WhatsApp verification code not received: what to try
WhatsApp confirms your number with a 6-digit code sent by SMS. If the code doesn’t come, don’t guess: enter a wrong code more than once and WhatsApp says you’ve “guessed the code too many times”, and you have to wait before you can ask for another. Go through these steps instead.
1. Check the number you entered
Enter the full number with its country code, and drop the leading zero: a UK number 07700 900123 becomes +44 7700 900123. To check the number can get texts at all, send it one from another phone.
2. Wait for the timer, then ask for a call
WhatsApp shows a timer before you can ask again. When it runs out, choose Call me (on some phones it’s under “Need help getting a code?”). An automated voice reads out the 6-digit code. In some countries, with voicemail turned on, WhatsApp may leave the code as a voicemail.
3. Signing back in? Get the code by email
If you’re signing back in to an account and added an email address to it earlier, WhatsApp can send the code there: choose Email under “Choose how to verify”. This works only for an account that already has an email on it, not for a new one.
4. Check your phone and your plan
- Turn off call blockers, text filters and apps that close other apps in the background.
- With a weak signal, turn on Wi-Fi Calling if your phone and network offer it.
- On a prepaid plan, check you have enough credit to receive texts and calls.
- Abroad, turn on roaming so texts and calls from other countries reach you.
5. Ask your mobile network
If neither a text nor a call arrives, your network can check whether messages to your number are being blocked or delayed.
6. Numbers WhatsApp won’t take
Some kinds of number can’t be registered at all, so no code will come however long you wait. They include VoIP numbers, toll-free and premium-rate numbers, and landlines, which only the WhatsApp Business app can register.
If WhatsApp says your number is already registered to another account, that’s a different problem: here’s what to do.
7. A one-time number for a second account
If you want WhatsApp on a number other than your own, for example for a second account, a one-time number like ours receives WhatsApp’s code for 20 minutes. It starts at $1, and if no code arrives in that time the money goes back to your balance. Get a number for WhatsApp.
Know the catch first: WhatsApp asks for a new code when you reinstall it or move to another phone, and a one-time number won’t receive it. Straight after signing up, add an email address under Settings, then Account, so WhatsApp can send codes there; turn on two-step verification with a PIN; and create a passkey under Settings, then Account, then Passkeys, where your phone offers it.
WhatsApp’s rules
A second account for work or family is fine. Don’t use a new number to come back after a ban or to send bulk messages: that breaks WhatsApp’s rules and ours (see our Acceptable use policy).