How to change your sender or caller ID on iMessage and FaceTime

If you want to use a phone number of email address that’s different than your primary ones, Apple makes it easy to do so.

All the best iPhones can be connected to multiple email addresses or phone numbers. That means you can make video calls or send messages using your primary ID, but also you can use a secondary email address or phone number to keep your information private. Thankfully, it’s easy to set this all up whether you’re using FaceTime or iMessages, and from both mobile devices, including the new iPhone 14, iPad, or a MacBook computer. Here’s how to do that.

How to change your sender or caller ID on an iPhone

Go to Settings, Messages.
Select Send & Receive.
You will see a phone number (if the phone has an active cellular connection) and email address (or multiple email addresses) that can be used as your caller ID. The active ones will have a blue checkmark beside them.
To remove one, tap the blue checkmark.
Select the number or email address you prefer, and a blue checkmark will appear beside it. This will allow you to receive messages to and reply from this email address and/or phone number.
Underneath, you can also choose which phone number and/or email address you want to use to start new conversations. You can only select one here as the default, but you can switch anytime.
Return to the main Settings menu and select FaceTime.
Under You Can be Reached by FaceTime At, select the email addresses and/or phone number you want to use for receiving FaceTime calls.
Under Caller ID, you can adjust whether your calls are shown as coming from your phone number or a selected email address, including the one associated with your Apple ID.

How to change your sender or caller ID on a Mac

Open FaceTime.
Go to FaceTime at the top, and select Settings.
Under General, you can select the email addresses and/or phone number where you can be reached for FaceTime.
You can also turn on being able to Receive Calls From iPhone when you’re on a Wi-Fi network.
Open iMessage.
Go to Messages, Settings.
Select iMessage from the top menu.
Under Settings, select which email addresses and/or phone numbers you want to be reachable from by selecting or deselecting with a blue checkmark.
You can also select which email address and/or phone number you want to use for new conversations using the dropdown menu.

Once you set up iMessage and FaceTime, you might want to use one email address over another for many reasons. For example, you might be getting ready to hop on a personal FaceTime call and don’t want to use your business email address, or vice versa. You might be connecting with someone new and would rather disclose your email address over your personal phone number.

Whatever the case, being able to choose which address you are reachable to and from can be good for your privacy and safety. It also allows you to easily use the same device, whether it be an iPhone or MacBook computer, for both business and pleasure.