How to change Viber phone number
Why would anyone need to change the Viber phone number? The thing is, when this service was launched and gained popularity, one of its main advantages over Skype was that it did not require creating new accounts and remembering additional login details. It only needed your mobile phone number and then it used the phone book of the smartphone.
The user just got the opportunity to communicate with usual contacts, exchange instant messages instead of SMS and make free calls if they were also Viber registered.
The app marks them with the special icon in the desktop version and groups in a separate section in the mobile one, so you can see whom you can reach for free. The service obtains more users every day, and this mobile app can be found on many devices.
However, there was one issue: once you registered with a mobile phone number, the Viber service kept it as the account ID forever, and all the chats and calls were performed under that number. It should not be a problem, but if the person needed to switch to a new regular phone number, it meant that there would be a new mobile number plus Viber. Naturally, users would prefer to keep all their data under one ID and avoid mixing personal details. Now it is possible.
Changing Viber number on the primary smartphone
Open the application on your mobile device (Viber number change can be performed on the primary device only) and tap the More icon at the bottom-right corner to get to the main menu:
Tap Account, then choose the Change phone number option from the menu.
Note that there are two options available: you can simply change Viber number on the smartphone you use, and also you can prepare the chats history for backup and transfer to a new location if the change of the smartphone is planned, too.
In case you will keep the device, choose the first option and click Continue.
The app will notify your contacts about this change so that they would be able to update their phone books.
Enter the new details in the format required by the app: specify the country and then the new mobile number. Make sure that it will be able to receive calls and SMS, as the service will have to verify it.
After you pass the verification procedure (accept the phone call on your Android device or enter the code from SMS), the change will be completed.
Changing Viber number on a secondary tablet or PC
As you know, there are application versions for all platforms — Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux — and one user can have several synchronized Viber instances under one account. There is one primary device, which is the telephone where the app is installed and registered, and secondary devices, usually tablets and desktop computers or laptops.
When you change the Viber ID on the primary instance, it must be also changed for the secondary apps. And here one issue may take place: it is performed automatically if only those additional apps are updated to the latest version. Then you won't need to edit anything yourself.
In case your secondary desktop application is outdated, it won't change its registration account itself. That copy will just be deactivated on the PC instead, and all the data present in it will be deleted. Make sure to update the secondary apps before that change.
Changing smartphone and a SIM card, and how to save the Viber chats history
This option should be considered if you need to save the chats history. As the developers claim, all the messages sent and received with the help of this service are saved locally on the computers where the applications are installed. No copies of these data are located on servers. This means that you can't retrieve your past chats history on a new location in an application.
You need to make a physical data backup and move it to the new smartphone (the option is available for mobile apps only).
If you are going to change your telephone and need to save the data, do the following:
Change Viber number on the old device as described above. This is necessary to "register" your past chats to a new ID.
Back up the data on the smartphone. There is a detailed instruction on how to make a Viber backup and restore the data, please refer to it for more details on this issue.
The backup will be uploaded to your Google Drive or iCloud (depending on what device you use), and then it will be downloaded and restored on a new smartphone, when you install the application and activate it under the new number.
This way you will receive all your contacts and history of chats in the application on a new phone with a new number and will be able to continue your communication.
