Signing up for Instagram with an email or a US phone number

Instagram and phone numbers, from its help center

Read on help.instagram.com on November 13, 2026.

Email or phone: which to sign up with

Email, for most people. On the sign-up screen you tap Create new Meta Account and enter either an email address or a mobile number, and Instagram sends the confirmation code to whichever you gave. Nothing in its help center makes a number compulsory.

A number is worth adding if you want to sign in and recover the account by phone but would rather not hand Instagram your personal one. Meta’s help pages list what it does with a number on file: password resets, SMS notifications, two-factor codes if you turn them on, contact suggestions and matching for ads. Instagram now lives inside a Meta account, so a number confirmed in the Accounts Center can also stand as the contact for your Facebook and Threads profiles; the Facebook guide covers how Facebook treats it.

Instagram’s terms ask for “accurate and up to date information”, including at registration. Its help center says nothing about VoIP or virtual numbers. A number from us is a non-VoIP US number, but Instagram makes its own decision, and if the code never comes you can cancel within 24 hours.

Getting Instagram’s sign-up code on a number from us

1. Rent the number

   Choose a length on the home page and pay. The number shows on its own page straight away.

2. Give it to Instagram

   Tap Create new Meta Account, pick the mobile-number option with the United States (+1) as the country, type the ten digits and tap Next.

3. Copy the code across

   The text lands on the number’s page with the code picked out. Tap to copy it and paste it into Instagram’s confirmation screen.

WhatsApp codes and the confirm-your-number prompt

When you turn on two-factor authentication, Instagram offers an authenticator app, which it marks as recommended, or “SMS or WhatsApp” to your mobile number. A number from us shows texts only, so choose SMS: a WhatsApp code is delivered inside WhatsApp, not as a text. The number you enter here becomes the confirmed number on your Meta account.

With SMS two-factor on, a 6-digit code is texted each time someone signs in from a device Instagram doesn’t recognize. Devices you mark as trusted skip it. Separately, Meta may ask you to confirm your contact details, and one reason it gives is that time has passed since you last added or updated them. Each of these is a text to the number, months after sign-up, and a number that has ended can’t receive it.

An authenticator app avoids all of that, and Instagram also gives backup codes. For why a rented number makes a weak second factor, see temporary numbers for two-factor.

How long to keep the number

1 year ($34.99) if the number stays on the account as a sign-in, recovery or two-factor number. Meta keeps using it, and once a rental ends the number can be given to someone else, who would then receive your reset codes.

1 week ($7.99) is enough if, within days, you add your own email and take the number off. Meta lets you remove a confirmed number at any time as long as one other confirmed email or number remains on the account. To move two-factor codes to another number, go to Settings, Accounts Center, Password and security, Two-factor authentication, choose the profile, then SMS or WhatsApp and Use different phone number; Instagram texts a 6-digit code to the new number and shows fresh backup codes.

Do this while you can still sign in. Instagram’s help center is blunt about the alternative: if you can’t reach your profile settings and can’t get into the email or number you signed up with, it can’t give you the account back. What happens when a number ends has a checklist.

If Instagram’s code doesn’t arrive

Instagram publishes little on this. Its I Can’t Log In section has no article about missing texts, so the steps that remain are short:

• Check that the country is set to the United States and the ten digits are right.
• At sign-up, go back and use your email address instead. The code goes there.
• At a two-factor sign-in, use one of your backup codes. Instagram says these work when a code can’t be sent because of delivery problems.

If no text from Instagram reaches the number’s page, cancel the number within 24 hours of buying it for a refund (how refunds work). For causes that apply to every app, see verification code not received.

Questions people ask

Can I make an Instagram account without a phone number?

Yes. Instagram’s sign-up accepts an email address or a mobile number, and the confirmation code goes to whichever you enter. You can add a number later or never.

Why am I not getting Instagram’s text to reset my password?

A reset text goes to the number on the account, so it fails if that number has changed or ended. Use the email address on the account instead; Meta says you need an up-to-date number or email to reset a password.

Why does Instagram keep asking me to confirm my phone number?

Meta lists several reasons it may ask, including that time has passed since you last added or updated your number or email. Confirming means receiving a code at that number, so it has to still be yours.

Can Instagram send my login code by WhatsApp instead of SMS?

Yes, two-factor authentication offers SMS or WhatsApp to your mobile number, or an authenticator app. With a number from us choose SMS, because a WhatsApp code arrives in WhatsApp rather than as a text.

Why am I not receiving Instagram’s verification text when I log in?

Instagram texts a login code only when SMS two-factor is on and the device isn’t recognized, and it goes to the confirmed number on the account. If that number has changed or ended, use a backup code, which Instagram says works when a code can’t be delivered.