Phone number FAQs

When your Twitter account has a phone number associated with it, you have access to additional benefits that include:

• Access to security features like login verification, which helps keep your account secure.
• Connecting with contacts who are already on Twitter.
• Allowing your friends to find you (if they have your phone number saved as a contact).

An accurate and up-to-date phone number and/or email address is an important step you can take to ensure you never lose access to your account. Take a moment to make sure the phone number you have associated with your account is up to date, especially if you are about to change your phone number or device. If you don’t have an email address associated with your account yet, keep your account even more secure by adding an email address.

Tips before you change your phone number or device:

• If you have a new phone number, update your account easily by signing in to your account on the web or on your phone’s mobile browser.
• If you’re getting a new phone or device, take a minute to wipe all your personal information off the old one.
• If there’s an SD card in your old phone, you should also take it out or wipe your data before you dispose of it.
• As an extra precaution, we recommend that you revoke access to any apps that you added to your account using your old phone number or device:
  • Sign in to twitter.com using a desktop or laptop computer.
  • Visit your Apps settings.
  • Click Revoke access for apps that were connected to your account via your old phone or device.

We send this notification when we receive signals that the phone number attached to your account may belong to someone else. As a precaution for your account’s security, we detach the number and notify you.

This notification can be triggered when an account is both inactive for 45 or more days and the number attached to the account is added to a new account (and the account owner is able to verify their ownership of the number).

If you received a message that the number you are trying to attach to your account is already associated with another Twitter account, it’s possible that your phone number previously belonged to someone else.

Don’t worry! This only means that outdated information still exists in the system. This does not mean that the previous owner has any access to the Twitter account you create with your new phone number. If you are not able to create an account with your new phone number, try creating an account using your email address.

If a friend changes their phone number, make sure you delete the number from your phone’s contact list. Otherwise, you may see the owner of the new phone number’s account identified as someone you know when you upload your contacts.

Be sure to update your friend’s contact with their new number. You may also want to remind them to update their account with their new phone number.

If you need to update the phone number attached to your account, you can do so easily by logging in to your account on the web or through your Twitter for iOS or Android app. Learn how to add your phone number to your account.

Your Twitter account can only have one phone number attached to it.

Even if you have a dual SIM mobile device, you’ll still need to choose one number to attach to your Twitter account. There is currently no option to have a Twitter account with two or more phone numbers attached.

You can add your phone number to up to 10 accounts. It’s important to note that only the account most recently linked to this phone number can perform SMS commands and receive SMS notifications for account activity like Direct Messages, new followers, Retweets, etc. Any other accounts you have associated with your phone number will not be able to edit Text notifications settings. Each account that has your phone number associated with it will still receive SMS text messages for password reset requests or security features like login verification.

If your phone is lost or stolen, you can prevent anyone who has it from accessing your Twitter account. Here’s how:

1. Sign in to twitter.com using a desktop or laptop computer.
2. Visit your Apps settings.
3. Click Revoke access for apps that were connected to your account via your old phone or device.
4. Tip: If you can’t remember your account password, read this article for tips to reset your password.

If you have a new phone number, make sure to update your account information. Here’s how:

1. Sign in to twitter.com on the web or on your phone’s mobile browser.
2. Go to your mobile settings.
3. Delete the old phone number and add your new number.
4. Click Continue.
5. We will immediately send you an SMS text message with a code so we can verify your number.
6. Enter the verification code.