How Do I Change My Telephone Number on Google?

It’s SO important to keep it up to date.

I believe that not having a phone number associated with your Google account, or not keeping that phone number up-to-date, might be the number one reason people lose access to their hacked account permanently.

If you haven’t set a number for your account, set one now.

If you set one but it’s out of date, change it now.

Changing your phone number on Google

Your phone number on Google is crucial for account recovery. If your number is outdated, update it immediately to avoid losing access. The process involves accessing your Google Account settings, editing the phone number, verifying the new number via SMS, and confirming the update, so you must be able to sign in to update it.

You must have access to the account

You must be able to sign in to your Google account in order to change the telephone number you have associated with your account.

That’s why it’s so important to keep it up to date. If your account gets hacked and you don’t have access to the number currently configured for the account, you could lose your account forever.

I hear from many people who:

• Have lost access to their account
• No longer have access to the phone number currently associated with the account
• Want to change the phone number so they can use that phone number to regain access

It’s a chicken-and-egg problem. If you could change the phone number without having access to the account, anyone could do that and hack in. You must have access in order to change the number.

I strongly recommend making important changes like this on a computer or laptop rather than a mobile device. The interface is clearer and may include options not available on mobile.

Changing the number

While signed into a Google service, click on your profile picture or icon in the upper right. Then click on Manage your Google Account.

Next, click on Personal info on the left. Scroll down to locate the “Contact Info” section. Click on your phone number.

On the resulting page, click on your phone number again.

On the next page, click on the pencil icon to edit your existing phone number.

You will be asked to confirm that you want to update the phone number.

Click on Update Number. Enter the new number you wish to use and click on Next.

Google will then send a text message to that number.

Back in the web browser, enter that code and click on Verify.

This confirms you have access to the new number and that you’ve entered it correctly.

Congratulations! You’ve changed your telephone number on Google!

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