How to change a phone number on whatsapp
How to Change Your Phone Number on WhatsApp
- You can change your WhatsApp number if you're using the same phone, or if you got a new phone and still have access to the old one.
- If you no longer have access to your old phone, you'll need to set up an entirely new WhatsApp account.
- When you change your number, you won't be able to access your account using your old number anymore.
- This story is a part of Insider's Guide to WhatsApp.
Getting a new phone often means transferring over all of your data to the new one. If you have WhatsApp, you'll need to update your phone number so that you can get into your account with your new phone.
Here's what happens when you change your WhatsApp number, and how to do it.
What happens when you change your number on WhatsAppThere are a few things that happen when you change your number on WhatsApp:
- Your WhatsApp profile, settings, and groups will be moved over to your new phone number.
- You won't be able to access your WhatsApp account on your old phone.
- The account associated with your old phone number will be deleted, so your contacts through the app won't see it listed in their contacts list.
Because of all these consequences, it's a good idea to give your WhatsApp contacts a heads up about your new phone number. That way, they won't accidentally lose touch with you when you make the change.
There are two ways to change your phone number on WhatsApp: from the same phone or from a new phone.
On the same phoneWhen you change your phone number in WhatsApp on the same phone, your account will retain all your contacts, profile information, and message history.
Here's how to do it:
1. Open WhatsApp.
2. If you have an Android, tap the three-dot icon.
(iPhone users can skip to the next step.)
3. Select Settings.
Go into your WhatsApp settings. Devon Delfino4. Choose Account.
Select "Account." Devon Delfino5. Tap Change number.
6. Hit Next.
Tap "Next." Devon Delfino7. Add your old phone number to the first field, followed by your new phone number in the next field.
Add your old and new numbers.
Devon Delfino Add your old and new numbers. Devon Delfino 8. Select Next.
9. You can choose if you want all your contacts, only contacts you have chats with, or custom contacts to be notified of your number change. However, WhatsApp will automatically tell your group chats about your new number.
10. Tap Done.
11. Follow the prompts to register your new phone number.
Quick tip: Make sure to use the international format when entering both your old and new phone number.
On a new phoneIf you use your new phone to change your WhatsApp number and want to transfer your chat history, you'll have to make a backup in Google Drive or iCloud. Here's how to make a manual backup:
1. Open WhatsApp.
2. If you have an Android, tap the three-dot icon. (iPhone users can skip to the next step.)
3. Go to Settings.
4. Tap Chats.
Select "Chats." Devon Delfino5.
Choose Chat backup.
6. Hit Back Up.
If you still have access to your old phone, you'll need to go through the steps above to change your number on your old phone. Or, if you still have your old phone, you can simply delete your account associated with that number on that phone.
Then, follow the steps below to set up WhatsApp on your new phone.
1. Install WhatsApp on your new phone.
2. Register the new phone number you want to be associated with your WhatsApp account.
3.
Restore your account backup.
Quick tip: If you no longer have access to your old phone and can't change your number or delete your account, all your account data associated with the old phone and phone number will be deleted if the new owner of your old phone activates WhatsApp after 45 days. You'll also need to set up an entirely new WhatsApp account.
Devon Delfino
Devon Delfino is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist specializing in personal finance, culture, politics, and identity. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, Business Insider, and CNBC. Follow her on Twitter at @devondelfino.
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How to Find and Change Your WhatsApp Phone Number
Not too hard and takes just a few minutes
WhatsApp allows you to easily change the registered phone number while retaining your chat history, call records, and account information.
This tutorial will walk you through the entire process on iPhone and Android.
Did you recently change your phone number? If so, it’s a good idea to update your registered WhatsApp number so new contacts can message or call you on the world’s most popular messaging app.
Table of Contents
We’ll show you how to find and change your WhatsApp account number on iPhone and Android, including what it takes to switch WhatsApp numbers on a new phone.
Find the Current Registered Phone Number on WhatsApp
Before changing your mobile number in WhatsApp, you need to find the number currently registered with your WhatsApp account. Skip to the next section if you already know it.
- Open WhatsApp and switch to the Settings tab. If you use an Android phone, tap the More icon (three dots) at the top right of the screen and select Settings.
- Tap your WhatsApp profile picture at the top of the screen.
- Note down the number under Phone Number.
Change the Registered Phone Number in WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s built in Change Number tool makes it incredibly convenient to switch registered phone numbers. It preserves your WhatsApp chats, calls history, and settings, and even auto-notifies WhatsApp group chats and contacts about the number change. Be sure to insert the SIM card into your phone (if you haven’t already) since you must verify the new number over SMS.
Note: If you own multiple phones, you can choose to receive the verification code on another device. However, you can’t have the same phone number registered in WhatsApp on more than a single phone.
- Open the WhatsApp Settings screen and tap Account.
- Tap Change number.
- Tap Next to begin the phone number registration process.
- Select your country (iOS) or country code (Android), enter the new and old phone numbers into the relevant fields, and tap Next.
- Turn on the switch next to Notify contacts if you want to notify your WhatsApp contacts about the number change.
Then, pick between the All contacts, Contacts I have chats with, and Custom options to determine with whom on your contact list you want to share your new number.
- Enter the 6-digit security code you receive over SMS or let your phone auto-fill it in for you.
- Wait until WhatsApp verifies the code.
- Modify your WhatsApp name or change your profile information if you want. Finally, tap Done.
That’s it! You’ve successfully changed your phone number on WhatsApp. You can immediately begin using WhatsApp again, and you’ll continue to have access to your WhatsApp messages and call history from your old number.
Register Number on a New Phone Without Losing WhatsApp Data
Did you get a new number and a new phone? If you still have your old phone around, the following steps will show how to change numbers in WhatsApp and move your chat history over to your new phone. However, they only work if both phones are on the same platform—iOS or Android.
- Register the new number in WhatsApp on your old phone. You can choose to receive the verification code on the new phone, meaning you do not have to swap SIMs.
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup and tap Back Up Now to back up your information to iCloud (iOS) or Google Drive (Android). Be sure to turn the switch next to Include Videos if you want to transfer WhatsApp video attachments to the new phone.
- Wait until WhatsApp finishes completing the backup. You will not receive a notification, so check this screen after some time before you go ahead.
- Install WhatsApp on the new phone and register your new number. You’ll be automatically signed out of WhatsApp on your old phone.
- Choose to restore your WhatsApp backup. You will not see this option if you aren’t signed into your new phone with the same Apple ID or Google Account as your old phone.
- Wait until the backup restoration process ends.
WhatsApp will initially load text messages only and then download data—like images and video files—in the background. - Change your profile photo or name if you want, and you can start using WhatsApp right away.
Suppose the new phone is on a different platform than your old phone. Check our complete guides to moving WhatsApp chats from iPhone to Android or Android to iPhone for step-by-step instructions.
Can’t Change WhatsApp Phone Number? Here’s What You Must Do
Despite how straightforward it is to change phone numbers on WhatsApp, there are instances where the registration process will fail to work on iPhone and Android.
For example, if you fail to receive your WhatsApp security code or the Change Number tool gets stuck at verification, here are several things you might want to do:
- Check the old and new phone number for accuracy, and don’t forget to set the country codes for both numbers.
- Contact your carrier and confirm that the new number can receive text messages and phone calls.
- Make sure you’re in an area with strong cellular signals or Wi-Fi connectivity.
- Toggle Airplane Mode off, and then on to resolve minor connectivity issues.
- Update WhatsApp to its latest version via the App Store or the Play Store to fix known problems with the Change Number feature.
- Restart your iPhone or Android device.
A New Start With Your Old Chats
Changing your phone number on WhatsApp is not complicated, and you should be done in minutes. You don’t even need to bother notifying contacts about the number change since WhatsApp does the heavy lifting for you.
Also, unless you’re switching platforms, it’s easy to move your chat history if you want to use WhatsApp with a new number and a new phone. If you’re still contemplating switching phone numbers, go ahead without worrying.
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Dilum Senevirathne is a freelance tech writer and blogger with three years of experience writing for online technology publications. He specializes in topics related to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Google web apps. When he isn't hammering away at his Magic Keyboard, you can catch him binge-watching productivity hacks on YouTube. Read Dilum's Full Bio
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How to change WhatsApp number: new instructions for all
Article reading time 4 minutes.
The information is up to date! The material was checked on 03/30/2022.
How to change the WhatsApp number from a smartphone and is it possible to do it from a computer? Below is a step by step guide for Android and iPhone devices.
Features
Before you change your phone number in WhatsApp, you should make sure that the following points are completed:
- Stable internet and cellular connection.
- The old SIM card is registered in the messenger system, and the new one is able to receive calls and SMS.
- There is enough free space on the device.
- If the user also plans to change phones, to save all data and correspondence, you need to create a local copy, in Google Drive or iCloud. In the first case, you will have to transfer it to a new device manually, in the second and third, you must first connect your Google or Apple account.
- SMS notification that you have decided to change your phone number will only be received by members of Whatsapp group chats - other users will not be aware of the change of numbers. Send out a reminder to everyone if needed.
Useful: how to send a voice message.
Why change the number
The number can be changed for various reasons, for example:
- Change of SIM card and mobile operator;
- The SIM card has been blocked for various reasons;
- Moving to another region is planned;
- Purchasing a new smartphone.
Instructions
You can switch WhatsApp to another number on Android and iPhone. The user can change the SIM card without changing or with changing the gadget, with and without saving the data of the current account. On devices that support KaiOS, you can only re-register.
Android
You can change your phone number in WhatsApp on Android in this way:
- Open the messenger, click on the ellipsis at the top of the screen, go to "Account".
- Select "Change number", click "Next". Enter the old and new data in the international format, click "Next".
- Select who will be notified about the SIM card change: all contacts, only those with whom there is correspondence, or manually selected. You can choose not to notify any of the contacts, but participants in joint group conversations will still receive a notification.
- Confirm the changes, re-register the account and wait for the data to be restored.
Optional: how to delete a business account if it is no longer needed.
iPhone
Changing the WhatsApp number on the iPhone is as follows:
- Open messenger settings. Go to the "Account", "Change ..." section, click "Next".
- Specify the data in the international format, confirm the actions by clicking "Next".
- As in the previous instructions, you need to choose who will be notified about the change of the SIM card, and click "Finish".
- Re-register, wait for data recovery.
An account on Android and iPhone can be registered to another number without saving data. If correspondence and media are not needed, then you can simply delete the messenger, change the SIM card, reinstall the application and register. When using this method, none of the contacts will know about the change of the SIM card.
If you need to change the gadget, you must first create a backup data.
After that, download WhatsApp to a new device, register and restore a copy. We will tell you how to send a photo from a computer here.
Computer
Web and desktop versions of WhatsApp are additions to the main (mobile) application. All functions of the messenger are available in them, and in the settings the account owner can manage notifications, the theme, chat wallpaper and blocked users. You can transfer WhatsApp to another number only from your phone.
There are several options for changing your phone number in WhatsApp. This can be done with and without changing the device, with and without uninstalling and reinstalling the messenger. You cannot change data on a computer.
Change of number notification
The application has the ability to notify other contacts that you have changed your number. This is necessary so that you do not lose contact with old users and do not lose data. Let's figure out how to enable this notification.
After you enter the number to which you want to replace the previous one, you will see the "Notify contacts" column.
Move the toggle switch to the active position and you're done! Now all contacts will receive this information.
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How to change your WhatsApp mobile number without losing anything
Are you changing your mobile phone number? You should know this you can save all your WhatsApp chats and groups and it will automatically notify all your contacts when your phone number changes.
We explain how to do it in this video and article.
Our WhatsApp account is linked to our mobile number, but if we change the number at any time, we have nothing to worry about because we can save all our WhatsApp conversations and groups, all its multimedia content, as well as we don't have to worry about informing all our contacts about the number change because whatsapp will notify you automatically. How can you do it? Well, this is the option that the app itself offers us, and we explain step by step how it's done, in great detail.
Index
- 1 Change SIM card
- 2 Change number
Change SIM card
The first thing we need to do is to replace the SIM card of our iPhone with a new one. Don't worry, nothing will happen to your WhatsApp even if you haven't changed your number yet. Remove the old SIM card, insert a new SIM card with a new phone number , and check that it is active, that you have coverage with your operator, and that SMS activation was successful.
Once this is done, you can move on to the next step.
Change number
Now we can log in to WhatsApp and access the menu "Settings > Account" and from there enter the option "Change number". Whatsapp is responsible for reminding us that we have to prepare the new sim to receive the SMS and in the next step we will have to enter the old number and the new number. Click "Next" and now we will be able to notify our contacts about the change of number. This is optional, if you don't want it you don't need to activate it, but if you activate it you can notify all your contacts, only the ones you have in the chat, or set up notifications. Who will always receive notifications are the groups you are included in.
Once this is done, the procedure is almost complete and we can only confirm that the number we added is correct, which is fundamental because We will receive an SMS with a code that will be needed to complete the change of mobile phone number in our WhatsApp account.
