I’ve always wanted to be able to use my Google Voice number with Facebook because I don’t like linking anything to my phone’s native phone number since I never give it out and also because I don’t want the Facebook app anywhere near my cell phone. I just want to be notified of Facebook IMs and reply to friends; I don’t need the full blown app on my phone. Unfortunately, I’ve been cursed with Virgin Mobile’s Motorola Triumph which is only a fast phone if you don’t install a bunch of apps on it or the resulting performance is apps taking 20 or more seconds to open and the phone locking up whenever you get a phone call, so if I can avoid installing an app, I do.
How to link your Google Voice number is not listed anywhere on Facebook’s Help files as far as I could see so it was serendipity that I came across this.
- In Facebook go to the gear icon in the top right corner and click Account Settings
- On the left click on Mobile
- Click on Add Number and you’ll get the box below. Click where it says add your phone number here.
On the next screen it is kind of tricky because it’s not always there but this is the important screen because this is the only way you can get your Google Voice number to verify with Facebook. You won’t be able to verify your Google Voice number using the Sending me a text link because you will never receive the verification text so you have to do the voice verification. The key is to get this screen where it says Giving me a call.
However, if you are presented with just the regular screen like below, you will just have to keep trying the add phone number link until you get the Give me a call option. My guess is that the reason the give me a call option isn’t always there is because Facebook’s service is bogged down because one time I did use the give me a call option, it told me the service was unavailable and then the option disappeared for a few hours and came back again.
Once you are successful at getting the Give me a call option to show up, select that and you will receive a phone call from Facebook providing you a confirmation code to put in. Do that and your Google Voice phone number will now show linked to Facebook.
Then on your cell phone, this next part will not work with Google Voice via the web or app because Google Voice does not support sending texts to short codes but it does support receiving and replying to texts from them, so you must do this next part on your phone. You will need to download an app on your phone that will allow you to send short codes by using your Google Voice number and at this time I only know one app that can do that and that’s the GV Integration app. Fair warning, this app does not work for everybody because it has not been updated by the developer and even the developer himself (or herself) says in the description that this app does not work for all phones, it does not work for everyone, so kudos if it works for you. There is a paid version and a free version. I suggest using the free version first to confirm it will work on your phone, then get the paid app if you want to.
Once you have the app installed and have set it up, using your Google Voice number from the app, send a text with just the letter F to 32665 and you will get a confirmation text to your Google Voice number confirming it is now setup with Facebook.
When you go back into Facebook, it will show the link there too.
Found it kind of weird that it registered it as a MetroPCS phone, but I am not sure if just using MetroPCS from the mobile carrier list will work; I haven’t tried it and I didn’t want to remove my number just to try it again because I was concerned I wouldn’t be successful again so you are welcome to try that out if you want. Enjoy!
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