Webde SMS VERIFICATION Receive the Webde code on a rented number.

WEB.DE is one of Germany's largest email providers, and its free FreeMail account asks for a mobile number during sign-up and sends a code to it. The number also becomes a way to reset the password. A rented German number confirms the account and gives you a @web.de address for German services, without attaching your own phone.

WEB.DE belongs to the same company as GMX, and the two work almost identically. People open a WEB.DE address for German classifieds, job applications, landlords and shops, where a German email domain looks familiar to the person reading it.

What the number does on a WEB.DE account

At sign-up the code proves a phone exists. After that, WEB.DE offers the number as a password reset route alongside a contact email. A reset code sent to a number you no longer hold is no use to you, so add a contact email address you control in the account security settings straight away. Check the settings page after sign-up to see which reset routes are listed, and remove any that point at something you will not have.

WEB.DE also offers two-factor authentication through an authenticator app. Turn it on, save the recovery code it gives you, and the account no longer depends on the rented number.

Why a German mobile number

German prepaid SIMs must be registered with ID, so German mobile numbers are harder to obtain in bulk than numbers in many countries. WEB.DE's check expects a real mobile number, and German numbers in the +49 15, 16 or 17 ranges are what German users have. The numbers rented here come from those real ranges. A number from another country may also be accepted, but a German one matches the account's language and region.

Enter the number without the leading 0 when the form shows +49. German numbers cost more than some countries because supply is tighter, and current prices are on the pricing page.

Keeping a free account alive

Free email providers in Germany delete or deactivate FreeMail accounts that nobody signs in to for a long stretch. If you open the address for a flat search or a job application, sign in now and then, or forward mail to an inbox you check daily. The rules on inactivity are in WEB.DE's terms for FreeMail, so read them if the address matters to you.

WEB.DE's terms allow private use and forbid bulk sign-ups and spam. A mailbox for your own German correspondence fits both those terms and our acceptable use policy.