Can I Access 2 WeChat Accounts with the Same Phone Number?

By Alistair Baker-Brian, February 3, 2023

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Recent reports have suggested that Chinese messaging and social media platform WeChat will allow users to access two separate accounts using one phone number.

Previously, users would have to use a separate phone number if they wanted to register a new WeChat account. 

A related hashtag on social media platform Weibo has garnered more than 207 million views, as of press time. 

Some Weibo users were confused as to why the new function was not working, with many receiving the message pictured below. 

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Many Weibo users posted the following, stating that they were not allowed to log into a new WeChat account. Image via Weibo/@玺欢吃烊肉

According to SINA News, the new function is still being tested. So, to the answer the question posed in the title: maybe soon, but not yet. 

You can see the ‘Switch Account’ option on the settings page, as shown below, though you may still have to wait a while before you can use it. 

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Click settings...

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... and choose Switch Account. Screengrabs via That's/Alistair Baker-Brian

Being able to switch easily between two separate WeChat accounts may come as a relief to many, particularly those who want to separate their work and personal lives. 

WeChat – owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent – is China’s most widely-used instant messenger service. 

Created in 2011, the app also functions as a social media platform, as well as a digital payment service, among other things. 

Statista states that the number of WeChat users worldwide is more than 1.3 billion. 

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has recently made clear that his ambitions for social media platform Twitter – which he now owns – are similar to that of WeChat.

He told Twitter employees that there’s “no WeChat equivalent outside of China,” and that he wants to create “X” – a so-called “super app” with wide-ranging functions similar to those of WeChat. 

READ MORE: Twitter to Become the New WeChat after Musk's Takeover?


[Cover image via Pixabay]

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