How do I fix “update Apple ID phone number” message in Settings App?

Seeing the message that you need to “Update Apple ID Phone Number” all the time? Even when you switch off your iPhone and switch it back on, that message is still there and you have no idea why or what to do about it! This article explains why this message pops-up and what you can do about it.

Basically, Apple wants you to have a trusted number associated with your Apple ID account. This trusted phone number is critical to keeping access to your account, especially if you forget your Apple ID or password.

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Verify that your Apple ID Phone Number is current and up to date

Some users who recently updated their iOS or iPadOS to the latest version on their iPhone, iPad or iPod keep seeing this message to “Update Apple ID Phone Number?” or a page that asks you “Has your phone number changed?” in the Settings app.

Click the Continue button

First, see if you can click that Continue button (if available) and then confirm your information. If you changed your phone number, tap Change Trusted Number. If you did not change your phone number, tap Keep Using.

Phone number in the wrong format?

Some readers discovered that while their number was correct, how the number displayed (i.e. its format) was incorrect. For example, some users in the USA saw that their phone number was listed as 98-76543210 instead of 987-654-3210.

If you see this error, it’s likely that your language/region settings are incorrect. Check these in Settings > General > Language & Region. 

Make any corrections or if it shows the correct information, try temporarily changing to a different region, restart the device, then change back to your current region.

Tried clicking on that alert and discover that it doesn’t help and instead, it spins for a while and then the Settings App is not usable?

If you are experiencing this issue, here are a few suggestions that have helped others when faced with this issue after the latest iOS update on their iPhone or iPad.

How-to fix “update Apple ID phone number” message in Settings, iOS, and iPadOS

1. Double press the home button or swipe up the Home Gesture Bar quickly and close the stuck Settings App on your iPhone using the App Switcher. Swipe up off the top of the screen to force close the app.

   

2. If you have not done a reset after the iOS update, go ahead and do a hard reset of your iPhone
3. Once your iPhone /iPad starts up, launch the Settings App and toggle off FaceTime and iMessage

   

4. Next, in Settings, tap on your Apple ID 
5. Tap on Password and Security
6. Choose the ‘Edit Trusted Number’ 
7. Delete the number
8. It asks you to add a new trusted number before removing the existing one
9. Tap on Continue to add your number.
10. For the first time around, add in your existing number
11. Choose Text message to verify and enter the 6-digit verification code on the screen
12. Once complete, switch off your iPhone and restart
13. You should no longer see the error message on your Settings App
14. Turn on your FaceTime and iMessage that you switched off in Step 3 above

For some users, the above series of steps only work when they switch off their Wi-Fi on their iPhone and use cellular to complete the steps. 

If after following these steps, you still see the alert message on your settings, then you can enter a random phone number as a trusted number and continue the steps

You can always go back and update the trusted number to your real number once this issue is resolved

How to stop the Apple ID verification message from showing up after iOS update

This problem is another issue related with Apple IDs and iOS 12+ versions.

This had also shown up in some instances of earlier iOS 11.

If you happen to get bombarded with this message, simply follow the steps highlighted above and contact information again for your Apple ID.

In some rare cases, re-updating the contact information for Apple ID in Settings doesn’t work and in those cases, you need to backup your iPhone.

And then Reset All Settings via Settings > General > Reset. 

Finally, restore your iPhone with iCloud or iTunes using that recent backup. 

Wrap Up

We hope that you found the tips above helpful.

We are not sure why this error message shows up even when you have the correct phone number listed for your Apple ID.

The workaround listed above seems to be helping users.

Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.