How to Hide Your Phone Number When Texting Someone

Thomas Fine - October 4, 2025

Texting is one of the easiest ways to stay connected, but we all want control and privacy when sending a text. Maybe you’re selling something online, contacting a service, or reaching out to someone new without sharing your main number. You need a simple, safe way to hide your phone number in the first message.

Sometimes it’s important to protect your privacy and stay safe while managing your business. Depending on your device and reason for staying anonymous, there are several ways to send messages without revealing your number.

This guide shows how to hide your phone number when texting someone, whether on an iPhone or an Android phone. 

How to Hide Your Phone Number When Texting Someone

Let’s do a quick reality check. There’s no secret code that makes a standard SMS text anonymous. An SMS always shows a sender ID, so to hide your number, you need to send messages from a different identity.

Use a second number, email gateway, or chat handle that doesn’t reveal your main line. Here are the best options, when to use them, and what to watch out for.

Get a Separate Texting Number to Go Anonymous

If you plan to message the same person more than once, getting a second number is the simplest and cleanest option. It works like a mask for texting and calling that stays on your phone. You can keep it for as long as you need.

Sign up with a service that gives you a real mobile number and send texts directly from its app, so your main line stays hidden. To stay organized, use a neutral voicemail greeting and keep your contacts separate inside the app.

Choose your preferred area code and send a test message to a friend to make sure everything works. Turn off call and text forwarding to your main number if you want stronger privacy.

Short codes and two-factor verification messages often do not deliver to secondary numbers. If you cannot receive a code, use email verification for that service.

If the other person is not receiving your texts, try sending a plain SMS with no images. You can also ask them to add your second number as a new contact. Carriers sometimes filter new numbers until there has been a little back-and-forth.

Send a Text From Your Email So You Don’t Reveal Your Number

To avoid installing another app, send texts from your email through the recipient’s “email-to-SMS” gateway to hide your phone number. Your message arrives as a text, but what the other person sees is an email address, not your phone number.

Every mobile carrier has an email address format that routes to its customers’ text inboxes. If you’re unsure where a number is based (and which carrier it might use), run a quick free phone number location check to check the region before you send.

You address the email to number@carrier-sms-domain or number@carrier-mms-domain, write your note, and send. For example, you can send your note to number@tmomail.net for T-Mobile. 

Some carriers throttle or block email-originated texts to cut spam. If your message doesn’t arrive, trim it to plain text with no links and try again. Delivery from email is not always instant, so wait a few minutes. If you do not know the carrier, use a separate number or ask the person for their carrier through another channel.

Start an Email Conversation to Hide Your Phone Number on iPhone

If you’re texting from iPhone to iPhone, you can send a blue-bubble message using your email instead of your phone number. This doesn’t hide your identity from people who know your email, but it keeps your phone number private.

On iPhone, iMessage can use both your number and email. When you start a new iMessage from your email, the receiver sees only that email as the sender.

To set it up, go to Settings, Messages, then tap Send & Receive, add or verify your email under “You can receive iMessages to and reply from.” After that, set “Start New Conversations From” to that email. Open Messages, start a new conversation, enter the contact, and send.

If the recipient doesn’t have iMessage or loses coverage, your message will be sent as SMS, and they’ll be able to see your number. To prevent this, turn off “Send as SMS” when starting the conversation and make sure the message stays blue.

If your number still shows, you likely replied in an old SMS thread. Start a new message after switching “Start New Conversations From” and make sure the send button is blue.

Label each SIM line for a dual-SIM iPhone. iOS will remember your choice per contact once you send the first message. For pure SMS conversations, you’ll need a second number or a second line. 

Get a Second SIM or eSIM to Hide Your Phone Number When Texting

Many modern phones, including a wide range of Samsung models, support dual SIM or dual eSIM. Adding a second cellular line gives you a true, carrier-level separation for both calls and texts. It’s great if you want carrier reliability and you’re willing to pay for a second line.

Your phone holds two lines. In your messaging app, you pick which line to send from when you start a thread. The recipient only sees the line you picked. First, make sure you confirm your phone has dual-SIM or eSIM support. After that, you can add a new SIM line and start texting without revealing your main phone number. 

If your Android device supports dual SIM, the line chooser appears on the compose screen, making it easy to keep your personal line out of new threads.

If you plan to text often or need a number that can receive verification codes and group messages like a normal line, use your secondary number for consistency. If replies end up in the wrong inbox, you probably responded from your primary line by mistake. Check the thread header and switch to the correct line before sending. If MMS still fails, review the APN and MMS settings for that number in your phone’s network settings.

Use a Chat App That Hides Your Number Behind a Username

Some chat platforms let you message by username, so the other person never sees your number. This is a great choice for ongoing conversations where both of you already use the same app and prefer a handle to a phone line.

You create a public username and turn on privacy settings that hide your phone number from non-contacts. You can share your @handle and chat from there without exposing your line. Choose a username that does not reveal your identity and start the conversation inside the app. 

However, it is not a replacement for texting people who only use basic phones. If the other person can see your number, you may have shared it earlier through a contact card or allowed everyone to view it. Adjust your privacy settings and start a new chat.

What Doesn’t Hide Your Phone Number When Texting

Let’s clear up a few common myths so you do not waste time trying to hide your number the wrong way. Dialing *67 hides your caller ID for calls only, not for texts. The “Hide My Caller ID” option in your phone settings also applies to calls and will not hide your number in messages.

One more thing to note is that visual message effects on iPhone do not change the sender’s identity. They only add style to the message bubble, while your number or email stays the same. Any post claiming these effects make your number appear as zeros is a myth.

Caller-ID spoofing or “any number you want” tricks can cross legal lines and get accounts banned. Even where software allows it, recipients and carriers can report deceptive messages. You can take legal action if you believe your phone number is being spoofed. 

Quick Tips for Safely Hiding Your Phone Number

Use these methods to protect your privacy, not to avoid accountability. If a conversation becomes unpleasant or feels unsafe, stop engaging and block the contact from the identity you used.

If someone you do not know texts you first, do a quick phone number lookup using Information.com and decide if you want to keep the chat on a secondary channel or not at all. If you’re into some business, keep your message simple in first contact: short and link-free messages look less spammy. 

Now You Know How to Hide Your Phone Number When Texting Someone

You can protect your privacy by using a second number, email texting, dual SIM, or chat apps to hide your phone number when messaging. These methods do not remove your identity from carriers, but they keep your real number private in daily use and help you avoid unwanted contacts while staying in control of who sees your information.