Verification codes, app by app
Apps don’t ask for a phone number the same way. Some need it once; some ask again on every new phone; some call instead of texting. Each guide covers one app: how its code arrives, how long to keep the number, and what its own help centre says to do when the code doesn’t come.
- AirbnbA receive-only number can take Airbnb’s texts, but not a call from your host or guest.
- ChatGPTNot for ChatGPT itself: OpenAI asks for a phone for your first API key and sometimes for Codex.
- ClaudeEvery new account needs a number, the number can never be changed, and where you are matters too.
- DiscordA phone check Discord asks for when it wants proof you’re human, one account per number.
- FacebookOne confirmed email or number is enough; the two-factor number can’t also be your password-reset number.
- GoogleWhen Gmail asks for a phone, why one number can be refused, and when to keep it a year.
- InstagramEmail sign-up needs no number; a number you add is used for resets, two-factor codes and re-confirm prompts.
- LinkedInOptional at sign-up, but the first number you add becomes your password-reset phone.
- MicrosoftVoIP refused by name, one account per number, and text codes on their way out.
- SignalA code to register, and a Registration Lock that only holds while you’re active.
- SnapchatEmail sign-up skips the phone; a verified number can be changed but never removed.
- SteamAn optional phone for recovery, and every account on a number treated as one identity.
- TelegramLogin codes go to your other devices first, but whoever has the number has the account.
- TikTokOptional at sign-up, but changing the number later needs the old one still active.
- WhatsAppA 6-digit code on every new phone, and an account you can’t recover without the number.
- XOptional at sign-up, text two-factor for Premium only, and a 45-day rule on reused numbers.
