How to change your whatsapp number


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 WhatsApp

There 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.

How to change your phone number on WhatsApp

There are two ways to change your phone number on WhatsApp: from the same phone or from a new phone.

On the same phone 

When 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 Delfino

4. Choose Account.

Select "Account." Devon Delfino

5. Tap Change number.  

Choose "Change Number." Devon Delfino

6. Hit Next.

Tap "Next." Devon Delfino

7. 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 phone

If 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 Delfino

5. Choose Chat backup.

Select "Chat Backup." Devon Delfino

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.

Read moreRead less

How to Change your WhatsApp Number: A Complete Guide [2022]

“I want to know if I change my number on WhatsApp, will I lose my chats too. What happens when you change your number on WhatsApp and how can I do the same?”

These days, we get a lot of queries like this from people who would like to change their WhatsApp number. If you are using WhatsApp, then you might already know that the account is linked to our phone number. The good thing about WhatsApp is that we can change the connected number for our account. If you want to learn how to change WhatsApp number without losing data, then just go through this guide.

Part 1: What Happens when you Change your Number on WhatsApp?

Before we learn how to change WhatsApp to a new phone number, it is important to answer this question. Ideally, if you change your WhatsApp number, then all the linked account details would also be moved. This does not include your WhatsApp data, but only your WhatsApp contacts or any saved preferences.

Once you have changed your WhatsApp number, you can keep using the app, but your old number would not be active. If you are using the app on the same device, then your WhatsApp data would be kept intact. On the other hand, if you are moving to another device, then you need to transfer the backup as well.

Part 2: How to Change WhatsApp Number without Losing Data: Android and iOS Solutions

As stated above, you will not lose your WhatsApp data by just changing your linked number. Though, if you are changing your phone and your number, then you have to transfer the WhatsApp backup else you will lose your data.

The process to change WhatsApp number on both iOS and Android is pretty easy. The app also gives us an option to inform our contacts about the change in number. Regardless, all the groups you have joined would be notified of the change in number for your account.

Prerequisites

  • • You must know the old number linked to your WhatsApp account.
  • • The new number should be activated on your phone so that you can verify the one-time generated code.
  • • An active internet connection is needed for WhatsApp to update your details on the server.

How to Change WhatsApp Number on Android?

If you want to change WhatsApp to a new phone number on your Android device, then you just go to its settings and follow these steps:

Step 1. Start by launching WhatsApp on your Android phone and tap on the three-dot icon from the top to visit its Settings.

Step 2. Once the WhatsApp settings are launched, browse to its Account Settings and tap on the “Change Number” feature.

Step 3. As a dedicated window will open, you need to enter your old and new number on WhatsApp. Wait for a while as WhatsApp would send a one-time generated code that you need to enter on the app.

Step 4. That’s it! After entering the code, your WhatsApp number would be changed. In the end, you can choose to automatically inform all or selected contacts about the change from here.

How to Change WhatsApp Number on an iPhone?

Similar to Android, you can learn how to change WhatsApp number without losing data on an iPhone in the following way.

Step 1. At first, just launch WhatsApp on your device and go to its Settings by tapping on the gear icon at the bottom.

Step 2. Once the WhatsApp settings are opened, browse to your Account Settings > Change Number option.

Step 3. Here, you can enter your old and new number that has to be updated on WhatsApp. Tap on “Next” and enter the authentication code sent by WhatsApp on your new number.

Step 4. When WhatsApp will change your number, it will let you know. You can choose to notify your contacts about the updated number from here (optional).

Part 3: Can I keep my WhatsApp messages if I change number and phone together?

The answer is "Yes". Sometimes people need to change phone number when switching their smartphones. How to keep WhatsApp records in this situation? Indeed, it is very easy with only two steps. Firstly, move to a new phone with the orginal number, then you can just use MobileTrans – WhatsApp Transfer. Secondly, change your WhatsApp Number according to solution above.

As a part of the MobileTrans toolkit, MobileTrans – WhatsApp Transfer is a user-friendly solution to transfer WhatsApp data from one device to another.

download download

The application provides a direct approach to moving your WhatsApp data from your source to the destination device. This would include your chats, attachments, group information, voice notes, and all the app data. Also, apart from Android to Android and iOS to iOS transfer, it can transfer your WhatsApp data between Android and iOS devices.

Step 1: Launch MobileTrans – WhatsApp Transfer

To begin with, you can just launch MobileTrans on your computer and visit the “Phone to Phone” module. From the supported apps, go to the "WhatsApp Transfer" section and choose to transfer WhatsApp messages.

Step 2: Connect both the devices

Afterward, you can connect your old and new smartphones to the system with working cables and wait for them to be detected. Make sure that they are marked correctly under the Source and Destination label or use the "Flip" button to interchange their positions.

Step 3: Transfer WhatsApp Data

That’s it! You can now click on the “Start” button and wait as your WhatsApp data would be moved to your new device. Once the transfer is completed, the application will let you know so that you can restore your messages on your new phone.

After reading this guide, you would be able to learn what happens when you change your number on WhatsApp. As you can see, I have come up with detailed solutions on how to change WhatsApp number without losing data. You can give these methods a try or use MobileTrans – WhatsApp Transfer if you are switching WhatsApp to a new phone with the same number.

FAQs

    • Is it true if I change my number on WhatsApp, will I lose my chats?

No, your WhatsApp chats and other app data would not be lost by changing your number on WhatsApp. Though, if you are changing your phone as well, then your data would be lost. In this case, you can use a dedicated solution like MobileTrans – WhatsApp Transfer.

    • How to know if someone has changed their number on WhatsApp?

If you are already a part of the group, then you can check a notification on the group whenever any member would change their number. Alternatively, you can visit their old number’s WhatsApp profile and check if they are active or not.

    • How to change my WhatsApp number without notifying contacts?

Once you change your number on WhatsApp, the application will provide a feature to notify your contacts. You can just toggle this feature off so that no notification would be sent to your contacts.

download download

New Trendings

How to change WhatsApp number: new instructions for all