How to Swap Google Voice and Your Regular Phone Number (and Why You Should Do It)
Google Voice launched in 2010, providing users with a free virtual number to send and receive text messages and phone calls, and helping people with multiple phones simplify their lives. If you’re a Google Voice user, you may have considered porting your virtual Google Voice number to your wireless carrier, but you also don’t want to lose the phone number associated with your SIM card. Ideally, you would like to swap them, but how? There is a lot of information out there about how to port a carrier number to Google Voice or how to port a Google Voice number to a carrier, but I couldn’t find any resources that talked about how to do both at the same time. It is extremely important to follow the steps and order correctly so that you do not accidentally lose one of your long-used phone numbers. So here’s how to do it right.
Background
I was once the lead Android device reviewer for a well-known technology blog. This event meant that I tested a new phone with a new SIM card every one to two weeks. I couldn’t ask my friends and family to keep track of my constantly changing phone number, so I went ahead and signed up for Google Voice and just gave everyone that number. My carrier number became something I only used occasionally, and my Google Voice became my primary number, even after I moved away from routine phone checks.
The fact is that, despite the fact that Google Voice (henceforth GV) is created by Google itself, it has never integrated with Android phones as deeply as carrier numbers. If you’re using Android Auto or a WearOS smartwatch, you can reply to a GV text with your voice, but if you try to send a new message, it will come from your carrier’s number, which will confuse the recipient. Meanwhile, while the Messages app for Android has gained more features and improvements, Google Voice has received fewer and fewer meaningful updates over the years. Messages eventually got RCS support with better security and multimedia support, but GV still doesn’t.
Late this summer, Apple finally bowed to regulatory pressure and added RCS support in iOS 18 , which promised to finally make messaging between iPhones and Android phones a lot less sucky, giving cross-platform texts better images, read receipts, and improved grouping messaging. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back and I decided it was finally time to change my Google Voice number to a carrier number.
The thing is, I didn’t want to lose either number because I still get calls from both. Plus, I had almost 15 years of voice and text messages saved in Google Voice, including from deceased loved ones, and I didn’t want to lose them. So, I had to figure out how to transfer my Google Voice number to my carrier and my carrier’s number to Google Voice without losing any valuable data. So, I worked with both the Google Voice team and my carrier (T-Mobile) to create this guide.
Prepare
First, keep in mind that this process may take several days. This will depend to some extent on your carrier, but there are some built-in security measures to help prevent people from hijacking numbers that don’t belong to them, so plan for that.
Secondly, I would recommend backing up all your message data before starting this process, just in case. Your messages will NOT be transferred from one service to another. By following this guide, you won’t lose any of your messages, but they will remain isolated in their original apps. To download data from both sources, go to the Google Takeout page and find the Products section. Check the box next to Messages and Voice , then click Next Step and select the format you want to download them in, then click Export.
Third, although not absolutely necessary, it will be useful to have a spare eSIM-enabled device. This will be temporary, but early in the process you will need your carrier to add an additional line to your account, and some may require you to have a phone for that line. An old phone you don’t use anymore will do (both Android and iPhone will do), but if it doesn’t work with an eSIM, you’ll have to go to the store and buy a physical SIM card. Alternatively, if you are buying a new phone, then this is an ideal time to switch as you can continue to use your old phone during the switch.
How to do it
Step 1
Call your carrier’s technical support number and ask them to set up an additional temporary number for your account. If you have a temporary phone (mentioned above) with an eSIM, ask them to assign a temporary number to that device (or go to a carrier store and buy a physical SIM card for it). For me it was T-Mobile. I called technical support and they immediately activated a new line. There is a one-time setup fee of $10 (varies by carrier). You will then have to wait 24 hours before moving forward because this new number will be temporarily blocked.
Step 2
After waiting 24 hours, call your carrier and ask them to switch numbers between your phones. In other words, ask them to link your new temporary number to your primary phone and ask them to switch your regular carrier number to your temporary phone. It will only take a few minutes. Once completed, you will have to restart both devices. Again, this can only be done remotely if you are using an eSIM. If you have physical SIM cards, you can simply turn off the power and swap them between phones.
Note. You may have to carry both phones with you for a day or two until the entire process is completed.
Step 3
Go to the Google Voice website at voice.google.com . Go to Settings and then under Account you will see your GV number. Click Unblock . You will have to pay $3 for this. Make a note of the PIN that GV gives you because you will need to give it to your carrier in a second.
Step 4
Call your carrier’s technical support line and ask them to port your Google Voice number to replace your TEMPORARY number. They will need your GV phone number as well as the PIN that GV has just provided to you. Once you do this, congratulations! Your Google Voice number should now be linked to your main phone. On the carrier side this should happen more or less instantly, but it took me restarting the phone several times before it showed up on my phone. You can verify that this works by looking at the About section in your phone’s settings. Ask a friend to text you to see if you are receiving messages as expected.
Step 5
Now that you have your GV number on your primary phone, it’s time to transfer your old carrier number to Google Voice. Return to the GV website, open Settings, and scroll down to “Transfer your number to Google Voice.” Enter the number you want to port (the original number from your carrier that should be on your temporary phone).
Step 6
GV will send a text message containing a 6-digit PIN to this temporary phone/original number. Enter this PIN on the Google Voice page that asks for it and click Confirm . It will cost you $20 and will be paid via Google Pay. Once you pay, everything should be ready. The transfer may take some time, but you can confirm that your old carrier number is now your GV number by reviewing the settings on the Google Voice website.
Step 7
At this stage everything is ready! You can decommission your old/temporary phone now as there should no longer be a phone number associated with it. Make sure you have the Google Voice app installed on your primary phone so you can still receive text messages and calls to that phone number. Go to the Google Voice website and under Linked Numbers , click +New Linked Number and add a new number for your primary phone (i.e. your old Google Voice number).
This is how you make swapara. If you’re just looking for how to port your carrier number to Google Voice or how to port a Google Voice number to your carrier, Google details those separate processes here . Again, this article includes the additional steps required if you are trying to do both of these things at the same time (i.e. exchange your carrier numbers and GV numbers with each other). Follow the steps above to ensure you don’t accidentally lose any of your valuable phone numbers, saved text messages or voicemails. Hope this helps!