Signal has begun allowing accounts to be created without a phone number, a long-requested change for a service built around minimizing the data it holds. The feature launches first on Android and costs a one-time $3 fee, intended to stop spammers and others from mass-creating accounts. Signal itself remains free and donation-funded, and signing up with a phone number stays free even if you then choose not to reveal that number to other users.
For accounts without a number, setting up a username is strongly recommended. An account with neither a phone number nor a username cannot be found or contacted by anyone else on Signal. Because the Signal Foundation deliberately avoids storing metadata, it does not keep the link between a username and an account identifier — so a username cannot be restored to a new account, and users must remember it themselves.
When a numberless account is created through the Android app, Signal generates two keys after payment: a 32-character account number and a recovery key twice as long, which controls access to backups. Neither can be recovered if lost. As additional safeguards, Signal offers passkeys (up to eight) and two-factor authentication using time-based one-time passwords (TOTP, up to two apps).
Alongside the account change, Signal has expanded backups. On-device backups, previously Android-only, are now available on iOS and on the desktop apps for Linux, macOS and Windows, under a new unified backup format. Users can choose any storage location, such as an external drive or a NAS on their own network. Media files now land in separate, still-encrypted folders rather than being packed together with text messages into a single file, which enables deduplication and saves space.
The changes also speed up device migration. The latest version of the app can transfer backup files directly over a local WiFi connection, moving an account from iPhone to iPhone or between iPhone and Android far faster than routing through Signal's servers — and at no cost.
Signal's online 'Secure Backups,' introduced last year, remain available on all platforms and add forward secrecy, so that even an attacker who broke the encryption of an older archive could not open newer backups. Text history is stored for free without a time limit, along with the most recent 45 days of media; a $2 monthly subscription removes the media limit and raises storage to 100 GB per account. Paying users can also enable offloading, letting Signal replace older photos and videos with thumbnails that reload from the online backup on demand. Free desktop users get a new 'Automated Backfill': when an account is linked to a new computer, that machine can pull chat history from the online backup and fetch media older than 45 days from the primary device while both are online.
Signal's authors note a caveat: the same features can also help authorities, intelligence services and other attackers who clone accounts. Because they typically cannot break the encryption of services like Signal or WhatsApp, they often set up a second desktop link to a target's account — obtaining authorization by intercepting unencrypted confirmation SMS through phone surveillance, or by silently scanning a QR code from a device during questioning at a border or in a police interview.
