About lost or stolen phones and accounts
About stolen accounts
You should never share your WhatsApp registration code with others, not even friends or family. If your phone is lost or stolen, or you lose access to your account, recover your account following the steps below.
If you suspect someone else is using your WhatsApp account, you should notify family and friends as this individual could impersonate you in chats and groups. Please note, WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted and messages are stored on your device, so someone accessing your account on another device can't read your past conversations.
How to recover your account
Lost access to your WhatsApp account
If your WhatsApp account was stolen, sign into WhatsApp with your phone number and re-register by entering the 6-digit code you receive via SMS or phonecall.
Once you’ve re-registered your WhatsApp account using the 6-digit code, the individual using your account is automatically logged out of your account. WhatsApp can only be registered with one phone number at a time.
You might also be asked to enter a two-step verification PIN. If you don't know it, the individual using your account might have enabled two-step verification. You must wait 7 days before you can sign in without the two-step verification PIN. Learn more about two-step verification in this article.
Lost or stolen device
If your device was lost or stolen:
- Call your mobile provider as soon as possible and block your SIM card.
- Get a new SIM card with the same phone number and re-register your phone number by entering the 6-digit code you receive via SMS or phonecall.
Once you’ve re-registered your WhatsApp account on a new device using the 6-digit code, the lost or stolen device using your account is automatically logged out of your account. WhatsApp can only be registered with one phone number at a time.
Note: In some cases, WhatsApp can automatically verify your phone number. Find out more in this article.
How to protect your account
Once you’ve recovered your account, we recommend increasing security on your device, by configuring two-step verification, a passcode, fingerprint access, or another security option available for your device. Learn about two-step verification, chat lock, or screen lock in our Help Center.
To protect your account, WhatsApp will notify you when someone tries to register a WhatsApp account with your phone number. Learn more in this article.
Note:
- Unfortunately, we can’t deactivate your WhatsApp account because there’s no way we can verify that you’re the owner of the phone number associated with that account.
- We’re not able to help you locate your phone. Remote WhatsApp deactivation from another device is not possible.
- If you created a backup using Google Drive, or iCloud before your phone went missing, you might be able to restore your chat history. Learn how to restore messages in this article.
- WhatsApp can't provide information about who accessed your account or the time and location it was accessed.
- If you have access to your account and suspect someone is using your account via WhatsApp Web/Desktop, we recommend you log out of WhatsApp on Web/Desktop from your phone.
Related resources
- How to register your phone number
