How do I update my telephone number to reset my lost MFA device?

Short description

I followed the instructions for recovering a root user MFA device or How do I reset my AWS root user account MFA device? I received the verification email, but not the automated telephone call with the code.

Resolution

Note: If you receive errors when running AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) commands, make sure that you’re using the most recent AWS CLI version.

You can update the AWS account telephone number using an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user if:

• The IAM user who is active on the AWS account has administrator access permission.
• The IAM user has access to the AWS Billing console.

Be sure that the telephone number has the correct international dialing code standard with no additional spaces or special characters. Also be sure to remove any leading zeros after the country code. For example, the UK country code is +44. Enter the telephone number 07911 123456 as +447911123456 for the UK.

To update your phone number, do the following:

1.    Log in to the AWS Billing and Cost Management Console with your IAM user credentials for the AWS account that you want to update. For more information on logging in as the correct user, see Signing in to the AWS Management Console as an IAM user or root user.

2.    Choose Edit next to Contact Information.

3.    Update your phone number that's associated to your account.

Important: Be sure that the phone number is using the correct country code and doesn't have extra spaces.

4.    Choose Update.

The telephone number is now updated. To reset the lost MFA device using the AWS root user account, see How do I reset my AWS root user account MFA device?

Note: It's a best practice to create an IAM user with administrator access and lock away the root user credentials. For more information, see Creating your first IAM admin user and user group.

You can also manage primary and alternate contacts on AWS accounts within your organization from the AWS Organizations console, the AWS CLI, or AWS SDKs. For more information, see Accessing or updating the alternate contacts and Accessing or updating the primary account contact.

If you need additional assistance, see Lost or unusable multi-factor authentication (MFA) device. Expand I'm still having problems and would like to contact AWS Support. Then, complete the Request assistance with lost or unusable MFA device form, and choose Submit.

Related information

How do I change the email address that's associated with my AWS account?

Managing an AWS account