Steam Phone Number: Why Steam Asks and How to Add One

Valve “strongly recommends that you add a phone number to your account”, because it makes recovering the account “quite a bit easier, should you lose access.” Your Steam phone number is how you reset a forgotten password by text, or move the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator to a new phone.

This guide covers what Steam uses the number for, how to add one, which numbers Steam rejects, and how to choose a number you won’t lose.

What does Steam use your phone number for?

Steam’s Mobile Authenticator FAQ says a phone number “gives you more options to recover your account in case you forget your password, or if your account is stolen.”

One more rule: “Accounts with the same phone number may be treated as the same identity”. For games that use the feature, a VAC or game ban on one account means “all other accounts that use the same phone number will also receive a ban.” This guide is about keeping your personal number private, not about getting around a ban.

How to add a phone number to Steam

1. Sign in to Steam in the app or a browser and click your profile name at the top right.
2. Select Account Details.
3. Under Contact Info, select Add a phone number. If there’s already one, you’ll see Manage your phone number instead.
4. Enter the number in international format, with “+” and your country code, and select Next.
5. Enter the code Steam sends you by SMS.

Only one phone number can be on a Steam account at a time. To change or remove it, go back to Account Details > Contact Info > Manage your phone number.

Which numbers does Steam accept?

Steam is strict: “Valve does not allow certain phone numbers, such as VoIP numbers and numbers that cannot receive text messages.” It explains: “We are unable to accept new VoIP phone numbers on Steam due to them not meeting our security requirements,” and points you to “a mobile or prepaid phone number” instead. Even some carriers are out: “Select carriers use VoIP technology in their cellular plans and we are unable to support these.”

A non-VoIP number from PVADeals is a real mobile number from a carrier, so Steam sees an ordinary mobile number. See how to check if a number is VoIP.

Use a number you’ll keep

Your phone number is your way back into Steam, so a 20-minute number is the wrong tool here: once it expires, Steam’s recovery texts have nowhere to go. Even Steam’s advice for a lost phone is to “get a replacement phone with the same phone number”.

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose Steam from the list of websites, in the United States or the United Kingdom. If it isn’t listed for your country, rent an All services number instead, which works on any website.
3. Pick a long-term rental (3, 7, 14 or 30 days) and turn on auto-renew, so you keep the same number.
4. Add the number in Account Details and copy Steam’s code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives. PVADeals numbers receive SMS only.

If an eligible number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost comes back to your balance automatically as store credit. Whatever number you use, also save a set of Steam Guard backup codes.

If Steam’s text doesn’t arrive

• Wait a while. Steam “will also stop sending SMS messages if too many have been sent to you, so waiting a few minutes to an hour may allow messages to come through again.”
• Check the format: “+” and the right country code.
• Number rejected by mistake? Steam asks you to contact Support with the Help me with my issue button. Steam Support is handled only through help.steampowered.com.

More gaming guides

Linking a number to another gaming account? See our guides to Battle.net and Blizzard and Discord, or browse our US and UK phone numbers and the prices below.