Resetting your Facebook password with your phone number can be very convenient. However, Facebook does not allow using your phone number as a password recovery option for security reasons. In this article, we’ll explore why Facebook has this policy and what you can do instead to recover access to your account.
Facebook’s Password Recovery Options
When you forget your Facebook password, you have a few different options to reset it:
- Request a password reset email sent to the email associated with your account
- Answer your account’s security questions
- Enter a code sent to your account’s primary email or mobile number for two-factor authentication
Notice that using your phone number directly to receive a code is not an option. Facebook does not allow using your phone number alone to reset your password. This is an intentional security policy that Facebook has implemented.
Why Facebook Doesn’t Allow Phone Number Password Resets
There are a few key reasons why Facebook does not allow resetting your password through your phone number:
1. Account security
Allowing password resets via phone number alone would compromise account security in a few ways:
- Phone numbers can be spoofed – attackers could redirect codes to their own devices
- Phone numbers can be stolen or ported to new devices
- Phone numbers are less secure than email addresses tied to accounts
By requiring additional information like an email address or security question answers, Facebook adds critical extra layers of security needed for password recovery.
2. Preventing fraudulent access
Facebook also avoids phone number password resets to prevent fraudulent access to accounts. With just a phone number, an attacker could theoretically reset the passwords of many accounts by claiming they lost access. This could allow large-scale account hacking.
By restricting phone-only resets, Facebook ensures only the true account owner can regain access through additional credentials.
3. User privacy
Resetting passwords directly via phone number also ties the account tightly to that phone number. This can raise user privacy concerns and limit users’ ability to dissociate numbers from accounts.
Facebook likely wants to give users more flexibility in managing their personal account credentials and biographical data like phone numbers. Allowing password resets via number would undermine that goal.
What to Do Instead to Reset Your Facebook Password
Since you can’t use your phone number directly, what are your options if you can’t access your Facebook account?
Use the Facebook password reset email
The standard way to reset your Facebook password is to use the password reset email option:
- Go to www.facebook.com and click “Forgot Password”
- Enter your Facebook email address and click “Search”
- Open the password reset email Facebook sends you and click the password reset link
- Choose a new password and confirm it
This will work if you still have access to the email associated with your Facebook account. The password reset link expires after a short time, so be sure to use it right away.
Answer your security question
If you’ve added a security question to your Facebook account, you can use it to reset your password:
- Go to www.facebook.com and click “Forgot Password”
- Click “No longer have access to these?” next to the email field
- Choose to answer your security question and enter the answer
- Once verified, you can reset your password
Just ensure your security question answer is something memorable that only you would know.
Use two-factor authentication
If you’ve enabled two-factor authentication, you can use a code sent to your mobile number via SMS or an authenticator app to verify your identity and reset your password.
Go through Facebook’s login flow and when prompted, select to enter a security code. Then just enter the 2FA code Facebook sends you to regain access.
Request a login code from Facebook
If the above options don’t work, you can request a login code from Facebook to reset your password:
- Select “Get help logging in” on the Facebook login page
- Choose the option to enter the details of your account
- Facebook will offer to email you a code to regain access
- Enter the code Facebook emails you to finish resetting your password
This should work even without access to your registered email, although Facebook may take steps to confirm your identity.
Contact Facebook support
As a last resort, you can contact Facebook’s account support team for help accessing your account if you cannot reset your password through any other means.
Keep in mind Facebook will likely request additional proof of identity like a copy of your photo ID before they give you access to the account or reset your password. So this method takes time but can work if you truly own the account.
Other Ways to Recover Your Facebook Access
Along with resetting your password, there are a couple other methods you can use to recover access to your Facebook account.
Recover your account email address
If you’ve lost access to the email associated with your Facebook account, recovering it can help you reset your Facebook password:
- Request a password reset on the email from the email provider
- Look up the email account recovery options for help regaining access
- Contact the email provider’s technical support for assistance
Once you’re able to access your Facebook account email again, have Facebook send a password reset link to that email.
Remove two-factor authentication
If you’re locked out because you lost your 2FA credentials, you can work with Facebook support to remove 2FA from your account and reset your password:
- Submit ID verification to Facebook to prove account ownership
- Facebook will then remove two-factor authentication
- You can then reset your password via email to regain access
Just know this process takes time and Facebook will want to verify your identity first for security purposes.
Conclusion
Facebook intentionally makes phone numbers alone insufficient for resetting your account password. This provides added security, prevents fraudulent logins, and gives users more control over their credentials.
If you get locked out of your Facebook account, use their password reset email, security question, two-factor authentication, or account recovery code options instead. Or request help from Facebook’s support team for access in a last resort scenario.
While phone numbers alone won’t reset your Facebook password, they can be useful as part of two-factor authentication or as a backup recovery method authorized directly through Facebook.
Understanding Facebook’s password security policies can help you recover your account access quickly if you ever find yourself locked out.