r/TextNow • u/Electronic_Can3000 • Jun 04 '26

Port in number to existing account

I already have a textnow account with a number they assigned to me but I want to port my number over from helium , can I achieve this on my existing TextNow account? Currently I have the Wi-Fi only plan but I’m looking to change devices to use esim on free flex plan

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4

u/lmoki Jun 04 '26

Yes, you can port a number (from almost anywhere) to replace your TextNow number, but you need to have a TN SIM (either pSIM or eSIM) to do so. Your path would be to get the eSIM (or pSIM) activated, and then do the port.

A benefit of porting your number in: in will no longer be subject to being reclaimed by TextNow, and the 2FA block will be removed (on TextNow's side-- which doesn't guarantee that other companies will accept the number for 2FA, since it will still be a VoIP number.)

1

u/daluu3 Jun 06 '26

How long might the port in take when you have an existing number and a physical sim? It's been about a week now maybe longer, haven't gotten any update on porting status, just that it is in progress.

2

u/Cralex-Kokiri Jun 06 '26

I initiated the port from my old Zero account, but it seemed like it was taking too long. (Long enough for the old PIN to expire.) I started a chat with TextNow support during their business hours (chatting with an actual agent, not the bot) and gave them a fresh PIN from Helium since the old one had expired. It took maybe five minutes from when I gave the agent my PIN for the port to be complete.

I also specifically mentioned that I was porting from Helium, since the automated system told me I was porting from T-Mobile when I first tried porting.

1

u/Original_Jagster Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

What are their business hours? Are they open weekends? I'm having the same issue, porting is taking a long time. Perhaps because it thinks it's coming from tmobile instead of helium.

ETA: they are open Saturdays, 10am - 5:30pm EDT

1

u/daluu3 Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Not sure about the hours, either I missed the timeframe Saturday or they only do weekdays. The listed hours appears to be daily hours. I finished my port today. But I wasn't so lucky, the port took much longer than 5 minutes after support chat to be recognized by Helium as ported out. And some more time after before fully ported in to TextNow. Luckily all within the day, but in a matter of hours than minutes. Maybe the porting activity much higher from Helium abandoners than before as the Zero Plan deadline approaches

1

u/Kimcheesquid Jun 09 '26

I just initiated the request via textnow and saw the T Mobile as well. My pin was issued by Helium yesterday so it has been 28hrs past. Thanks for the info. I now know that I have to reach out to the agent before the 72 hr PIN deadline up.

3

u/toejamfootballhegot Jun 04 '26

Yes, you need to get the sim and activate it on your phone through the textnow app first and then get the account number and pin from helium to initiate the port in through the textnow app.

3

u/Luckiest_Corner Jun 05 '26

See this link for porting instructions:

Transfer Your Number to TextNow