iPhone 12 stuck verifying phone number

I have verizon and I had the same issue when upgrading from the 11 to the 12. The only thing I found that worked (randomly) was to plug the phone into my laptop - which prompted a window from verizon to verify the phone number by validating the pin on the account (I didn't have a pin, so I had to set that up first with verizon). It then worked fine. The same thing happened with my wife and this solution worked for her as well.

As of November 24, 2020 this is still an issue. I had it, too. What it appears to be is a MASSIVE communication oversight.

The short answer is: Call your cellular provider. They can turn it on (at least AT&T did for me, and it looks like other providers as well).

The long version is: I have AT&T and I was upgrading my phone from a 7plus to a 12 pro. I paid the king's ransom for the phone, waited three weeks to receive it. In under 25 minutes i was able to flawlessly transfer all data, apps, contacts, etc. just by scanning the image from one phone to the other. EXCEPT: when it came to my iMessages and FaceTime registering my phone number, it just got stuck there, spinning endlessly, saying "verifying" or "there was an error, you're signed out of iMessages, go to settings," which I did, which routed me back to the spinning wheel of iPurgatory.

I googled it and went through EVERY conceivable troubleshooting method multiple times. Wasted over an hour of my life. Finally I called apple support, which took me through the exact same steps all over again, and then the support person said I had to just let my phone sit for TWENTY FOUR HOURS(!!!!) to see ***IF*** it would verify!!! WHAT?? This $1,100+ space phone can transfer all data from old phone to new in under 25 minutes, but it won't recognize my phone number for TEXT, the most critical communication mode of everyone's life?!?!? I was blind mad.

Thank god I found this message thread because I called AT&T and within the space of minutes the representative told me to turn off my new device and he simply "moved my number over" to my new 12. Once I turned he new phone back on, everything worked fine.

There are some big questions and failures of communication here:

• WHY is this not clearly stated ANYWHERE in the box or instructions with the new phone I received? Unlike some who've posted, I did not receive any additional instructions in my box. Nada.
• HOW IN THE WORLD do the Apple "geniuses" not know this needs to happen to activate your number? Asking someone to wait 24 hours for ANYTHING tech-related in this day and age is akin to selling them a dial up modem to surf the world wide web information superhighway.
• WHY is Apple, the richest and most valuable company on the planet, cheaping out and not including the USB-C power adapter with the phone? Come on, Apple, really? After we exist on a diet of Top Ramen and tap water for six months to pay for the phone, you're going to send us to the brink of starvation so we can charge the **** thing? Don't tell me anything about a "carbon footprint." I'm a shareholder, for chrissakes, and I say give us the power adapter with the phone. The thinly veiled eco-excuse is pretty disappointing.

Forest Ray, I’m having exactly the same problem. I just transferred my data from iPhone 7 Plus to my new 12 and it’s been trying to verify my phone number ever since. I can’t send or receive any messages. I’ve tried all the things you have tried with no luck either. Beyond frustrated....

Has anyone figured out how to fix this? I got the 12 yesterday and my dad got the 11, and both of our phones are still stuck saying “verifying...”

I can receive imessages but not regular texts, but my dad isn’t receiving anything.

For anyone that has AT&T - I was able to get my phone working by going to att.com/getstarted and selecting my new iPhone 12 to activate. I’ve never had to activate a new phone before through AT&T, but it’s been awhile since I upgraded from my 7 plus. Hope this helps.

I just got off the phone with AT&T technical support-it turns out if you do not buy your phone from AT&T OR do not use your old device as a trade in, they cannot recognize your new device. You have to call in and they will verify your account with the new device. Somehow I never knew this, and I would assume it’s the same for other carriers. Hope this helps others-very frustrating.

Yup this is what did it for me. I realized after I read your post that there was actually a sheet I hadn’t read that came in the box....guess what it said? It gave instructions in activating the phone on the ATT site. Lol. Thanks for the pointer!

This was helpful and I have activate my phone with AT&T which automatically deactivated my old phone. When I go to messages, it is still trying to verify my phone number. Any thoughts on why that would be?

brendab909’s tip worked for me - thank you!

My phone number was stuck on ‘verifying’ under Settings, Messages, Send&Receive. Not receiving txt messages. Went to att.com/getstarted, followed prompts, verified IMEI/MEID & CCID numbers (located on the back of iPhone 12 box). Restarted new phone, & am now receiving text msgs. (A prompt appeared on old phone saying it is now deactivated.)

Mine was doing the same thing. I called my carrier (AT&T), and they had to do update the IMEI and the ICCID numbers in their system. Then I did a restart on my new phone, and it worked. I didn't have to have my old phone off or disabled in any way to make this all work.

I helped my wife with this. I had used her old SIM card in her new iPhone 12. I went to Settings>Messages, turned off iMessage, turned it on again, then it allowed me to choose my phone number instead of my Apple ID.

Had this problem on a new iPhone 12 that we upgraded to. The phone number just said "verifying" and wouldn't do anything else. It was stuck like that. We called Apple and they had no idea. Took it to AT&T and the tech popped out the SIM card and then performed a force restart. The phone number was then available and selected for both iMessage and FaceTime. This did the trick after we had tried everything. The tech told me a soft reset is what he did, but described a force restart. I'd do the force restart first, link below. Hope this works for you as it did for us.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-reset-an-iphone-12/

It’s totally normal everything is going to be okay. Just call your carrier and tell them that you want to verify your number. They will ask you some questions based off of your information and you should be set :))

You can try logging into your carrier account and click on activate.

at least that’s how I did it. I have Cricket; logged in and clicked on activate. Than it asked me to type in my order number since I purchased it online and also I had to type in my phone number. After that it told me to insert my SIM card and BAMM!! Activation complete 😃

hope I helped