numbers.
How do you make the next change easier?
Keep your personal number on fewer accounts. Email plus an authenticator app covers logins for any service that offers app-based two-factor, and the phone number then matters only where a service insists on one.
For services that ask for a number once at sign-up and never again, such as a forum, a shopping site or a trial, a rented number answers the check and recovery stays with your email. Those accounts then never need moving when your own number changes. Do not use one for anything that will send codes to the number later, such as a bank or your main email, because the rented number returns to the pool after the activation.
Common questions
Can I get my old number back after the carrier reassigns it?
Almost never. Once the number belongs to another subscriber, the carrier will not take it back from them. Some carriers can restore a number within a short period after cancellation if it has not yet been reassigned, so call quickly if you cancelled by mistake.
Will the new owner get my old messages?
No. Messages already delivered stay on your old phone. The new owner receives only what is sent to the number after the reassignment, which is why accounts still tied to it are the risk.
Does porting my number to a new carrier count as changing it?
No. Porting moves the same number to a different carrier, so accounts keep working. Only the line type can change, which matters if you port to a VoIP service.