Skip to main content
When you open Signal for the first time, the registration flow walks you through verifying your phone number, creating a Signal PIN, and setting up your profile. The whole process takes a few minutes.
You need a phone number that can receive SMS messages or voice calls. Signal uses your number as your identifier — it does not create a separate username during registration.

​
Step-by-step registration

1

Accept permissions

Signal requests access to your contacts, microphone, camera, and notifications. These permissions are used to find contacts who use Signal, make calls, send media, and deliver message notifications. You can grant or deny each permission individually and change your choices later in your device’s Settings.
2

Enter your phone number

Select your country code from the picker and enter your phone number. Signal displays the number in E.164 format (e.g. +12125550100) for confirmation before proceeding.Tap Continue. Signal submits the number to chat.signal.org to start a registration session.
If Signal detects that you have previously registered on this device, it will attempt to use a recovery password to skip SMS verification automatically.
3

Complete SMS or voice verification

Signal sends a 6-digit verification code to your phone number via SMS. Enter the code on the verification screen.If you do not receive the SMS within a few seconds, you can request a voice call instead — Signal will read the code aloud.
In some regions, Signal requires you to complete a CAPTCHA challenge before sending the verification SMS. If you see a web page asking you to confirm you are not a robot, complete the challenge to continue.
4

Create a Signal PIN

After your phone number is verified, Signal asks you to create a Signal PIN. This is a 4-digit (minimum) numeric code or an alphanumeric passphrase.See Signal PIN and SVR below for a full explanation of what the PIN does and why it matters.
Write your PIN down somewhere safe. If you forget it, you may lose access to your account data stored in Secure Value Recovery.
5

Set up your profile

Enter your name (required) and optionally add a profile photo and an “About” line. Your profile is visible to your Signal contacts and to people you message.See Profile setup below for details on what is shared and with whom.

​
Signal PIN and Secure Value Recovery

When you register, Signal stores a copy of your account data in Secure Value Recovery (SVR), a system backed by secure enclaves on Signal’s infrastructure (svr2.signal.org). Your Signal PIN is the key to that data.

​
What SVR stores

SVR holds your master key — a cryptographic secret derived from your Signal account. This master key is used to:
  • Restore your contacts, profile, and settings when you re-register (e.g. after a factory reset or on a new phone)
  • Sync data to linked devices
  • Enable Registration Lock (an optional feature that requires your PIN when re-registering)
SVR does not store your message history directly. Message backups are a separate feature.

​
How the PIN protects your data

Your PIN never leaves your device in plaintext. Signal uses it to derive a key that unlocks your master key inside a trusted execution environment. Signal’s servers cannot read your PIN or your master key — they only verify that the correct PIN was provided. If you enter the wrong PIN too many times, access to the SVR backup is permanently revoked. This protects your data if your phone number is compromised.

​
PIN keyboard types

During PIN creation, you can toggle between a numeric keyboard and an alphanumeric keyboard. Either type is accepted. An alphanumeric PIN gives you a larger character space if you prefer a passphrase over digits.

​
What happens if you skip the PIN

You can opt out of creating a PIN. If you skip it:
  • Your account data is not backed up to SVR
  • Re-registering on a new device will not restore your contacts or settings from SVR
  • You cannot enable Registration Lock
Skipping the PIN means you have no SVR backup. If you lose your phone and re-register, Signal will treat your new installation as a fresh account. Your existing contacts will need to be restored from your device backup or re-added manually.
You can always create a PIN later from Settings → Account → Signal PIN.

​
Re-registration and PIN entry

If you re-register Signal on a new device with the same phone number, Signal will ask for your existing PIN to restore your account data from SVR. You have a limited number of attempts before access is revoked. Signal displays the number of remaining attempts on the PIN entry screen.

​
Profile setup

Your Signal profile consists of: Your profile is not visible to the general public or to Signal’s servers. Signal encrypts your profile with a key derived from your account, and only shares the key with people in your contact list or people you message directly. You can edit your profile at any time from Settings → Profile.

​
After registration

Once registration is complete, Signal opens your conversation list. At this point:
  • Your phone number is verified and your account is active
  • Your contacts who use Signal appear in your list (if you granted contacts permission)
  • If you have linked devices, they will start syncing — see Linked devices
If you are setting up Signal on a second device alongside an existing installation, see Linked devices instead of re-registering. Re-registering with the same number will deactivate Signal on your other device.