How to View X (Twitter) Without an Account, and When You Need One

You can view X (Twitter) without an account, as long as the posts are public. X’s help center says that public posts, the default setting, are visible to anyone, whether or not they have an account. Protected posts are different: only followers the account has approved can see them.

This guide covers what you can see without signing in, when you need an account, and how to sign up without giving X your personal number.

How to view X (Twitter) without an account

Most posts are public. X explains that when you sign up, “your posts are public by default; anyone can view and interact with your posts.” Public posts can also turn up in search engine results, while protected posts “will not appear in third-party search engines (like Google search).”

Protected posts need an account and permission: “If you protect your posts, you’ll receive a request when new people want to follow you, which you can approve or deny.” So to read them, you need an account, and the owner has to approve your follow request.

When X asks for a phone number

You can sign up with an email address or a phone number. With a phone number, “we’ll have you verify it through an SMS text message with a code.” An email address can only be on one X account at a time.

X can ask for more in some cases:

• At sign-up or login. X says “when signing up for a new account, you may be asked to provide a phone number and/or an email address.”
• When an account is locked. You may be asked to verify the account “by phone, email or recaptcha.” If you choose phone, X adds: “Please note that we will associate this phone number with your account.”
• For two-factor authentication. Text-message codes are limited: “Effective March 20, 2023, we will no longer support two-factor authentication using text messages for non-Premium subscribers.” Without Premium, use an authentication app or a security key instead.

One number can cover several accounts: “You can add your phone number to up to 10 accounts.” But “Usernames, phone numbers, and email addresses attached to suspended accounts are not available for use under any circumstances”, so a new number is no way back from a suspension.

How to sign up for X with a second number

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose X (Twitter) from the list of websites, for the United States or the United Kingdom. If it isn’t listed for your country, rent an All services number instead, which works on any website.
3. Pick a rental. A short-term number (20 minutes) covers sign-up. A long-term number (3, 7, 14 or 30 days) keeps receiving X’s codes. See the prices below.
4. Sign up with the phone option and ask for the code by SMS, not a voice call. PVADeals numbers receive SMS only.
5. Copy the code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives.
6. Add an email address to the account as well.

Keep access after the rental

X detaches a number when “the phone number attached to your account may belong to someone else”, for example after an account has been inactive for 45 or more days and the number is added to a new account. If you lose access to the email or phone number on your account, X says to contact support, and warns: “Sometimes the only option in this situation is to create a new account.”

So keep a confirmed email on the account, use an authentication app for two-factor authentication, and rent long-term with auto-renew if you rely on the number.

If the X verification code doesn’t arrive

• Wait two minutes. “SMS text messages may experience delays in delivery. Please wait at least two minutes before trying to sign in again.”
• Choose SMS, not a voice call.
• Number not accepted? It may already be on 10 accounts, or on a suspended one. Try a different number, or sign up with an email.
• No SMS at all? If an eligible PVADeals number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost comes back to your balance automatically as store credit.

Read X without signing up, or sign up privately

Public posts need no account. When you want one, a real non-VoIP number keeps your personal number off X. Read how to get a temporary phone number for verification, or see our guides for Facebook and LinkedIn.