Does Instagram Require a Phone Number?

Short answer: no, not to sign up. You can create an Instagram account with just an email address. But Instagram may ask you to add or confirm a phone number later, and text-message two-factor authentication needs one. If you’d rather not give Instagram your personal number, a temporary non-VoIP number can receive the code for you.

This guide explains when Instagram asks for a number, what it uses it for, and how to use a temporary number without risking your account.

Can you sign up for Instagram without a phone number?

Yes. Instagram’s help center describes the sign-up: “Tap Create New Account and enter your email address or mobile number, then tap Next.” Then: “Enter the confirmation code sent to your email address or mobile number”. You can also sign up with an existing Facebook account.

So an email address is enough to get started. The phone number comes up later, if at all.

Why Instagram asks for your phone number later

Instagram explains what the number is for: “When you add an email address or phone number to your Instagram account, we may use them to help you log in, receive notifications or keep your account secure.”

It also lists when it may ask you to confirm one:

• “You previously added your mobile number or email, but did not finish confirming it.”
• “Time has passed since you last added or updated your mobile number or email.”
• “You haven’t added one yet, and we want to show you how.”

Your number isn’t shown to other people: “Mobile numbers and email addresses are always private on your Instagram accounts.”

Phone numbers and two-factor authentication

When you turn on two-factor authentication, Instagram asks you to choose one of three security methods: an authentication app (which it recommends), a text message, or WhatsApp, which needs the text-message method turned on first.

With text messages, Instagram sends “a special 6-digit security code each time someone tries logging into your Instagram account from a device we don’t recognize.” For that, “you must have a confirmed telephone number for your Instagram account”. Instagram also turns on two-factor authentication by default for creator accounts.

That’s why a 20-minute number is the wrong place for text-message codes: you’d need it again the next time you log in on a new device. Use an authentication app instead, or a long-term number you keep. Either way, save your backup codes, which you can only see while you’re logged in.

Which numbers work for Instagram?

Instagram doesn’t publish a rule on VoIP or virtual numbers. What matters is that the number receives SMS reliably and that nobody else can see your codes.

A non-VoIP number is a real mobile number from a carrier. Read more about VoIP vs non-VoIP numbers, or see how to check if a number is VoIP.

How to get an Instagram code on a temporary number

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose Instagram and the country you want: the United States or the United Kingdom.
3. Pick a rental length. A short-term number lasts 20 minutes; a long-term number lasts 3, 7, 14 or 30 days.
4. Enter the number in Instagram with the right country code (+1 for the US, +44 for the UK), at sign-up or when Instagram asks you to add a number.
5. Copy the code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives, and enter it in Instagram.
6. Add an email address to your account as well, so you always have a second way in.

Short-term or long-term: which should you choose?

A short-term number (20 minutes) is enough to confirm a number once, and it costs the least. After that it’s gone, and reuse after the 20 minutes isn’t guaranteed.

Instagram’s advice for a number you can’t use any more is clear. You’ll “need to log into Instagram and change the email or phone number on your profile”, so that “someone else can’t gain access to your Instagram account with an email or phone number you no longer use.” With a short-term number, do that straight away: make sure your email is confirmed, then update or remove the number while you’re logged in.

A long-term number (3 to 30 days, renewable for as long as you like) stays yours, so it can keep receiving Instagram’s codes, including text-message two-factor codes. Turn on auto-renew if you rely on it.

If the Instagram code doesn’t arrive

• Wait before asking again. Requesting codes over and over can make Instagram ask you to wait a few minutes.
• Check the country code. A US number needs +1; a UK number needs +44.
• Locked out by two-factor authentication? Log in with one of your backup codes.
• No SMS at all? If an eligible number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost comes back to your balance automatically as store credit.

Keep your personal number private

A temporary non-VoIP number from PVADeals keeps your personal number out of your Instagram account.

See the prices below, or read our guides for other apps: Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and WhatsApp.