How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage

Method 1 of 2:

Resetting Your Phone Number

  1. Understand when to use this method. Resetting your iPhone's phone number is only necessary when the phone number displayed in the iMessages section is incorrect. If your iPhone is already sending iMessages from your phone number, skip this method.[1]
    1. You can try setting an email address as the place from which iMessages send if you don't want other people to see your phone number for iMessages.
  2. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 1
    Open your iPhone's
    How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 2
    Settings. Tap the Settings app icon, which resembles a grey box with gears on it.
  3. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 3
    Scroll down and tap
    How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 4
    Messages. It's about halfway down the Settings page.
  4. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 5
    Tap the green "iMessage" switch
    How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 6
    . You'll find this at the top of the page. Doing so will disable iMessages on your iPhone for the time being.
  5. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 7
    Turn off your iPhone and wait for 10 minutes. Press and hold your iPhone's Power button on the right side of the housing, then swipe right the Power
    How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 8
    switch on the "slide to power off" track. Once your iPhone turns off, wait for at least 10 minutes before proceeding.
    1. You can also press the Power button 5 times in order to bring up the power menu.
  6. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 9
    Turn back on your iPhone. Once 10 minutes have passed, press and hold your iPhone's Power button until you see the Apple logo appear on-screen, then release the button and wait for the iPhone to turn back on.
    1. If you use a passcode, you'll need to enter it before you can proceed.
  7. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 10
    Re-enable iMessage. Open
    How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 11
    Settings, tap Messages, tap the white "iMessage" switch
    How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 12
    , and then wait for the "Waiting for activation..." message to disappear from below the "iMessage" section.
  8. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 13
    Check your iPhone's current number. Once iMessage is active, you can check your current iMessage phone number by tapping Send & Receive at the bottom of the screen and ensuring that the phone number at the top is your current number.
    1. If you still don't see your iPhone's number here, repeat this method. Make sure you wait for at least 10 minutes before turning back on your iPhone.
Method 2 of 2:

Changing the iMessage Send Location

  1. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 14
    Open your iPhone's
    How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 15
    Settings. Tap the Settings app icon, which resembles a set of gears on a grey background.
  2. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 16
    Scroll down and tap
    How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 17
    Messages. It's near the middle of the Settings page.
  3. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 18
    Tap Send & Receive. You'll see the option at the bottom of the screen.
    1. Depending on the size of your iPhone's screen, you may first have to scroll down to see this option.
  4. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 19
    Review the "START NEW CONVERSATIONS FROM" section. This section is near the bottom of the page; it lists each address from which you can send an iMessage.[2]
    1. At minimum, you will see one email address and one phone number here. The email address is your Apple ID email address.
  5. How to Change Your Phone Number on iMessage Picture 20
    Select an email address. Tap the email address from which you want to send iMessages. This will ensure that, when you send an iMessage, the recipient of your iMessage will receive it from your email address and not your phone number.
    1. If the person on the other end of the message has your phone number in their contacts or can't receive iMessages, this method won't mask your number.
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