4 min read
Why WeChat asks for a phone number
Chat apps like WeChat use your phone number as your identity: it’s how contacts find you and how the app proves you’re a real person. The login code arrives by SMS, and some chat apps also offer a voice call.
Can you skip the phone on WeChat?
Most messaging apps, WeChat included, don’t offer an email-only sign-up. The device itself doesn’t need a SIM, though: once the code is in, WeChat runs on Wi-Fi.
Your options without a SIM card
Messaging apps check numbers carefully because spam is their biggest problem, so free VoIP numbers are often refused. Free public SMS sites are risky for chat accounts: whoever reads the code first can register it.
- Email or Google/Apple sign-in, when the app allows it. Free, and no number at all.
- A second SIM or eSIM. Costs a monthly plan, but the number stays yours.
- A private temporary number from CoveSMS. Only you see the code, and you pay nothing if it doesn’t arrive within 20 minutes.
Step by step: get the WeChat code online
- Buy a WeChat number in your CoveSMS dashboard.
- In WeChat, choose the same country code and paste the rest of the number.
- If the app asks how to receive the code, choose SMS.
- Type the code from your dashboard into WeChat.
If the code doesn’t arrive
- Skip the voice call option: numbers receive SMS only.
- If a countdown appears, let it finish before asking again; repeated requests get the number paused.
- No code within 20 minutes means the number closes and the price goes back to your balance.
After you’re in: stop depending on the number
A temporary number is single-use. Set up another way in before it closes:
- Look for a PIN, password or two-step verification setting in WeChat and turn it on.
- Add an email for recovery if the app supports it.
- Keep the same device: reinstalling WeChat usually asks for a code on the same number.