How to set up a second WhatsApp account to improve your privacy

Your real mobile number is one of the most important pieces of your life. Physical and digital.

You use it for the bank, to log into many accounts, to receive verification codes, to talk to your family, for school, for work and for a bunch of services you probably do not even remember.

In Spain, moreover, the SIM is linked to your identity, so it is not just any piece of data.

And even so we give it out far too easily. And in places where perhaps we should not:

• In school parents’ groups
• We give it out on Wallapop.
• In training courses for their communities.
• At events.
• On websites that ask for your phone number to send you a code.
• To the estate agent, and you get offers three years later.
• Or in WhatsApp groups where you end up because someone added you.

The problem is not using WhatsApp. The problem is using your main number for everything.

The good thing is that the solution is simple: having a second WhatsApp account with another number. 

A secondary number for situations where they require a WhatsApp number, but you do not want to hand over your usual mobile.

It is about separating your personal life from contacts who have no reason to keep your real number forever.

One more small step towards that privacy that we have lost and that I always try to recover, as far as possible.

Why you should not give out your real number so casually

Your mobile number is not like a secondary email address.

You can change an email, abandon it or leave it only for registrations. Your mobile number lasts (many) years.

Your contacts have it (important or not), your main accounts have it (banks, social networks) and it often lets you log in with 2FA (two-factor authentication) or recover access.

So when you give it to someone, you are giving them something fairly sensitive.

Be clear about this:

• A second-hand buyer does not need to keep your personal number.
• Nor does a temporary training group.
• A community you are going to be in for two weeks does not need to mix with your real contacts list.

Because WhatsApp is built around the phone number. 

If someone has your mobile number, they can save you, see you on WhatsApp, associate you with your photo if it is visible, see your info if you have not limited it and leave you in their contacts even when you no longer have any relationship with them.

Often nothing will happen. Most people do not have bad intentions.

But privacy is not about waiting for someone to do something bad; it is about not giving more data than necessary. In any context or situation.

The solution: a secondary WhatsApp account

The idea is to have two WhatsApp accounts on the same phone:

1. Your normal WhatsApp, with your usual number.
2. A second WhatsApp account, with another number, to offer when you do not want to give the other one.

There are two official ways to do it.

The first is to use WhatsApp Business. It is another official WhatsApp app, installed alongside the normal one and shown with its own icon. Although it is designed for businesses, you can use it as a second line if you have another number.

The second is to use WhatsApp multiple accounts, which let you have two accounts inside the same application, also with two different numbers.

For this use, I prefer WhatsApp Business.

Not to use the business features, but to have two separate icons on the phone, which helps avoid confusion. In one app you have your personal WhatsApp. In the other, your spare line.

How to get a second WhatsApp account, step by step

If what I am telling you sounds good, let us go step by step.

I warn you that it is not completely free, but it will cost you very, very little.

Step 1: decide what type of number you need

Before installing WhatsApp Business or adding a second account, you need to get a second number.

This is the important part, because not all numbers are useful for the same thing.

You have three main paths:

Option	Do you keep the number?	Approximate cost	Best for
Paid disposable number	No	Cents or a few euros for one use	Creating a one-off account
Second cheap SIM or eSIM	Yes	A few euros a month	Having a stable secondary line
Changing your main number	Yes	Variable	Reorganising your entire digital identity

The key difference is whether or not you want to keep the new number. Let me explain:

To register WhatsApp you need to receive a code by SMS or call. That happens when you create the account, but it also may happen again later if you change phones, reinstall the app or WhatsApp asks you to verify again.

If you use a number you no longer control — option 1: disposable number — you will probably lose access to that account.

So before choosing, think about what you want to do:

• If you only want to create a one-off account and do not mind losing it later, a disposable number can work.
• If you want to use that WhatsApp for months or years, better use a SIM or eSIM you control.
• If you really want to clean up your digital identity, you can consider changing your main number and giving the new one only to your closest people, although that is already another level of privacy.

Step 2: get your second mobile number.

Here you have two routes: one free and unreliable, and one paid — slightly — but much safer.

Free public SMS numbers

It may look like a quick fix: you search for a website to receive free SMS, copy a public number, receive the WhatsApp code and that is it.

I do not recommend it.

Anyone can use those numbers. They may be blocked, recycled or have been used by many people before. Also, if the SMS appears on a public website, you have no real control over that number.

For an account you want to keep, even just for a while, it is a bad idea.

If you are going to use a temporary number, at least use a paid service where the number is assigned to you during that process.

Paid options

Here we have different routes depending on how much we care about keeping this second line.

Operator	Cost	Do you keep the number?	Use for
Grizzly (disposable number)	A few cents. Possible crypto payment	No	Set up WhatsApp and forget about it
Tello (US eSIM)	~$5–10/month	Yes	Stable line you can re-verify if needed
Popcorn	~$69/month	Yes	Changing your main number, with global roaming

Disposable number: only for one-off uses

Paid disposable numbers make sense in one specific case: you want to create an account and you do not care if that number stops being yours afterwards.

For example, some services like Grizzly allow you to rent or buy numbers to receive a verification code. You pay, receive the SMS and use that number to activate the account.

The advantage is that you separate that number totally or almost totally (depending on how you do it) from your real identity. Because you can use secondary emails and pay with anonymous crypto. Doing it this way means that it is very hard for anyone to link you to that number.

The disadvantage is just as important: you do not keep the number.

That means that if WhatsApp asks you to re-verify the account later, you can lose it.

That is why I would use it to start and test the idea, understanding that limitation very clearly and accepting that it may be a temporary account.

Cheap SIM or eSIM

It is a better option if privacy really matters to you.

You hire a cheap second line, physical or eSIM, and use it only to register that spare WhatsApp.

You only need this:

• That the number is yours.
• That you can receive SMS or calls.
• That it does not depend on a public website or a shared number.

It can be a cheap Spanish line, an eSIM from another country or an operator that lets you keep the number at low cost.

Operator: Tello.

A more complete phone line: only if you want to go further

There are also services such as Popcorn with a full number, calls, SMS, data and international roaming. Some offer a US number and global plans.

This makes sense if you want a more personal second line, not just a number to activate WhatsApp. 

If you are very serious about privacy, it is your option. If not, for most normal uses you probably do not need to complicate things so much.

Step 3: install WhatsApp Business or add a second account

Once you have the number, install the app.

The simplest path is this:

1. Download WhatsApp Business from your phone’s official store.
2. Open the app.
3. Enter the second number.
4. Receive the code by SMS or call.
5. Confirm the account.
6. Leave your normal WhatsApp as it is.

From that moment on you will have two WhatsApp accounts on the same phone.

One will be your usual one. The other will be the spare one.

You can also use the multiple-accounts option inside WhatsApp if you prefer to have everything in a single app, but I find it clearer to separate it into two applications.

What I would NEVER use are unofficial versions such as WhatsApp Plus, GBWhatsApp or APKs downloaded outside the store.

If you want to improve your privacy, it makes no sense to install a modified version of WhatsApp. You do not know who has touched it or what it does with your data.

Step 4: set up a neutral identity

Once you have created the account, do not put your full name.

Nor should you put a photo of your face, your house, your car or your family.

Use a simple alias, something that identifies you just enough or does not identify you.

• “YGS work”.
• “Yago sales”
• Jack Sparrow.
• El Bola.

This is not about pretending to be someone else, but about not giving more information than necessary.

Then review the account privacy:

• Profile photo: “Nobody”.
• Info: “Nobody”.
• Statuses: limited.
• Last seen and online: restricted.
• Groups: so that not just anyone can add you.

This step is essential. If you create a second line but then use your full name, your real photo and leave everything visible to anyone, you are seriously weakening the privacy of the system.

Step 5: enable two-step verification

Enable two-step verification on that account.

The path is:

Settings → Account → Two-step verification → Turn on

Set a six-digit PIN and store it safely.

This PIN helps protect the account if someone tries to register it on another phone. It does not replace the code that arrives by SMS, but it adds another layer that prevents someone else from using that number to register it on WhatsApp.

If you add a recovery email, it is better if it is a secondary email. The idea is to keep this identity separate from your main personal account.

Conclusion

Your personal number should not be the number you give out anywhere.

For your bank, your family, your work and your important accounts, OK.

For Wallapop, temporary groups, courses, communities or contacts you do not yet know, it is better to use a second line.

The most balanced option is to use WhatsApp Business with a cheap SIM or eSIM that you can keep. It is official, cheap to maintain and visually separates the two identities.

The summary is simple:

1. Get a second number that you control.
2. Use an official app.
3. Do not add more personal data, or add the minimum.
4. Adjust privacy.
5. Enable two-step verification.

This way you keep your real number from ending up in just anyone’s hands and recover one more small piece of privacy, which was the whole point.