How Long Should I Have a Temporary Phone Number?

When you’re signing up for a temporary phone number, you might wonder how long those digits are going to belong to you. Well, that’s the beauty of them — you get to choose how long you need it, what you use it for, and when you’re ready to give it up.

Here at Hushed, we can provide phone numbers in more than 3,000 cities across the U.S. and Canada, giving you the local advantage just about anywhere. Once you’ve used our phone number generator to choose the area code + phone number that’s going to work for you, you can set it up and start using it immediately.

There are lots of reasons people choose to use temporary phone numbers, so it makes sense that some people hang onto theirs longer than others. Your mileage may vary, but here’s what we tend to see when it comes to how long people keep theirs … 

A few days or weeks

If you’re signing up for a second phone number for online dating, chances are you might not want to have it for very long. It only takes one creep to suddenly make those digits very unattractive, especially if they keep texting or calling long after you’ve told them you’re not interested. Simply delete that number, and they can never reach you again. (Using a separate number for online dating can keep you safer, too.)

Secondary phone numbers are also great (and disposable) for when you need to sign up for something and don’t want to hand over your real phone number. Nothing worse than filling out a form and putting down your phone number just knowing it’s about to end up on some hideous spam calling list. (Here at Hushed, we’re big fans of privacy and use the absolute minimum of information collection possible to preserve your anonymity.)

A few weeks or months 

Using your new virtual phone number so you can travel like a local? The great thing about having a local phone number in another country is that you can call and text as if you live there, and you’re charged the same price as a traditional local number. Hello, cost savings! In this case, you’ll probably only need your special number for the length of your trip.

Running a small business that’s offering curbside pick-up or take-out? It’s a good idea to have a dedicated phone number people can call to announce they’re waiting outside — but it doesn’t mean you need to keep it forever. Once the promotion’s over, you can feel free to cancel that temporary number.

A few months or years

If you’re using a secondary phone number as a fresh start, you also might be in it for the long haul. This means you can get rid of your original “old” phone number and never worry that people from your past are going to reach out and ruin your day. 

Second phone numbers are handy if you’re running a business because they make it easier to separate your work life from your personal life. You can use a crisp voicemail greeting on your work line and always answer its calls with a bright, professional tone. In this case, you might have your temporary phone number for a year or more. Having a dedicated business phone number can also grow your business.

But you don’t have to be a business owner to use a secondary phone number. People in plenty of industries prefer to use a temporary phone number so they don’t have to give their real number to colleagues and strangers. Can you imagine how annoying it would be if a ride-share passenger called you months or years after you stopped doing that job?

Luckily, it’s easy to avoid that by using a temporary phone number.