If you want to stop future automatic phone-number checks, reports describe an Android setting you can turn off. That change does not remove a number already saved to a Google Account, so check each account separately.
Android Authority reported on October 14, 2026, that Android’s “Phone number verification” setting can verify a device’s number and associate it with Google Accounts signed in on that device. Android Authority said the setting was enabled by default, citing Google support documentation. Malwarebytes says accounts added to the device later may also be included.
Turn off automatic verification on Android
The reported menu route is Settings > Google (or Google services and preferences) > All Services > Privacy & Security > Phone number verification. Menu names or locations may vary by device.
- Open Phone number verification using the route above. This takes you to the reported control for automatic checks.
- Turn off “Verify phone numbers automatically.” Reports say this stops future automatic verification and linking. It does not remove numbers already in account profiles.
Review the number saved to each Google Account
Check every Google Account you want to keep separate. In each one, open Personal info > Contact info > Phone and review the number there. Turning off the Android setting does not clear this account information.
Before removing a number, check its Usage section and the account’s Security settings. A number on the profile page may also be used for two-step verification or another account function, and those uses may need separate changes. Malwarebytes advises keeping another recovery method available before removing a number used for account recovery.
If you decide to remove the number, do so in each account where it is saved. Then review any separate security or service settings that use it; deleting it from the profile page may not remove those uses.
Account association and public visibility are different
Malwarebytes says automatic association does not itself make a phone number public. It does give Google another way to associate accounts. Malwarebytes also attributes these functions to Google’s documentation: signing in, account recovery, RCS messaging, and finding or securing a lost device. Review a number’s separate uses before removing it; the reports do not establish that turning off automatic verification necessarily disables those functions.
Check that the setting remains off
Some users have reported that the switch turned back on. Android Authority said it could not reproduce that behavior. To check the current state on your device, reopen Phone number verification and look at the toggle.
Quick check: turn off automatic verification on the device, review Personal info > Contact info > Phone in each account, and inspect separate Usage and Security settings before removing a number.
