I’m currently locked out of Codex because OpenAI is forcing verification through an old mobile phone number that I used when I registered my ChatGPT account back in 2022.
I no longer have access to this number. It was used for business purposes at the time, and it is not my current number anymore. The issue is that I cannot change it, I cannot bypass it, and I’m not being offered any alternative way to verify my identity or regain access.
Because of this, my work processes are currently blocked. I’m a paying customer, but I’m being left without any practical recovery path.
I understand security requirements, but why are paying users forced into a single verification method with no backup option? Phone numbers change. Business numbers expire. People move countries, change companies, or lose access to old numbers. There needs to be a secure alternative.
Can OpenAI please provide a way to:
update the old phone number,
verify identity through another method,
or regain access through account support?
Right now, the system gives me no options, and that is extremely frustrating for a paid product I rely on for work.
OpenAI’s help article says phone numbers associated with an account can’t currently be changed or updated self-serve. That applies to both ChatGPT and the OpenAI API:
Thanks for sharing this @AA7, and thanks to @LarisaHaster for the helpful context and support article. Also appreciate the additional reports from @kadsjvnadkfjvn and @tea. It helped confirm that multiple users were seeing similar behavior.
Good news: this issue has now been resolved.
If anyone is still experiencing problems with phone-number verification, account access, or Codex login, please create a support request and contact support@openai.com with details about your account and the issue you're encountering
Feel free to drop the case ID here so our team can help monitor the issue and troubleshoot.
Thanks for reporting this and for sharing the details.
I've escalated your case to our internal team for further investigation so they can take a closer look at what's happening. At this point, there's nothing additional you need to do unless the team requests more information.
If you notice any new behavior or have additional details to add, feel free to share them here as that can help with the investigation.
for some reason case number changed to 09680249
support written than issue fixed, and suggested to try oauth flow again - got the same results with requesting the old number access
good thing i actually created new account and will never ever use phone number
is there anyone who managed to actually change phone number and regain access to an account?
or that forum topic is a complete hallucination which gives hope to people who want restore access?
