A lot of people keep more than one Google account on purpose. There is the main one, a work profile, maybe an old Gmail address used only for newsletters and store loyalty programs, and sometimes a throwaway account created specifically so it is not tied to your real identity. This week, a lot of those people opened their inbox to find an email from Google titled “Making sure you can stay connected.” It told them their phone number had been verified and added to that account.
Nobody clicked anything. Google Play Services did it in the background, on every account signed in to the phone. The behavior was first flagged in a widely shared Reddit thread and then confirmed by several outlets, and it is not a bug. Google’s own help page spells it out: verification is on by default, and verified numbers are added to all Google Accounts signed in on the device, both current and future.
You can switch it off. The catch is that switching it off does not undo what already happened, so there are two steps, not one.
What Google is actually doing
Phone number verification is not new. Android has been confirming the number on your SIM for years, mainly so features like RCS messaging and phone number sign in work without you typing a code. What changed is how loudly it now behaves. Security firm Kaspersky notes that the process was pushed deeper into the system with a Google update in September 2025, running by default during setup and then again periodically in the background.
The part that caught people off guard is the scope. The verified number does not stay with the account you set the phone up with. Google’s support documentation says it is added to every signed in account, and gives two examples: add a new Google account to the phone and it links to all numbers on the device; add a new number (a second SIM or eSIM) and it gets added to all accounts.
How the phone proves the number is yours
There are two methods, and which one your phone uses depends on your carrier and Android version. The older one sends a hidden technical text message in the background, which occasionally surfaces in people’s sent folders as a cryptic line ending in “Google is re-verifying the phone# of this device.” That is the reason some users have spotted outgoing texts they never wrote.
The newer and now more common route skips SMS entirely. The phone sends a token containing SIM and device identifiers (the ICCID and IMSI) to the carrier, and the carrier answers with the confirmed number. It takes a couple of seconds and you never see it. Google says it does not sell your phone number, but it does say device identifiers and SIM data may be collected as part of the check.
Why people are angry about it
On the main account, most people would never notice, and plenty would actually want it. The problem is compartmentalization. A secondary Google account is often secondary for a reason:
- Throwaway accounts used for sign ups, marketplace listings or testing apps exist precisely so they are not tied to your real number.
- Work accounts on a personal phone now carry your personal mobile number as contact info.
- Shared or family accounts signed in on one device pick up a number that belongs to one person.
- A phone number is a strong identifier. It is the thread that data brokers, scammers and SIM swap attackers pull on. Spreading it across more accounts gives each account one more link back to you.
It also cuts against a principle Google has been leaning on lately. The company has been tightening Android’s security story all year, including the six new Advanced Protection features in Android 17. Quietly linking a personal identifier to accounts people deliberately kept apart is the opposite of the “you are in control” message, and Google has form here: regulators just hit it with a 403 million euro fine over location data it kept after users switched tracking off.
Reaction on Reddit has been blunt, with comments ranging from “I’m so sick of this” to “scummy practices yet again by a mega corp.” The main complaint is not that the feature exists. It is that something which used to be opt in now behaves as opt out, and people only learn about it from an email after the fact.
How to turn it off
The exact wording varies slightly by phone maker, but the path is the same on Pixel, Galaxy, Motorola and other phones with Google Play Services.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Google (on some phones it is called Google services and preferences).
- Switch to the All services tab.
- Under Privacy & security, tap Phone number verification.
- Turn off Verify phone numbers automatically. If you have two SIMs, check that both numbers are covered.
This only stops future linking. It does not remove your number from accounts that already received it.
How to remove the number from accounts that already have it
You have to do this account by account, ideally from a browser so you can see which account you are signed in as.
- Go to myaccount.google.com and make sure the right account is selected in the top right corner.
- Open Personal info, then Contact info and tap Phone.
- Select the number and delete it, or at least review how it is used. Google lets you control whether a number is used for account recovery, for sign in and for Better sharing on Google, which helps people find you in Google services.
- Repeat for every account where you do not want the number.
What you lose if you switch verification off
This is the trade off Google will point to, and it is real. Verification is the plumbing for several features, and Google’s own help page lists them.
| Feature | Depends on verification? | What happens if you turn it off |
|---|---|---|
| RCS chats in Google Messages | Yes | RCS needs ongoing confirmation that the SIM is active. Expect fallbacks to plain SMS and MMS. |
| Sign in with your phone number | Yes | You sign in with your email address and password instead. |
| Quick account recovery | Partly | A recovery number you added yourself still works. You lose the automatic one. |
| Emergency location service, satellite SOS on Pixel 9 and later | Listed by Google | Google says verification helps these work. Test them if you rely on them. |
| Find, lock and secure a lost device | Listed by Google | Find Hub still works through your Google account, but number based options may not. |
| Quick Share and Better sharing on Google | Partly | People who only have your number may not find you as easily. |
A related detail: Kaspersky notes that if you remove the SIM, RCS keeps working for about eight days before it switches itself off, which shows how much the messaging side leans on that constant check in. Google has also said verified numbers help it block spoofed calls and texts between Android users, so there is a genuine anti scam benefit in the background too.
The toggle may not stay off
There are two wrinkles worth knowing about before you call it done.
First, several Reddit users say the Verify phone numbers automatically switch turned itself back on after they disabled it. Others, including testers at Android Authority, say it stayed off for them. It is worth revisiting the setting after the next Play Services update, which arrives silently through the Play Store rather than as a system update. That is the same channel that brought receipt scanning to Google Wallet this month, and it is why changes like this can show up on millions of phones at once.
Second, users report the same linking on GrapheneOS, the privacy focused Android build, when sandboxed Google Play Services is installed. That makes sense: the behavior lives in Play Services, not in Android itself. If you run a de-Googled phone with no Play Services at all, this does not apply to you.
2. Settings > Google > All services > Phone number verification, then turn off automatic verification.
3. On myaccount.google.com, remove the number from each account you want kept separate.
4. Leave it on your main account if you rely on RCS or phone based recovery.
5. Recheck the toggle after the next Google Play Services update.
The bigger picture
Google is not doing anything it has not documented. The help page is clear, and the features that depend on a verified number are genuinely useful. But documentation is not consent, and an email that says “we did this” is not the same as a prompt that asks “do you want this?” For people who run several accounts on one phone, the default now works against the reason they set up those accounts in the first place.
Google has not commented publicly on the backlash, and there is no sign yet that it will flip the feature back to opt in. Until it does, the fix is in your hands: one toggle to stop new links, and a few minutes on each account to clean up the old ones.
FAQ
Why did Google add my phone number to my other Google account?
Android’s phone number verification is on by default and, according to Google’s help page, adds every verified number on the device to every Google account signed in on it, including accounts added later.
How do I stop Google from linking my phone number automatically?
Go to Settings, Google, All services, then Phone number verification under Privacy & security, and turn off Verify phone numbers automatically.
Does turning off verification remove my number from my accounts?
No. You need to remove it manually from each account at myaccount.google.com, under Personal info, Contact info, Phone.
Will RCS messaging stop working if I turn it off?
It can. RCS in Google Messages relies on ongoing verification that your SIM is active, so chats may fall back to SMS and MMS.
Is this a bug or a security breach?
Neither. It is a documented Google Play Services behavior. The concern is that it is enabled by default and users are only informed after their number has been linked.
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