Porting a Phone Number From Straight Talk to Verizon

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Migrating A Phone Number From Straight Talk to Verizon Wireless

This past weekend I had the pleasure of migrating my phone number across networks. I had my phone number with Straight Talk for over 5 years, but I moved to Verizon Wireless.

The process was painless overall, but there are a couple pitfalls that you may run into when porting your number from Straight Talk.

During this process I used:

My old Straight Talk phone that still had cell service via Straight Talk
My new phone that was on Verizon and had a different number than my Straight Talk number
My desktop computer for viewing my Straight Talk account and My Verizon account

Prerequisites for Porting Your Number From Straight Talk to Verizon

Your phone number and service must be currently active on Straight Talk.
- If your phone number or service are currently deactivated, you will need to reactivate your service with Straight Talk before proceeding.
You need to create a transfer pin via your Straight Talk account
- Important: This pin is different from any other PIN you currently use for Straight Talk or Verizon Wireless.
You need your Straight Talk account number
- It currently is a terrible user experience, but your account number is not easily found on your Straight Talk account. Your account number is the IMEI of your current device (more on that below).
Your Straight Talk Account information must match what is on your Verizon Wireless Account

If you don't have all of these requirements met that's OK, I will outline the steps to meet these requirements and migrate your number to Verizon

1. Create a Transfer PIN using Your Straight Talk

First off, I recommend that you use a desktop/laptop to browse to your Straight Talk account. It will just make things easier!

You will see a section called Security Info that contains a dropdown to select your line.

Select the line you are transferring and then click Generate Pin.

You will receive a text message to your Straight Talk phone number with the PIN.

Write this PIN down somewhere so that you will be able to reference it in the next step!

2. Locate Your Straight Talk Account Number

For most people, your Account Number is the IMEI value that is connected to your currently active device on Straight Talk.

To locate your IMEI, navigate to the Manage Lines page on your Straight Talk account. You will see your IMEI listed in the HANDSET field for your current active line.

Write this number down, you will need it alongside your transfer pin when requesting Verizon to port your number from Straight Talk.

3. Call Verizon's Port Center to Initialize Your Port Request

This next part was completely handled by their automated system, I didn't have to actually talk to a Verizon customer support specialist. I was able to just enter the information and the system handled it.

Start by calling Verizon's Port Center at 1-888-844-7095.

You will be prompted to enter the phone number you are trying to port to Verizon, this is the phone number you are currently using with Straight Talk.

Enter your phone number.

You will then be prompted for your Account Number (this was the IMEI) value from step 2.

Enter the account number.

You will then be prompted for your transfer PIN.

Remember this was created in step 1 and this PIN is different from your regular Straight Talk PIN or any PIN you have created with Verizon!

Enter the transfer PIN.

On success, you will get a text from Verizon stating that this phone number is currently being ported.

The message from Verizon will also contain a link, this will be used in the next section.

4. Validate Your Zip Code

After you have successfully started your port request by calling Verizon's Port Center via your phone, you will receive a link from Verizon to validate your Zip Code.

Click the link to enter your Zip Code.

NOTE: This part is a little annoying because the Zip Code may not be your billing zip code with Straight Talk.

My valid zip code ended up being the zip code associated with the device that I was last using. The zip code was a zip code for across the country because I bought the phone used online!

After you have successfully validated your Zip Code, you will get another text from Verizon saying that your port request has been accepted.

If your zip code is invalid, you may have to try a few different ones.

It's terrible but from what I've read it could be any of the following zip codes:

Billing Zip Code
Zip Code where the device originated
Zip Code where you first started your Straight Talk service.

Keep trying until it is validated!

5. Restart Your Phone Every 30 Minutes Until Service is Working On Verizon

Don't be like me, after your port request is accepted periodically restart your new device that is on Verizon every 30 minutes until your service becomes active.

After my port was accepted by Verizon I sat around waiting for a confirmation text saying "the port is complete!".

It turns out Verizon never sent me the text and the status page for the port never fully changed to "completed".

After waiting around for about 5 hours, I finally restarted my phone and my service was up and running on my new phone with Verizon.

At this point, your phone number is officially ported from Straight Talk to Verizon.

If you are still stuck after following this guide, check out the frequently asked questions below.

Frequently Asked Questions - Porting Straight Talk Phone Number to Verizon

How to locate my Straight Talk account number?

Your Straight Talk account number can be located under the currently active device within your Straight Talk account. The account number is displayed in the HANDSET field.

What Zip Code should I use when porting my phone number from Straight Talk to Verizon?

Your Zip Code will be the zip code that is associated with your currently active device on Straight Talk. Additionally, you may have to try your billing zip code or the zip code where your Straight Talk service was first initialized.