Adding your phone number to your account

Adding a phone number to your account is a great step toward a better Twitter experience. If you’re thinking about adding your number, here are a few benefits:

• Keeping your account secure. With a phone number on your account, you’ll be able to enroll in security features like login verification.
• Faster account recovery. If you ever lose access to your account, having a phone number attached can make it easier for you to get back in to Twitter.
• Use Twitter via SMS text message. With a phone number on file, you’ll be able to text Tweets and receive Twitter updates via SMS texts, as long as your phone uses a supported carrier.

Where are you using Twitter?

Find instructions for adding your phone number to your account using:

Twitter for iPhone app
Twitter for Android app
Web on a desktop or laptop computer
SMS text message (using a short code)
SMS text message (using a long code)

Add your phone number via Twitter for iPhone:

1. On your profile, tap the gear icon  and select Settings.
2. Tap the account you’d like to add a phone number to.
3. Scroll down to Phone Number. If you haven’t previously added a phone number, tap Add. (Note: if you have already added a phone number, tapping this button will give you an option to remove this number and add a new one. Find instructions here.)
4. Enter your phone number in the empty field and tap Add phone.
5. Twitter will then send an SMS text message with a verification code to the phone number you added.
6. Open the Twitter app again and enter the verification code. Tap Verify.

Add your phone number via Twitter for Android:

1. Tap the overflow icon  and select Settings.
2. Tap the account you’d like to add a phone number to.
3. Scroll down to Phone Number. If you haven’t previously added a phone number, tap Add. (Note: if you have already added a phone number, tapping this button will give you an option to remove this number and add a new one. Find instructions here.)
4. Enter your phone number in the empty field and tap Add phone.
5. We will send an SMS text message with a verification code to confirm that you own the phone.

Add your phone number from the web:

1. Log in to your account at twitter.com from a desktop or laptop computer.
2. Navigate to your Mobile settings.
3. Select your country/region from the drop-down menu.
4. Enter your phone number. No need to include your country code or leading zero; we handle these automatically. Click Continue.
5. We will send an SMS text message to your phone number. Go back to Twitter and enter the code contained in that message. Click Continue.
6. Your phone should now be added to your Twitter account, and we’ll send an SMS text message as confirmation.

Add your phone number via SMS text message to a short code:

1. Send a text to your Twitter code with the word START.
2. We'll reply and ask you to text YES to the Twitter short code.
3. Text your username to the same number. Do not use the @ symbol or quotation marks. Send your username ONLY, for example: larrybird
4. Next, text your password. This is case sensitive, so be sure you are sending your password correctly.
5. You're ready to go! Now you can post Tweets, receive notifications about your account, and enroll in security features like login verification.

Add your phone number via SMS text message to a long code:  

If you have to use a long code, note that it is one-way only. You will not be able to receive Tweets or other Twitter notifications to your phone through this channel, and you may be charged international message rates when using these codes. For these reasons, we do not recommend features such as login verification for long code users, as the experience may be less than optimal.

1. Begin by sending two separate text messages to the long code with the word STOP.
2. Wait two to three minutes before proceeding.
3. Send a text message to the long code with the word START.
4. Wait two to three minutes before proceeding.
5. Text YES to the Twitter long code.
6. Wait two to three minutes before proceeding.
7. Text your username to the same number. Do not use the @ symbol or quotation marks. Send your username ONLY, for example: larrybird
8. Wait two to three minutes before proceeding.
9. Text your password. This is case sensitive, so be sure you are sending your password correctly.
10. You’re ready to go!

To test if you have correctly added your phone, send a test Tweet to your long code number (just like sending a normal text message). Then, log in to www.twitter.com via the web to make sure your Tweet shows up on your Twitter profile. If it does, you have correctly added your phone. Once again, you will not be able to receive any texts back from a long code.

Adding your phone number to multiple accounts:

You can have the same phone number associated with up to 10 Twitter accounts. It’s important to note that only the account most recently linked to this phone number can receive SMS notifications (for things like Direct Messages, new followers, Retweets, etc.) or perform SMS commands (such as sending (D [username] + message) for DM or RETWEET [username] for Retweets). You can adjust these notifications in your Text notifications settings. Instructions for adjusting your SMS notification settings can be found here.

You will not be able to edit Text notifications settings for any other accounts you have previously associated with your phone number. If you attempt to edit your settings on an account that isn’t your primary account, you’ll receive a message letting you know that the account cannot get these notifications because it shares a phone number with another account.

Additional resources

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Updating the phone number on your account

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