I need to change my phone number on my Apple account
This is my old Apple account but I can’t sign into my other one because I don’t have that phone number anymore. So how can I change the phone number without actually signing in? (I’m locked out)
Question marked as
You refer to an “old” and “other” Apple account.
Be aware that switching to using an entirely different AppleID account will cause you to lose access to any paid Apps, Apple services and subscriptions - as these are forever associated with the AppleID account from which they were purchased.
An AppleID account is intended to be used for life. If you need to change the primary email address that identifies your account, or your secondary (recovery) email addresses or trusted telephone numbers, you simply need to update your AppleID account as necessary.
Change your Apple ID - Apple Support
Change your Apple ID password - Apple Support
What to do after you change your Apple ID or password - Apple Support
Change, add, or remove Apple ID payment methods - Apple Support
Few of us will have the luxury of forever keeping the same email addresses or telephone numbers - sometimes these needing to be changed for a variety of reasons. However, updating our AppleID account, maintaining access to our data and purchases, is easy and relatively straightforward - accommodating life’s many changes as they occur.
If you have forgotten your AppleID credentials, they can be recovered by the owner here:
To recover your credentials, you’ll need access to one of the following:
- Your primary email address mailbox that corresponds with your AppleID
- Any of the secondary/recovery email addresses that should be configured for your AppleID account
- Any of the trusted telephone numbers (fixed line or Cellular/Mobile) that are associated with your AppleID
Unless you AppleID account has not been fully/correctly configured, or has been seriously neglected, recovery of the AppleID and password should not be difficult.
More information about recovery of your AppleID:
If you forgot your Apple ID - Apple Support
More information about recovery of your AppleID password:
If you forgot your Apple ID password - Apple Support
When you recover access to your credentials, you would be well advised to log-in to your AppleID account from a web browser - and verify/update any email addresses and trusted telephone numbers.
If you do wish to change and use an entirely different AppleID, first ensure that you have disabled the Activation Lock that will otherwise cause difficulties in the future. You can disable the Activation Lock by disabling the Find My iPad service from iPad settings before trying to use a different AppleID account:
Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > Find My > Find My iPad - set to OFF
Having disabled the Activation lock, you can now sign-out from your old AppleID:
Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > Sign Out
Presumably you’ll want to keep any iCloud data that is locally stored on your iPad. If so, accept the opportunity to keep a local copy of your data (e.g., Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Keychain Passwords etc.) - as otherwise this data will be wiped from your iPad as you sign-out from iCloud. After signing out, a restart of your iPad is recommended:
Restart your iPad - Apple Support
After restarting, you can sign-in to your new AppleID account from iPad settings. Any iCloud data that you saved to your iPad during the previous sign-out will be merged with your new AppleID account.