PayPal Without a Phone Number? Which Numbers Work for Verification

Can you use PayPal without a phone number? Not really. PayPal uses your mobile number to text you codes and to confirm it’s you. What you can choose is which number PayPal texts, and whether your login codes come by text at all.

This guide explains how PayPal uses your number, which numbers pass its checks, and what to do when the PayPal verification code doesn’t arrive.

Can you use PayPal without a phone number?

PayPal’s help center says: “When you add your mobile number, we’ll be able to get in touch with you or reach you via text message to help service your account.” Once a number is on your account, you can only remove it if you have at least two. PayPal also asks you to confirm your identity “if we see new or unusual activity, like a log in from a new device or different location.”

A text is only one of the security checks PayPal may show you:

Which phone numbers work for PayPal verification?

A real number you’ll keep. PayPal texts a confirmation code when you add a number, and if you use 2-step verification by text, every login code goes there too. PayPal warns that if you switch numbers without updating your account, “the access code will still be sent to your old number and you won’t be able to log in to your account.”

That’s also the honest answer to searches for a fake US phone number for PayPal: a made-up or expired number can’t receive the code, so it locks you out.

There’s one more catch. When PayPal confirms your identity by text, it may compare details: “If you see an error, your name or address on PayPal may not have matched your phone billing statement.” Its advice: “If you have another phone number in your name, try adding that number instead.” A rented number isn’t billed in your name, so it may not pass that particular check.

Using a second number for PayPal’s texts

A dedicated number can keep PayPal’s texts off your personal phone, as long as you keep it. A 20-minute number is the wrong tool: once it expires, PayPal’s next code goes nowhere.

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose PayPal and your account’s country: the United States or the United Kingdom.
3. Pick a long-term rental (3, 7, 14 or 30 days) with auto-renew, or an All services plan, so the number stays yours.
4. In PayPal, go to Settings, click + Add New under Phone Numbers and choose to get a code by text. PayPal can also call you, but PVADeals numbers receive SMS only.
5. Copy the code from your PVADeals dashboard and click Validate. A confirmation code “expires in 15 minutes from the time it’s issued.”

Then make your login safer. PayPal lets you set up 2-step verification “using an authenticator app”, such as Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator: in Settings, click Security, then Set Up next to 2-step verification, and choose “Use an authenticator app.” Your login codes then come from the app instead of by text.

PayPal decides which numbers it accepts. A PVADeals number is a real carrier mobile line, so PayPal sees an ordinary mobile number.

If the PayPal verification code doesn’t arrive

• Give it time. After requesting a code, PayPal asks you to “wait at least 90 seconds” before trying again.
• Re-add or switch the number. PayPal suggests “re-adding your phone number to your account”, and if you have more than one, you can choose which gets the text.
• Ask about short codes. If texts still don’t reach your own phone, PayPal says to ask your carrier “to turn on short-code text messaging.”
• Code expired? Security-check codes expire after 5 to 10 minutes: click Resend, or Try another way.
• Too many attempts? After repeated failed checks, “you’ll need to wait 24 hours before trying again, or call us directly to continue.”
• No SMS at all on a PVADeals number? 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 off PayPal

A long-term number from PVADeals receives PayPal’s texts without your personal phone (see PayPal’s prices below). Pair it with an authenticator app, and if a security check needs a number in your name, use your own. See our US and UK phone numbers, or read our guides for Venmo, Cash App and Stripe.