This Phone Number Cannot Be Used for Verification or Has Been Used Too Many Times

“This phone number cannot be used for verification” means the number has reached Google’s limit on how many accounts one phone number can create, and Google’s fix is to use a different number. “This phone number has been used too many times for verification” means it has reached a second limit, on how many times one number can be used for verification, and the fix is the same.

Both appear on Google’s phone verification step, when you create a Gmail account or sign in. This guide explains each one in Google’s own words, why a number you’ve never used can still be refused, and what to try, in order.

What does “This phone number cannot be used for verification” mean?

Google’s Verify your account help page starts its answer with: “If you get this error, use a different number. To protect you from abuse, we limit the number of accounts each phone number can create.”

In other words, enough accounts have already been created with that number. Google doesn’t say how many, and the limit belongs to the number, not to you: accounts someone else created with it can count too. That’s how a number you’ve never used for Gmail can still be refused.

What does “This phone number has been used too many times for verification” mean?

The second message is about verifications, not accounts. Google’s answer starts the same way: “If you get this error, use a different number. To protect you from abuse, we limit the number of times a phone number can be used for verification.”

Google doesn’t publish either limit or say whether a count ever resets. YouTube has a third message of its own (see our YouTube phone verification guide):

Google’s fix is the same for all three: use a different number.

Why can’t my phone number be used for verification?

Google’s only stated reason is protection from abuse. A number can reach those limits in a few ways:

• It’s a public number. Free receive-SMS websites post the same numbers for anyone to use, including on Google, so they’re often over Google’s limits before you try them. Anyone can read your code there, too. See free vs private US numbers.
• It’s shared. On a family number, or one you’ve used for several accounts of your own, every account and verification adds to the same count.
• It’s recycled. Carriers reassign disconnected numbers to new customers. In the US, the FCC runs a database “designed to prevent a consumer from getting unwanted calls intended for someone who previously held their phone number.” If a previous owner used the number on Google, it may already have reached a limit, or be close to one.

Google’s help page doesn’t link VoIP or app numbers to either error, though its tip is that “To verify your account, you need a mobile device.” Google also warns against using Google Voice for codes (see step 3 below). To see whether yours is a mobile or a VoIP number, read how to check if a number is VoIP or VoIP vs non-VoIP numbers.

How to fix “This phone number cannot be used for verification” or “used too many times”

Google gives no waiting time for either error, so waiting isn’t a reliable fix. Work through these in order; they apply to both errors.

1. Check the country and the number. Google’s steps for adding a phone number say to “select the country associated with your phone number from the drop-down menu and enter your phone number.” With the wrong country selected, Google checks a different number. US numbers use +1, and UK numbers +44.
2. Skip the phone step if Google lets you. Google’s sign-up steps call the number optional: “Optional: Add and verify a phone number for your account.” If the screen lets you continue without one, do; see how to create a Gmail account without a phone number. Don’t need Gmail itself? See which providers let you create an email without a phone number.
3. Use a different number. Google suggests “a number from a friend, family member, or a different carrier.” A borrowed number is fine for one code, but Google wants a recovery phone that “belongs only to you”, so don’t leave someone else’s number on your account. Skip free public numbers, which are often over a limit already. And skip Google Voice: Google warns that if you use it for verification codes, “you could lock yourself out of your account.”
4. Use a fresh non-VoIP number. A non-VoIP number from PVADeals is a real mobile number from a US or UK carrier, so Google sees an ordinary mobile phone. Every number is fresh: it has never been sold before.

How to get a fresh number for Google verification

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose Google (Gmail) and a country, the United States or the United Kingdom, then a rental: 20 minutes, or 3, 7, 14 or 30 days. See the prices below.
3. Go back to the screen that showed the error, replace the refused number with the new one and choose text message: PVADeals numbers can’t take Google’s call option.
4. Copy Google’s code from your PVADeals dashboard as soon as it appears, and finish verifying.

You don’t need a US or UK SIM card: the number works from any country. If an eligible number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost goes back to your balance automatically as store credit.

Will Google ask for the number again?

It can. Google says it will “try to re-verify it from time to time”, and that for 2-Step Verification “it may take up to 7 days for Google to trust the phone number.” So choose the rental by how long the number will stay on your account:

• A short-term number (20 minutes) is for getting through Google’s phone step once. Reuse later is possible but isn’t guaranteed, so replace it before Google asks again.
• A long-term number (3, 7, 14 or 30 days, renewable with Auto Renew) stays yours for as long as you renew it, with unlimited SMS while it’s live.
• An All services plan covers any website, not just Google, by the month.

If Google still rejects the number

• Same error on another number? Google’s limits belong to each number, so one refused number says nothing about the next. If it’s a PVADeals number and no SMS has arrived, flag it as bad (within the 20 minutes for a short-term number, or within 24 hours of purchase for a long-term one) and take another.
• No text at all? Google says texts can be delayed in densely populated places or when a carrier has issues, and suggests waiting a few minutes or trying a phone call. PVADeals numbers can’t take calls, so wait a few minutes, then request a new text and use the newest code; Google’s 2-Step Verification help notes: “If you requested multiple verification codes, only the newest one works.” More fixes: not receiving verification codes.
• A QR code instead of a code? Google’s 2-Step Verification help says that in certain cases you must “use your mobile phone to scan the QR code on your computer to verify your number.” A rented number can’t pass that step, and scanning with your own phone verifies your own number instead.

What to do after Google accepts the number

Don’t leave the account depending on one number. Google’s 2-Step Verification help warns that if something about how you sign in is different, “like your location, you might not be able to get a verification code through text message.” So add a recovery email, set up Google Authenticator in your 2-Step Verification settings and save your backup codes, which only work while 2-Step Verification is on. Do it early: Google says Authenticator “may take up to 7 days” to show up as a sign-in option.

If you verified with a 20-minute or borrowed number, swap it for one you keep before you need it: Google “may send codes to your previous info for 7 days” after a change. See how to change the verification number on Gmail.

A fresh number for Google’s phone step

Google’s fix for both errors is a different number. A fresh non-VoIP number from PVADeals usually gets you through, and a long-term rental keeps the same number yours for as long as you renew it. See the prices below, or read our guide to a temporary number for Gmail verification.