2 Step Verification Change Phone Number – What You’ll Need

Two step verifications can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Ironically it’s in these moments, when you don’t have access to your previous phone number, that you realize that the 2 step verification process actually works. Now, if you still have access to the old phone that you had registered with, the process can be a little easier. In fact, if you have a say in the matter be sure to make the switch when you still have access to the number. Do that, or remove the need for a 2 step verification to change the phone number that is linked to the account after that. We are going to go through multiple scenarios here to make sure that we cover the one that you happen to be in. 

Is there a way to change the number that’s linked to the account when you don’t have direct access to the number that is currently linked to the account? That’s actually going to depend on the app that you’re using. In fact, when you find yourself in this situation you may learn that it’s not a great idea to accept 2 step verification from certain apps. Particularly if they tie you down and they don’t allow you to access the app and you can’t get a hold of a customer service agent. We are getting a little ahead of ourselves though. Here are the topics that we are going to be covering in this particular article. 

• 2 Step Verification Change Phone Number – With Access To The Regular Number   
• 2 Step Verification Change Phone Number – No Access To The Regular Number
• Do You Have Direct Access To The App On Another Device? 
• 2 Step Verification Change Phone Number – No Access No Customer Service  
• Should You Activate This Option On Your Apps?
• I Don’t Have The Number With Me, But I Want To Get In, And Keep The Number 

2 Step Verification Change Phone Number – With Access To The Regular Number   

This is the ideal situation that you want to be in. In fact, if you know that you are going to lose access to a number you better make sure that you change the number that you have active for the two step verification. The process that you have to complete is going to vary depending on the app that you are using. For the most though, you’ll have to access your account. From there you’ll go to your settings and scroll down to the login section. That’s usually where you are going to find the option to change the verification number. In other apps you can head to your account details and they’ll have boxes there where they have your name, email, and other personal information. You can change the number from there. 

In many cases you’ll have to verify the change. So what happens there is that you’ll go through the process that we’re talking about and you’ll either have to put your password in multiple times. With other apps you’ll get an email notification, and you have to verify the change via email. In any case, the best way to be able to complete a 2 step verification change phone number process is to still have access to the original number that you are looking to change. When you don’t have access to the number things can start to get a little dicey!  

2 Step Verification Change Phone Number – No Access To The Regular Number 

We are willing to bet that many of you who are reading this happen to be in this situation. This happens when you suddenly lose access to your old number or because you weren’t proactive about making these changes when you did have access. We are not judging it happens to the best of us! There are a couple of things that you can do here. If it’s an email account we would advise that you go through the web app, don’t try to access via a phone. Ideally, try and access through another device that is already recognized by your account. In the best case scenario you’ll get direct access to the account and then you can proceed to change the number in your account settings. For email accounts even if you can’t do this there’s usually a way to verify your access through a backup email account.

If you are talking about a banking app or another app that is linked to a physical company then what you can do is contact customer service. They’ll be able to access your account from their database and change the number for you. If it’s your bank they’ll probably ask you if you have your account number or your card number to be able to verify that it’s really you. Yes, the whole contacting customer service process can get tedious. The thing is, sometimes the more you try and access the app the less success you’ll have on your own. If there’s an option to call customer service, that’s an avenue that you should look into rather quickly. If not you can bring restrictions of your account on yourself. 

Do You Have Direct Access To The App On Another Device? 

What kind of app are you trying to access through the 2 step verification process, but can’t? Is it your email account? Do you happen to have that account open on another device? We’re going to be totally honest here, this happens more than you would know. The solution can be right in front of you. If you can’t access it through your phone, go to a device where you haven’t logged off and access the account there. Then you can go ahead and change your number through the regular process that we talked about. Arguably this is the easiest solution to the problem. 

We are going to be totally honest, we actually added this section after writing the first draft of the article. A lot of times what happens when you know that you lost access to your phone and things are going to be difficult moving forward is that you panic. When you panic you can’t think straight and you miss things that are literally right in front of you. So if you have access to the account on another device, before you try and fail to bypass two step verification you may want to access through that device, and turn 2 step verification off or change your number.    

2 Step Verification Change Phone Number – No Access No Customer Service  

If you can’t find a customer service number there’s no question that things can get a little more complex. Most apps that feature a two step verification option have articles on their sites of how to fix a potential issue. For example Gmail has a full protocol that you can follow. We suggest that you fill out the form with them and go through the whole process. That’s certainly going to be the best way to potentially get your account back. Speaking of accounts, another option that’s on the table is to verify your app account via an email account. Try and use a device where you’ve logged in before this can help you bypass the 2 step verification change phone number and log out.

In the worst case scenario where you don’t have customer service and you don’t have access to an email account or a full troubleshooting method you may have to resort to getting a hacker. This is not something that we recommend. In fact we would strongly advise that you look through all of the options. Check the site or the app for an article about 2 step verification. Most apps actually publish a step by step guide on what you can do to get your account back. If nothing works though that may be your best bet.     

Should You Activate This Option On Your Apps?

There are plenty of pros and cons here that we could look at. The simple reason why this option makes sense is that even if someone hacks your password they won’t be able to access the account. Unless they are really good at what they are doing. With most accounts you are already going to get notifications when someone tries to access the account from an unknown device. If you have that option you can negate all of the log in attempts that come in through unknown devices. When it’s you from an unknown dev ice you have to verify it via your email.

What we would say is that you really don’t want to activate this option unless you understand the recovery process. For example, never activate a 2 step verification process unless you add your email account. Ideally, you can add an email as a recovery method that you can access without a 2 step verification process. That way if you lose access to your phone there’s still a chance of getting the account back. If you are forced to put a phone number down on your account make sure to keep that number current. Otherwise, you are going to find yourself in a world of trouble. There is some value to the 2 step verification method. Although we would also understand if people just thought it was a major hassle.        

I Don’t Have The Number With Me, But I Want To Get In, And Keep The Number 

Maybe you are going to go to your service provider and get the same number back at some point. You just lost the phone and need to access an email account or whatever it may be. You better hope that there is another way to verify your account. As we mentioned you have to at least have a back up email if it’s an email account that you’re trying to access. If it’s another type of account that you want to access you can get verified via email. Particularly if you are able to contact customer service. Essentially as long as you don’t remove the number it’s still going to be linked to your account. What usually happens when you contact customer service for example is that they deactivate the 2 step verification needed to access the account. The number in most cases has to be changed manually.   

Another thing that you are going to be able to do, if you’re forced to change the number, is to do so for that moment. Maybe change the number to someone else’s phone that you know who can grant you access to your account. Then once you have your same number back you are going to be able to change the number back. In the meantime you would need the other number to be able to have continued access to the account. 

2 step verification change phone number – Conclusion 

As you can see there are different situations that you can be in. Ideally if you are going to change your number and you know that ahead of time you should go ahead and make the switch for all of your apps ahead of time. Even if it’s a change where you have to deactivate the 2 step verification requirement that a particular app has. This is going to make things much easier on you. To change it directly go to your account settings and scroll down to where your phone number is. Most apps have a very similar process in this type of situation. You are probably going to be asked to retype your password or take an extra step to verify that account.  

If you don’t have access to the phone go to the site of the app or the account that you are trying to access. We would say that around 90% of the apps that offer 2 step verification also have a troubleshooting page that you can access if you want to figure out what you can do if you lose your phone. Contacting customer service is also a way to go. Most of the time those fine folks are going to have access to your account and can grant you access or even change the number associated with your account from their interface. Just make sure that you collect all of the data that you can from your personal account on that site. You don’t know what they may ask you to verify the account.