How Do You Change Your Phone Number on Tinder?

Open Tinder or Tinder.com, go into Settings and scroll to Account Settings. Tap Phone Number, then Update My Phone Number, enter the new number and follow the SMS verification steps. The code goes to the new number, so have that phone in your hand before you start.

Here is the full route, in Tinder's order.

1. Open the Tinder app, or go to Tinder.com.
2. Tap the profile icon.
3. Tap the settings icon.
4. Scroll down to Account Settings.
5. Tap Phone Number.
6. Tap Update My Phone Number.
7. Enter your new number and follow the steps for SMS verification.

When the code arrives on the new phone and you enter it, the change is done. From then on, the new number is the one Tinder uses when you log in.

The best time to change the number is while you still have both, or at least while you are still logged in. Most men do it the other way round. They switch carriers, lose the old SIM, get logged out a week later, and only then find out the account still points at a number they cannot receive texts on.

If you know a switch is coming, make the change on Tinder the same day you get the new number. It takes two minutes while you are logged in and a lot longer once you are not.

One case needs no change at all. If you moved to a new carrier but kept your old number, Tinder never sees a difference, because the number on the account still reaches your phone. The update only matters when the digits themselves change.

The opposite case is the one to watch. A man who gets a new number but keeps the old SIM in a drawer for a month has a window, and he should use it. While the old number can still receive a text, nothing about the change is urgent or risky. Once that SIM is cancelled, the settings route depends on you still being logged in.

If the old number is gone and Tinder has logged you out, the settings screen is out of reach. Use the email instead. Open the app or Tinder.com, tap Log In, choose Trouble Logging In? and enter the email address on your account. From there, Tinder lets you log in with your new number.

This is why the email on your account matters more than it looks. It is the spare key for exactly this situation. If you are not sure which address you signed up with, sort that out before you start guessing, and check the spam and promotions folders for the confirmation.

Tinder's advice for a missing verification code is patient and plain. Delivery delays happen, so wait a few hours before you ask for another one. Make sure mobile data is switched on and your signal is strong. If it still does not arrive, ask your mobile provider whether messages to your number are being blocked.

A block on your line is something only the provider can see, so that call is worth making early. Tapping resend over and over is not a plan.

Changing the number on Tinder only changes Tinder. Any woman you already moved to text still has your old number, and to her you have gone quiet.

a dating coach's first text to a new number is always the same shape. He says who he is and asks her to save it. Borrow that. Send each of them one line from the new phone: "Hey, it's Sam. New number, save this one." If a date is already on the calendar, confirm it in the same message. She should never have to wonder whether you vanished or just changed carriers.

This is also a good moment to notice how many promising chats are still sitting inside the app. My approach is to take the number once she is open to meeting, and to set the date there rather than in the app, where your message sits in a pile with everyone else's. Conversations you have already moved to text are far harder to lose.

Your phone number and your email are the two things standing between you and a long evening of recovery. Treat them as a pair.

After you update the number, look at the email on the account too. If it is an address you rarely open, or one tied to a job you might leave, swap it for the one you read every day. The next phone you lose or replace will then be a two-minute fix instead of a headache.