Can’t Create a Facebook Account? Sign-Up Steps and Fixes

To finish creating your account, Meta says you need to confirm your email or mobile number.

In Facebook Lite: Create new account > Next, then your name, mobile number (or Sign up with email), date of birth, gender and password, then Sign up. In a mobile browser, go to facebook.com/r.php and fill in the same details. Then confirm your email or number: see Fix 2.

Meta says you need to confirm that you own the email or number you signed up with. Until you do, you may not be able to use your account, and an unconfirmed account may be deleted after one year of inactivity.

1. Mobile number: when you log in, enter the code from the text message in the Confirm box.
2. Email in the app (iPhone, iPad, Android, Lite): enter the code from the email you got when you signed up.
3. Email on a computer or mobile browser: click or tap the link in that email.
4. Can’t find the email? Meta says check your junk folder (in Gmail, also the Social tab), make sure you entered the right email (if not, change it and send the email again), or try signing up with a mobile number instead.

No code? Meta’s fixes, from the Account confirmation screen in the app (on a computer or mobile browser, go to facebook.com/confirmemail.php): check the number you entered and, if it’s wrong, tap Change phone number (computer: Update contact info; mobile browser: Add Another Number); tap Send SMS Again (mobile browser: Send Code Again); or tap Confirm by email to use an email address instead (computer: Update contact info > add your email). For an email code, tap Send email again. More fixes for codes that won’t arrive: login code not received. Don’t skip this step: Meta says an account that’s unconfirmed and not used at all for a year after creation may be disabled and deleted.

Meta says to make sure you typed the number correctly, and to enter your country code before it (Meta’s example: 91 for India).

1. Check every digit of the number.
2. Put your country code in front: for example 1 for the US or Canada, 44 for the UK, 61 for Australia (our examples).
3. Still not working? Our suggestion: sign up with an email address instead (Fix 1).

Meta says that if an account already exists with your mobile number, you may need to wait a few days to try adding it to your account.

1. Is it your old account? If you forgot the password, reset it (external site, opens in a new tab) and log in instead (see can’t log in).
2. Don’t have that number any more? Meta has steps to get back into your account without it.
3. Want a new account? Sign up with an email now. Meta says you may need to wait a few days before you can add the number to an account: see add a phone number.

Meta says you can’t create a new account with an email that’s already tied to an existing account, and lists fixes for each email problem.

1. “Existing account with this email”: check you typed it correctly. If it’s your account and you forgot the password, request a new password (external site, opens in a new tab) instead.
2. Shared email (for example, with a family member who already has Facebook on it): Meta suggests creating a free email account for yourself, for example with Yahoo! or Gmail.
3. “Email is invalid”: make sure you entered it correctly.
4. Signed up with the wrong email? iPhone or iPad: open the Facebook app, tap Change Email Address, enter your correct email and tap Submit. Android and Facebook Lite: the same, but tap Continue. Computer: go to facebook.com/confirmemail.php, click Update Contact Info, enter an email (or mobile number) you have access to and click Add. Mobile browser: go to facebook.com/confirmemail.php, tap I Didn’t Receive the Code > Add Another Email Address, enter your correct email and tap Add (tap Remove to delete the old one). Meta says that when you confirm the new email, it replaces the wrong one. Use a secure email that only you can access.
5. Error when you click the confirmation link: try logging in with the email you signed up with. If you can’t, copy the link from the email and paste it into your browser.
6. Still stuck? Try signing up with a mobile number instead (Fix 1).

Meta says that if you try to sign up with the same or similar phone number or email and password as an account you already created, you’ll be logged into that existing account. Meta also says it’s against its Community Standards to keep more than one personal account.

1. Log out of any existing accounts first: Meta says to do this before creating an account.
2. Our tip: use a different email or number and a new password for the new account.

Meta says you can use an existing Instagram account to create a Facebook account. Both use the same login information and are added to the same Accounts Center.

1. Open the Facebook app on a phone where you’ve logged into Instagram before. Your Instagram account(s) should appear on the login screen.
2. Tap the Instagram account to use, then Yes, continue (or Continue without Instagram).
3. Choose Sync this info to sync your name and profile picture, or Not now and enter your name.
4. Select your gender, tap Next, review the terms, then tap I agree.

You can manage profile syncing later in Accounts Center. To link an existing Facebook account instead, see Facebook and Instagram not linking.