How to move your number from AT&T

What you'll need from AT&T

Account number

Near the top of your AT&T bill, or under Billing in myAT&T. Personal wireless accounts are usually 9 digits, home phone accounts 12 to 15, and business accounts 13 to 15.

PIN

A Number Transfer PIN: 6 digits for a cell number, 4 for home phone and internet phone numbers. It lasts 4 days on personal accounts and 14 days on business accounts, so get it right before you start the move.

Name and address

Exactly as AT&T has them on your account. Copy them from a recent bill.

A recent bill

A PDF or a photo from the last 30 days.

Get your PIN

1. In the myAT&T app, open your profile, go to your account settings, and choose Transfer phone number, then Request a new PIN. On some versions of the app it's under People & permissions.
2. Or dial *PORT from the AT&T phone and follow the prompts. You'll need your account passcode, and the PIN arrives by text.
3. Business wireless accounts can't use the app or *PORT: the primary user requests the PIN in the online business account, or calls AT&T.

Good to know

• Only the person with primary access to the account can request a PIN. On a family plan, that's the account holder.
• Turn off Wireless Account Lock first, or AT&T will refuse the transfer.
• The name and address must match the account exactly: for business accounts, the address tied to the number.
• Keep your AT&T service until the move is done, or the number can be lost.

Before the number leaves your phone

• iPhone: turn the number off in Settings, Messages, Send & Receive, and in Settings, FaceTime, so texts from other iPhones don't keep going to iMessage.
• Android: turn off RCS chats in your messaging app (Google Messages: Messages settings, RCS chats) before the number moves. It can't be done afterward.
• Group chats don't carry over: start new ones once the number is on Onyx Phone.

Then move it to Onyx Phone

1. Start your free trial. You get a temporary local number right away, so you can make and take calls today.
2. Forward your current number to the temporary one if you like (most landlines: dial *72 and the number), so customers reach you here during the move.
3. In Onyx Phone, open Lines, then Begin a port, enter the details above, and attach the bill. Moving a number is free on every plan.
4. Sign the letter of authorization we email you. Nothing starts until it's signed.
5. The carriers confirm a date, usually 3 to 7 business days after you sign. On port day your number replaces the temporary one, and calls you place show it.
6. The temporary number keeps ringing your line for 30 more days, so anyone you gave it to still gets through, then it's released.

Texting registration doesn't come with the number. US carriers approve each business that texts, so register in Onyx Phone when you start the move; approval usually takes one to two weeks, and calling works meanwhile.

Try Onyx Phone free

Help from AT&T

AT&T's Port Activation Center, which handles number transfers: 888-898-7685. Or chat in the myAT&T app. AT&T's own help page has its latest steps.

Questions about moving from AT&T