Google has been automatically attaching the phone number from an Android device’s SIM card to every Google account signed in on that phone for more than a year. This setting has been active by default since September 2025, yet many users are only now discovering the change after receiving unprompted emails from Google confirming the verification.
Automatic Verification and Account Linking
According to Google’s support documentation, the company verifies the number automatically during the initial device setup. This process adds the phone number to every account on the phone, including work profiles and secondary personal accounts. The company states that this verification is required to enable specific features, such as account recovery and Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging.
However, the documentation does not explain why the number must be attached to every single account rather than just the primary one. Android Authority noted that Google amended its support pages between August and October 2025 to clarify that verification is on by default. A Google Play services changelog dated September 8, 2025, also lists number verification as running automatically during setup.
The linkage covers both existing and future accounts. If a user adds a new Google account to the device later, it will automatically pick up the phone number. Similarly, switching SIM cards will update the number on every account. Google and mobile carriers also re-verify these numbers periodically, which can incur carrier charges. The setting can only be managed directly from the phone itself.
Impact on Features and Privacy
Enabling phone number verification triggers several other Google services. It activates Better sharing on Google for one of the signed-in accounts, which supports video calls, messages, and notifications for content sent to the number, such as photos. Other features that depend on a verified number include phone number sign-in, finding a lost device, emergency location services, and Quick Share.
In October 2025, Google introduced Sign in with Mobile Number, an Android recovery tool that auto-identifies Google accounts linked to a phone number. This allows owners to regain access using the lock screen passcode from their previous device. Additionally, Google’s account help pages describe a Better ads and Google services setting that uses a phone number across services to show more relevant ads, though it remains unclear which ads setting applies to numbers attached automatically.
Kaspersky warns that disabling verification also means losing RCS chats in Google Messages, pushing conversations back to standard SMS. This trade-off carries significant weight since end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging began rolling out between Android phones and iPhones in May. Kaspersky adds that a number with verification turned off cannot be used for quick account recovery.
How to Manage the Setting
Users who wish to stop the automatic linking can navigate to Settings, then Google, and select All services. Under Privacy & security, they can select Phone number verification and turn off Verify phone numbers automatically. Some phones may label the Google section as Google services and preferences instead.
Turning off this setting does not apply retrospectively. Numbers that have already been attached must be removed manually by navigating to Personal info and Phone in each account’s Google settings. Google states that it does not sell personal data, including phone numbers, to anyone. In May, the company told Android Authority it was testing a policy in select regions that gives new Google accounts only 5GB of free storage unless a phone number is linked, down from the usual 15GB.
Source: Engadget
