How to use Gmail without a phone number

A lot of people seem to think, because you can access Gmail on your phone, that you must need a phone number to set up a new Gmail account. But is that really the case? While Google does recommend that you add a phone number to your account for security purposes, is one actually essential? Or can you get away with not adding a number at all? Can you use Gmail without a phone number?

Read more: How to set up a new Google account on your Android device

How to use Gmail without a phone number

To put it quite simply, you don’t need to have a phone number on a Google / Gmail account. Google heavily promotes the idea, so it can contact you with verification codes, and to assist with account lockout situations. But if you choose to withhold your number, nothing bad is going to happen. Your Google / Gmail account will continue to work as usual.

If you decide to add your phone number, for security purposes, the same number can only be used for up to four different accounts. After that, you can use a different security verification process, such as two-factor authentication or a Yubikey.

But if you’ve reached your four account limit, and you don’t want to use another verification method, or you simply don’t want Google to know your phone number, just sign up for an account as usual, and keep the phone number field blank. As you can see, it’s clearly marked as optional.

It’s recommended however to add a recovery email address to all of your other Gmail addresses, so Google has something to contact you with, if you’re locked out of your account. You should also set your age to 15 years old on both the account you’re setting up and the recovery email, as this apparently tells Google you likely don’t have your own phone yet. But really, how many 15 year old’s don’t have their own phone these days?

Another option is to simply use a dummy number to receive a SMS verification from Google. One such free service is Free SMS Verification.

When you sign up for a Google account on your phone, and it asks you for a number, you can either enter a dummy number, mentioned above. Or you can tap the Skip link to bypass the need for a phone number altogether.

Read more: How to set up a Gmail account in less than 2 minutes

FAQ’s

Once a phone number has been added, can it be changed or removed?

Yes it can, by going to your Google account, then Personal Info–>Contact Info–>Phone. Click the pencil to edit the number and the trash can to delete the number entirely.

These steps are not working. What now?

Google asks for these procedures to stop spam robots from signing up. Is there anything in the email address that would make Google think you’re a spam robot? Maybe the email is [email protected] ? If so, change the username. Also, switch off your VPN if you have one on, as some web services (especially Google) sees that as a possible automated robot signing up.