Gone are the days when phone numbers were as commonly memorized as street addresses. While you once had your own phone number, your best friend’s, your crush’s, and the one for the local pizza shop all at the top of mind, the advent of smartphones has rendered this memory exercise moot. Like most people, you probably don’t call your own phone number very often — and if you do, it’s likely listed in your Favorites — so you may not know it off the top of your head.
With that reality comes the familiar grip of panic when a new acquaintance asks for your mobile phone number and you have no clue. Or maybe you’re so used to sharing your second phone number that you forgot the first!
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Regardless of whether you’re using an iOS or Android device, you can quickly locate your own number (among other details like your IMEI number) on your phone if you know where to look. We’ll show you how to do it.
How to find your phone number in iOS
Looking up your phone number on an iOS device is easy and convenient because most iOS users are running the same version. There are two ways you can easily locate your phone number: The Contacts app or in the settings.
How to find your phone number in Android
Do not be surprised to discover some variations in the steps you need to take for finding your own mobile number on an Android device. That’s because Android users may be running different versions of the operating system and because of variations in how the operating system is implemented across device brands. So there are bound to be different interfaces depending on which device you use and which version of the OS you run. Generally, however, all roads begin from the settings.
The example below is on an LG V40 ThinQ running Android 10, but the process remains the same in Android 11 and Android 12.
The screenshots below show an older Samsung Galaxy S6 that runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
If you’re running stock Android, or something very close — for example, the Google Pixel or Nexus, or the Lenovo Moto G, X, or Z smartphones — pull up the Contacts app. You’ll see an entry titled My Info or Me; your phone number is listed in that contact information at the top of the list.
For every Android phone, regardless of manufacturer, you’ll be able to find your phone number if you go to Settings > About Phone or About Device > Status > My phone number. Some Android phones will have SIM or SIM card status listed within Status. If this is the case with your phone, then your number will be listed there. If you don’t want to go through these many different menus, you can pull up the search bar and type in My Phone Number to directly pull up the relevant information.
It’s not hard to find your phone number once you know how to look for it, so you can help others find their numbers with just a few steps.
Getting a call from your own number?
Now that you’ve found or memorized your phone number, it might come as a shock to see if pop-up on your screen as an incoming call. The FTC has warned that some robocallers and scammers have taken number spoofing to the next level and will use your own number in hopes you answer. They have also taken to this method to get around number block, because after all, who blocks their own number? If you see an incoming call with your number on it, no it’s not you from an alternate timeline, it’s a scam so don’t pick up.
