How to add a phone number to Microsoft account?

Question

How to add a phone number to Microsoft account?

Peter Ductor 0

I deleted my phone number from my Microsoft account.

How to add my new phone number to my Microsoft account?

I bought a Dell Windows 11 Home laptop, signed up for Office 365 Personal

using one of my Microsoft accounts. I am changing this Dell Win 11 Home laptop

and Office 365 Personal to a new Microsoft account.

So far, on the Microsoft account YOUR INFO Page, ACCOUNT INFO section,

EDIT ACCOUNT INFO Page...

I deleted the original phone number. I changed the account Name, the account email, the account alternate email address.

I Do Not See Add Phone Number Option. Selecting Add

No Option to Add Phone Number

Change sign-in preferences Also No Option to Add Phone Number

Security Tab Account Security Selecting Manage How I sign In Button

Opens Ways to prove who you are Also No Option to Add Phone Number

I tried Copilot. Went through the above steps multiple times.

Same outcome. No Option to Add Phone Number

So I am at a loss and must be missing something. Help!

Thank you, Peter

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2 answers

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Answer 1

For a personal Microsoft account, the missing Add phone number option is expected in many cases.

Microsoft’s current sign-in security flow states that when adding a new way to sign in or verify, the option to add a new phone number may not be available. Instead, only options such as a recovery email address, Microsoft Authenticator, or a passkey may appear.

What can still be done:

Go to Security at https://account.microsoft.com/security.
Select Manage how I sign in.
Select Add a new way to sign in or verify.
If Phone is not listed, use one of the available methods instead:
- recovery email address
- Microsoft Authenticator
- passkey

If the goal is specifically to use a phone number as a sign-in alias, a mobile number can only be used on one Microsoft account, because there can only be one mobile number as a sign-in alias for account sign-in.

If the new phone number is already attached to another Microsoft account, the message may say “This phone number has already been taken.” In that case, if both accounts are owned, the number can be moved:

Sign in to the account that currently has the phone number.
Select Remove next to that phone number.
Sign out.
Sign in to the account that should receive the phone number.
Select Add phone number.

If the number was only recently added to another account, the documented option is to use a different mobile number.

For the scenario described, the key point is that nothing is being missed in the UI: for personal Microsoft accounts, adding a new phone number as a security method may simply no longer be offered, and the available alternatives are email, Authenticator, or passkey.

Answer 2

For personal Microsoft accounts, Microsoft now says you can no longer add a phone number as a new security method. This method is being phased out. See official document here.

https://support.microsoft.com/accounts-billing/manage/microsoft-to-stop-sending-sms-codes-for-personal-accounts

Are you hoping to update the contact method to receive the 2FA verification?

If so, you go to https://account.live.com > Security > Manage how I sign in. And you will need to use email, the authentication app, or passkey.

If you need to verify your Bing Reward, The supported alternative to entering a phone number is QR-code verification through the Bing mobile app. Microsoft officially identifies this as an alternative to SMS, and users have successfully redeemed rewards with it when SMS verification failed. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/rewards/use-qr-code-verification-to-redeem-microsoft-rewards

How to add a phone number to Microsoft account?

Manage how you sign in to your account

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