Can You Create an Apple Account Without a Phone Number?

Can you create an Apple ID without a phone number? Not on the web. When you sign up at account.apple.com, Apple asks for “a phone number that you can always access” and has you verify it. If you create the account while setting up a new iPhone or iPad, the phone number comes with two-factor authentication, which you can put off until later.

Apple ID is now called Apple Account, but it’s the same account. This guide covers what Apple requires, how trusted phone numbers work, how to get a verification code without your phone, and how to add a second number.

Do you need a phone number to create an Apple Account?

It depends on where you create it. Here’s what Apple’s guide to creating an Apple Account says for each route:

Apple explains why it wants the number: “Your phone number can help to verify your identity and recover your account if needed.”

If Apple says a phone number is “unavailable or can’t be used”, another Apple Account already uses it. Apple’s advice is to try a different number, or reset the password for that account.

How trusted phone numbers work

Two-factor authentication is the default for most Apple Accounts, and it runs on trusted phone numbers and trusted devices. Apple says: “To use two-factor authentication, you need at least one trusted phone number on file where you can receive verification codes.”

When you sign in on a new device or browser, you need your password and “The six-digit verification code that’s automatically displayed on your trusted devices or sent to your trusted phone number.” A trusted device is an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro or Mac that’s already signed in with two-factor authentication.

You can’t simply switch it off later: “If your Apple Account was created using two-factor authentication, this extra protection can’t be removed.” Some features depend on it too, such as Apple Pay and Sign in with Apple.

How to get an Apple verification code without your phone

You have more options than you might think:

1. Use another trusted device. Sign in, look for the sign-in notification on your Mac, iPad or Apple Watch, and choose Allow to see the code.
2. Get a code in Settings on a Mac. Apple says “you can get a verification code in Sign-In & Security settings, even if your Mac is offline.” Open System Settings, click your name, then Sign-In & Security > Two-Factor Authentication > Get a Verification Code. The option doesn’t appear if you’ve added security keys.
3. Send it to another trusted number. On the code screen, select “Didn’t Get a Code?” or “Can’t get to your devices?” and choose a trusted phone number. Apple sends the code “as a text message or phone call”.
4. Wait, if the phone is coming back. When you temporarily can’t reach your devices or number, Apple says “the fastest way to get access to your account is to wait until you have access in the next few days.”
5. Start account recovery, if it’s gone for good. On the code screen, choose “Can’t use [phone number]” and follow the steps. “Account recovery might take a few days or longer, depending on the specific account information you can provide to verify your identity. Contacting Apple can’t help speed up the process.”

How to add a second trusted phone number

Apple recommends a backup: “If you have multiple phone numbers, consider using one not associated with your iPhone as an additional trusted phone number.” Otherwise, if your iPhone is your only way in and it goes missing, “you won’t be able to receive verification codes required to access your account”.

• iPhone or iPad: Settings > your name > Sign-In & Security > Two-Factor Authentication, then Add Trusted Phone Number.
• Mac: System Settings > your name > Sign-In & Security > Two-Factor Authentication, then Add Trusted Phone Number.
• Web: at account.apple.com, open Sign-In and Security > Account Security and use the Trusted Phone Number section.

While you’re there, add a recovery contact. Without one, Apple says account recovery “can take longer if you don’t have a recovery contact to help.”

Which number should you trust?

A trusted number is how you get back into your account, so it has to be one you keep. A 20-minute number is the wrong tool here: once it expires, Apple’s codes have nowhere to go. Good choices are:

• Your own mobile number, kept on the account.
• A second number you keep, such as a long-term rental on auto-renew or an All services plan, added as an extra trusted number.

If you ever stop renewing a rented number, add another trusted number and remove the old one first.

How to add a PVADeals number to your Apple Account

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose Apple and the country: the United States or the United Kingdom.
3. Keep it. Pick a long-term rental (3, 7, 14 or 30 days) and turn on auto-renew, or an All services plan. See the prices below.
4. Add it as a trusted phone number and choose a text message. PVADeals numbers receive SMS only, so don’t pick the phone call option.
5. Copy the code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives.

PVADeals numbers are real mobile numbers from carriers (non-VoIP), so Apple 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.

If you can’t create the account or get the code

• “Your account cannot be created at this time”? Apple suggests creating it on an Apple device or on the web, updating your software, and trying again later.
• Number “unavailable or can’t be used”? It’s already on another Apple Account. Use a different number.
• No code? Check that you chose a text message. To resend it, click “Didn’t get a verification code?” and choose the number.

Keep your Apple Account in your hands

An Apple Account without a working trusted number is hard to get back into. Keep two trusted numbers and a recovery contact on file, and only use numbers you keep. See our UK phone numbers and US phone numbers, the prices below, or read how to change the phone number on your Gmail account.