Can I keep my phone number if I switch carriers?

So you’re ready to bid farewell to your current wireless carrier. While there are things you’re probably excited to leave behind (monthly bills, poor coverage, excessive fees), there’s at least one thing you want to keep with you: your phone number. Nobody likes having to tell everyone in their contacts that their number has changed. So, can you keep your phone number if you switch carriers? The good news is, yes—wireless carriers cannot keep you from taking your number with you. In the industry, it’s often referred to as “porting out,” but we just call it “transferring” because we aren’t big fans of tech jargon around here (we do love the word “jargon” though). Transferring your number is a relatively simple process that we’ll walk you through in this blog. 

What does number porting mean?

Porting a phone number is when you take your phone number from your current carrier and bring it to your new carrier, so your wireless plan changes but your phone number doesn’t. It’s kinda like taking the license plates off your current vehicle and putting them on a new one, so you don’t have to learn a new license plate. Most carriers allow transferring your number to them…in fact, many of them encourage it.

Are there fees for porting a number?

In rare cases, your new carrier may charge you a fee to bring your number over. You may ask to have the fee waived, or just switch to a carrier that would never charge you such a fee (like… Mint Mobile perhaps). Your old carrier can’t charge you a porting fee, nor can they “hold your number hostage” until you pay your bill or an early termination fee.

Tips for keeping your number when switching phone carriers

There are a few important things you’ll want to keep in mind when you’re planning to switch from your current wireless carrier to a new one if you want to keep your phone number.

Make sure your phone is unlocked & compatible with your new carrier

If you’re buying a new phone from your new carrier, you can skip this step. But if you’re transferring your number, we assumed you might want to BYOP too. Your phone just needs to be unlocked, so it can work with other carriers. There are a few steps you can take to check if your phone is unlocked before you initiate the port. It’s important you do this first, because it’s a lot harder to get a phone unlocked after you’ve switched carriers.   

Don’t cancel your current service until you’ve successfully transferred your number

This is the most important part. If you cancel your current service before fully transferring the number to your new carrier, you will lose your number. Once an account has been canceled, the number returns to the pool of available numbers and cannot be retrieved. And if that number has been ported in the past, it will “snap back” all the way to its original carrier.

The primary account holder may need to complete the transfer

If you’re an authorized user on a family plan, you may need to have the primary account holder initiate the transfer request for your number, or separate yourself from the family plan before you can initiate your own transfer. Be sure to look into your current family plan to confirm any and all port restrictions. If you’re transferring the whole family, make absolutely sure you move the primary account holder’s number last. Depending on your current carrier, porting the primary account holder’s number first may result in delaying the transfer of the other numbers, or worse — losing the other numbers on your account altogether. 

Have your current account number and number transfer PIN ready

In order to transfer your number from your current carrier, you’ll need your full account number, billing address (with ZIP code) and number transfer PIN. If you need help finding this stuff, we have more blogs that explain how to switch it up with any carrier, especially if you’re coming from AT&T or Verizon. You may need to contact your current carrier for the number transfer PIN (and they may call it something else, like your account PIN or porting PIN). Also, the number transfer PIN they provide may be temporary, so we recommend waiting to obtain it until you’re ready to initiate the transfer request.

Before you switch, don’t ditch your digits

Now that you know all about number transfers (or porting, as they say in the industry), you can confidently make the switch from your current carrier without losing your current number. Still deciding where to bring that number of yours? Mint Mobile offers premium wireless on the nation’s largest 5G network with plans starting at $15/month*. We’ve also got a Care Team that can help you along the way (although you’re now a number transfer pro, so you may not need ‘em). Click here to learn why Mint Mobile is the best fit for that phone number of yours.

Originally published March 2024; updated January 2025.

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