How many Gmail accounts can you have with one phone number?

Most people have just one or two Gmail accounts, often registered to the same phone number. But if you need additional Google email addresses, here’s what you should consider:

While Google doesn’t officially limit the number of accounts tied to a single phone number, there are practical limits. According to user reviews, you can usually have up to four or five Gmail accounts tied to one phone number. However, some people find that they can’t link additional accounts. In this article, we will explain why there are such restrictions.

Why does Google limit the number of accounts per phone number?

When you create a Gmail account, you are effectively creating a single Google account that gives you access to all Google services, including 15GB of cloud storage. To prevent abuse of email addresses and company resources, Google limits the number of accounts that can be tied to a single phone number. This is a reasonable measure – few people need dozens of email addresses for personal use. If you need more accounts for professional purposes, it’s recommended that you get a corporate account.

Why you may see the message “This phone number cannot be used for verification”

There are several reasons why you may encounter this message:

1. Account limit reached: Your phone number has already been used to register multiple Google accounts. Sometimes, if the previous phone number owner registered accounts with it, the system remembers this, even if the accounts were later deleted.
2. Disposable numbers: Using a temporary phone number can lead to blocking, as such numbers may be subject to a verification ban.
3. Suspicious Activity: If you use a new phone number that has been previously blacklisted for suspicious activity, verification may be blocked as a precautionary measure.
4. Violation of Google’s policies: You use Gmail to send emails that the recipients mark as spam, and it may not even be you, but someone else who once registered an account with that number. If a large number of these emails are sent from the address associated with that phone number, the company blacklists the number and may not even allow you to create a second email address (a Google account).

Is a phone number always required for registration?

In most cases, Google asks for a phone number when you sign up, but not always. If you sign up for a new email account from a known Google device, such as a laptop, and you sign into your other Google account through Chrome or an Android phone, Google may skip the phone number request. The same thing often happens when you sign up with an iPhone. Essentially, Google uses your phone number to verify your identity, but may not ask for it again if Google can identify you using other methods.

How to Create Additional Gmail Addresses

In reality, most people rarely need more than five Google accounts. Once on a forum, I read about someone who created a separate email for each of their projects, but this is quite an exception. The simplest solution for those needing multiple addresses for professional use is to create a business account. By setting up a company profile in Google, you gain the ability to create an unlimited number of email addresses. While these won’t use the “@gmail.com” format, they’ll reflect your company’s name.

For those without a company, adding accounts requires a different phone number. It’s possible to create 15 or even 20 accounts this way, but there are some drawbacks. Certain Google services, like AdSense, can only be linked to one primary account. If you lose access to this account (such as by changing phone numbers), you could lose access to those services as well.