How to receive an SMS verification code on a computer

The ways to read a text on a computer

Forwarding texts from your own phone

Phone makers build this in. An iPhone can pass its texts to a Mac with Apple’s Text Message Forwarding, and an Android phone can show them in a browser through Google Messages for web. Windows has its own app for linking a phone. You set it up once, and texts then appear on both screens.

It costs nothing, but it has two limits:

• The code still goes to your own number. If the point was not to give an app your number, forwarding doesn’t help.
• The phone has to receive the text first. If it is off, lost, broken or without service, nothing reaches the computer.

Using a number whose texts appear in a browser

Some numbers live online, so their texts show up on any computer you sign in on. Google Voice works this way in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, but Google offers personal Voice in the US only, and setting it up sends a code to a phone you already have. Free receive-SMS sites need no phone or sign-up, but they show every text on a public page; see whether free receive-SMS sites are safe.

A rented number from us is private: its texts go only to your account. The text appears on the number’s page as it arrives, with the code pulled out and one tap to copy, in a browser on any phone or computer. It receives texts only, so a code sent by voice call won’t arrive.

If a code comes inside a long text, on any of these routes, the verification code extractor finds it for you.

Questions people ask

Does Google Voice work on a computer?

Yes. Google Voice runs on the web in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, as well as on Android and iPhone. Personal Google Voice is only available in the US, and setup sends a code to a phone that can receive texts.

Can I read my phone’s texts on a computer if the phone is switched off?

No. Forwarding only passes on texts the phone has received, so the phone has to be on and have service. A number whose texts are delivered to a web page doesn’t depend on a phone.

Do I have to keep the number’s page open to receive the code?

No. On a VerifyWith number the text waits on the number’s page, so you can close it and come back. It appears without a refresh if the page is open.

Is it safe to read verification codes on a shared computer?

Only if you sign out when you’re done. Anyone who uses the computer after you and finds you still signed in can read the code, and the next one the app sends.