How to Change Your Google Voice Number (Personal Account)

Short answer

Google's own help page is short: delete the number you have, then get a new one. The flow only matches personal Voice accounts that you manage at voice.google.com. If your number lives under Google Voice for Google Workspace, or a Voice Starter / Voice Standard standalone subscription, Google says you delete or reassign numbers in the Admin console instead [Change your Google Voice number].

This page walks the personal-account path with pass/fail checks, explains the $20 port-in alternative, and lists the places a number change usually breaks. It is not a substitute for Google's live UI labels, which can shift slightly by account region.

Personal account steps (computer)

Do this on a computer browser. Google's documented path does not start in the mobile app for number replacement.

If the search returns no inventory in your city, Google's tip is to try a nearby area code. Availability is inventory, not a guarantee that every ZIP has free numbers.

After the swap, place a test call to the new number from a second phone and send a test text if you use SMS. Confirm voicemail still greets callers the way you expect.

Before you delete: the 90-day reclaim window

Deleting is not instant and final. Google's delete page carries one warning in bold: "After you delete your Google Voice number, you can only reclaim it within 90 days" [Delete your Google Voice number, checked 2026-10-20]. To reclaim, sign in with the same Google Account, open Settings → Account, click Get a number when the page says you have no Voice number, find the old number, and click Reclaim, then verify.

That window changes how you should run a swap. Grab the new number, then spend the first few weeks moving logins and listings across while you can still go back if something important was tied to the old digits. Put the 90-day deadline in a calendar. After it passes, Google's page offers no further route back.

Write down the old number, the date you deleted it, and the Google Account that held it. Reclaim only works from that same account, so a household that juggles several Gmail logins can lose the number just by signing in to the wrong one.

Who can get a number, and where

Google's subscription page splits Voice into single-user and multi-user plans [Identify Google Voice subscription types]. The free personal plan (Google lists it as Basic Google Voice at $0) and the Voice Starter and Voice Standard standalone plans ($10 and $20 a month) all run on a personal @gmail.com account and issue local numbers in the US only. Workspace add-ons (Starter $10, Standard $20, Premier $30 per user per month) need a paid Workspace subscription and cover 14 countries or regions, and only Premier can add numbers outside your home country.

In practice that means a personal user outside the US cannot "change" to a non-US Voice number at all, and someone on a standalone plan follows the Admin console route described above rather than the personal Settings page. The $20-a-month Standard price and the $20 port-in fee are unrelated charges that happen to match. Do not confuse them when budgeting.

Sign-up rules also apply to the replacement number. Google's setup page says you can choose your own number if you are in the US, that searches work by city or area code, and that Voice does not offer 1-800 numbers. If you wanted a toll-free line, Voice is the wrong product.

Personal vs Workspace vs standalone Voice plans

If Settings never shows a Delete control next to the number, stop and check account type before inventing workarounds. Wrong-path tutorials are why people think Voice "will not let them change numbers."

Keep your mobile digits instead: port-in ($20) and port-out ($3)

Deleting your Voice number and picking a new one is the documented "change" path. If what you actually want is to keep a mobile number you already own and move it onto Voice, that is a port-in. Google's porting page states: "To port-in your mobile number, Google Voice charges a $20 fee," and tells you not to cancel your phone plan until Voice confirms the port is complete [Port your Google Voice number, checked 2026-10-20]. The tip at the bottom of the change-number page repeats the same figure: "It costs $20 USD to port your number" [Change your Google Voice number].

Port-in has conditions that a delete-and-replace does not. Google says not all mobile numbers can be ported, US users can only request ports with an active US mobile number, and you need the account number and PIN from your current carrier to finish the request. The flow runs from Settings → Account → Port a number on a computer, verifies ownership with a six-digit code by text or call, and takes payment through Google Pay. Google says phone numbers can take up to 48 hours to port and text messages up to 3 business days to follow.

Two side effects catch people. First, once the port completes, the carrier cancels service on that number, and Google Voice does not sell mobile plans, so you need a new carrier number if you still want a phone line to ring. Second, the Voice number you had before the port does not stay automatically. Within 90 days of porting you can choose to keep the original Voice number as a secondary number; otherwise Google removes it. If a port gets stuck and you cancel it, Google says you get the $20 back.

Port-out (moving a Voice number to another carrier) is a separate step with its own fee. Google's wording: "When you unlock your Google Voice number, it costs $3 USD. But if your number was originally ported in from another carrier, there's no charge." You unlock under Settings → Account, then ask the new carrier to start the port. When the new carrier asks for an account number and PIN, Google says to give your 10-digit Voice number and your voicemail PIN. If you change your mind, you can lock the number again under Settings → Account, and Google says you can always unlock it again for no charge. Once a carrier such as Verizon or AT&T has already notified Google about the port, though, you can no longer relock it [Port your Google Voice number, port-out section].

Google also warns that some third-party services may not accept numbers that started life on Google Voice, even after they are ported to Google Fi. If you are porting out so a bank or app will accept the number, check with that service first. For teams comparing Voice to a full business phone stack, see business call forwarding services.

Inactive numbers: the other way a number disappears

Some people searching for this topic did not delete anything. Their number vanished because it sat unused. Google says it reclaims Voice numbers when there is no activity, sends a warning that shows a "reclaim date," and that making a call, sending a text, or listening to voicemail before that date keeps the number [Reclaim your Voice number].

If the date has passed, the same page gives 45 days to get the number back by searching for it on voice.google.com while signed in to the original account. Messages stay in the account after the number is reclaimed, but you cannot get calls or texts on it. That is a different clock from the 90 days that apply after a deliberate delete, so check which situation you are in before you pick a new number.

What breaks when the digits change

The Voice number is an identity token for anything that stores it. Expect to update: SMS two-factor on banks and social apps; WhatsApp / Signal registration if tied to that number; Google Ads or Maps business listings; email signatures and invoice footers; printed packaging and storefront signs; auto-attendants that dial the old Voice number as a destination.

Linked phones are separate from the Voice number itself. If you only needed calls to ring a new mobile, you may only need to change a linked device under Devices and numbers, not delete the Voice number. Misreading that distinction is a common reason people wipe a number they meant to keep.

After the swap: texting rules on the new number

A new number has the same texting rules as the old one, and those rules matter when you reannounce it. Google says Voice texts to US, Canadian, and Puerto Rican numbers are free, that messaging is meant for one-to-one conversation, and that sending the same text to many people, sending links, or sending many texts quickly can get messages blocked [Send & get text messages].

So a mass "this is my new number" blast from Voice is the wrong way to tell contacts. Send it by email, update your signature, or text people one at a time. Group texts are capped at 8 participants including you, and Voice cannot text five- or six-digit short codes, which matters if a service sends verification codes from one.

Frequently asked questions