How to Change the Phone Number on Your Gmail Account

To change the phone number in your Google Account, go to myaccount.google.com, click Security & sign-in, choose Recovery phone and select Edit next to your number. Gmail runs on your Google Account, so this is also how you change the phone number on Gmail.

The catch: Google can hold more than one number for you, in different places. This guide shows which is which, how to change each one on a computer or phone, and what to do if you no longer have the old number.

Which Google Account phone number are you changing?

Google’s help page on phone numbers says: “Phone numbers are used for different reasons, and you have controls to manage how your numbers are used.” There are three you might mean:

Two rules apply. First, “You can only add one recovery phone number to your account.” Second, “Changing the number in your Google Account only affects some Google services.” If the same number is also your 2-Step Verification phone, change it there too.

How to change your recovery phone number in Gmail on a computer

1. Go to your Google Account at myaccount.google.com and sign in.
2. Click Security & sign-in.
3. Under “How you sign in to Google,” click Recovery phone. You might need to sign in again.
4. Click Edit next to your number and enter the new one.
5. Follow the steps on the screen. Google texts a code to the new number to confirm it’s correct.

To remove the number instead, click Delete. Google notes that a deleted recovery number “may still be used for other Google services”, so check Personal info > Phone as well.

How to change the phone number on Gmail from your phone

On Android: open the Settings app and go to Manage your Google Account. Tap Security & sign-in > Recovery phone, then Edit next to your number.

On iPhone or iPad: open the Gmail app, tap your profile picture, then Manage your Google Account. Tap Security & sign-in > Recovery phone, then Edit.

To change the number in your profile, tap Personal info > Phone, choose your number, then Edit > Update number. On iPhone the first option is called Edit phone number.

How to change the verification number in Gmail

If Google texts you a code as a second step when you sign in, that’s your 2-Step Verification phone, and it’s set separately. Go to your Google Account, click Security & sign-in and, under “How you sign in to Google,” click 2-Step Verification. Add the new number there, check that it works, then remove the old one.

Google is slow to trust a new number on purpose: “If you add a phone number for 2-Step Verification, it may take up to 7 days for Google to trust the phone number.” Keep another second step ready in the meantime: Google prompts on a signed-in phone, Google Authenticator, a passkey or backup codes.

Texts are also the weakest option. Google warns that “verification codes sent by texts or calls can be vulnerable to phone number-based hacks.”

Why your new number doesn’t work straight away

Google waits before it fully trusts a change, so nobody can quietly swap your number:

• “It may take a week before you can use your new phone number to verify it’s you for sensitive actions like changing your password.”
• For a recovery phone, “it may take up to 7 days for those changes to take effect.”
• “Google may send codes to your previous info for 7 days.” So don’t cancel the old number on the same day.

If you already have a passkey or security key, Google says you may be able to speed this up at myaccount.google.com/security.

What if you no longer have the old number?

• You can still sign in: change the number as above. If Google asks for a second step, use another one you’ve set up. Google lists “Another phone signed in to your Google Account”, another number in the 2-Step Verification section, “A backup code you previously saved”, a security key or a passkey.
• Google won’t let you change it: “If there’s something different about how you’re signing in, you might not have the option to change your recovery info.” Try again from a device and a place you normally use, or the following week.
• You lost the phone but kept the number: you can ask “your carrier to transfer your phone number to a new phone or SIM card.”
• You can’t sign in at all: follow Google’s account recovery steps and answer the questions as best you can. With 2-Step Verification on, Google says “it can take 3-5 business days” to confirm it’s you. Calling won’t help: “For your security, you can’t call Google for help to sign into your account.”

Can you use a second number instead of your personal one?

Yes, if it’s a number you’ll keep. Google’s advice for a recovery phone is to “use a mobile phone that gets text messages, belongs only to you, and that you use regularly and keep with you.” It also says it will “try to re-verify it from time to time to make sure that it’s still yours.”

A 20-minute number fails that test: once it expires, Google’s codes have nowhere to go. Google also warns against using Google Voice as a recovery number: “If you do, you could lock yourself out of your account.”

To keep your personal number off your Google Account, use a number you can keep:

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose Google (Gmail) and the United States or the United Kingdom.
3. Pick a long-term rental (3, 7, 14 or 30 days) and turn on auto-renew, so you keep the same number. A 30-day number outlasts Google’s 7-day waiting period. Or take an All services plan, one number for any website. Both prices are below.
4. Enter the number as your recovery or 2-Step Verification phone and choose a text message. PVADeals numbers receive SMS only.
5. Copy the code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives.

PVADeals numbers are real mobile numbers from carriers, so Google sees an ordinary mobile number. If an eligible number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost comes back to your balance automatically as store credit.

Whichever number you use, add a second way in: Google Authenticator, a passkey or backup codes.

More Gmail guides

Setting up a new account rather than changing an old one? See how to create a Gmail account without a phone number, or how to use a temporary number for Gmail verification. For a number you can keep, see our US and UK phone numbers, and the prices below.