Switching or Removing Your Caller ID

Your caller ID setting decides which number appears on the other person's phone when you call. There are three possible settings and you can move between them whenever you like. The change is instant, and it applies everywhere at once: website, app, and extension.

• Shared Numbers - the free default, with no setup at all.
• A US number you rent from CallTuv - $5.95 a month, and the same number shows every time. See Rent Your Own US Phone Number.
• Your own verified number - free, and the only one of the three that people can ring you back on.

Switching away from a rented number does not cancel it. You keep it, and keep paying for it, until you cancel it in its own panel.

Switching between them, step by step

1. Open the caller ID settings:
   • On the website: open the Call page and click the caller ID button at the top of the dialer. It says Caller ID: followed by the number your calls show right now - Shared Numbers, or your own number, shown as its flag and last four digits.
   • In the app: tap Settings, then Caller ID.
2. On the website a short list opens with your options: CallTuv Shared Numbers, your rented US number, and your own number. The one in use has a purple tick. Tap or click the one you want - that is the whole switch, and the list closes by itself.
3. The very next call uses the new setting.

If you rent a number, switch on the website. The app's caller ID screen doesn't list rented numbers, so it keeps saying CallTuv Shared Numbers even while your calls go out on your rented number, and picking Shared Numbers in the app doesn't change that. Whatever you choose on the website, the app follows from the very next call. Picking your own verified number in the app does work, but it also stops your rented number being used, everywhere: your calls show your verified number from then on, on the website too. To go back to your rented number, pick CallTuv Shared Numbers in the app, or your rented number on the website. The Chrome extension works the same way, and its list says Shared numbers while your calls go out on your rented number.

Options you haven't set up yet can't be ticked. Tapping one starts its setup instead - renting a US number, or verifying a number you already own.

Next to your rented number and your own verified number there is also a small settings cog on the right. The cog doesn't switch anything - it opens that number's own screen, where you can cancel your rented number (or keep it, if you change your mind before it ends) or remove your verified one.

A reassuring detail: switching to Shared Numbers does not undo your verification. Your number stays safely verified on your account, ready to switch back to with one tap. A pattern many people like: show your own number to family and friends who know it, and switch to Shared Numbers when calling businesses or strangers, keeping your number private.

One common reason to switch temporarily: a handful of countries - Singapore especially, plus calls into Finland, Czechia, Thailand, India, Malaysia, and Hungary from a number of that same country - don't accept a personal number as caller ID. Switching to Shared Numbers for that one call solves it, and switching back afterwards takes a second. The details are in Verify Your Own Number as Caller ID.

What each setting costs

You may have noticed a small line under your own number in the caller ID list: "different rates may apply". Here is what that means, and how to see the actual numbers.

A per-minute rate isn't a property of the destination alone - it belongs to the route, meaning the pair of "the number the call goes out from" and "the number you're calling". Shared Numbers, a rented US number and your own number are different starting points, so the same destination can price differently depending on which one you're using. Sometimes it's identical, sometimes it isn't.

The good news is that you never have to guess or look it up anywhere:

1. Open the Call page (or the Call tab in the app) and choose the caller ID you want to use.
2. Type the full number you want to reach.
3. Look at the per-minute price shown before you press the call button. That price is worked out for the caller ID you have selected at that moment - it is the rate you will actually be charged.
4. Want to compare? Switch the caller ID selector to the other option and watch the price update for the same number.

The price in the dialer is always the price for the setting you're on right now. There's no separate rate list to hunt down for your own number - the dialer already accounts for it.

One thing worth knowing: the rates pages on our website quote the Shared Numbers route. A public page has no way of knowing which caller ID your account uses, so it shows the default. If the difference matters to you, the dialer is the place to check. More about how rates work in general is in Understanding Rates and Per-Minute Billing.

Removing a verified number, step by step

You'd remove a number mainly for one reason: to verify a different number, since an account holds one verified number at a time.

1. Open the caller ID settings (same places as above).
2. On the website, click the small settings cog on the right of your own number to open its screen, then click Remove this number. In the app, tap the three dots next to your number and choose Remove. Either way you are asked to confirm first, because of the 24-hour lock described below.
3. Confirm. Your account switches back to Shared Numbers for future calls.

Two things worth knowing before you remove:

• After you remove a number, you can't verify a different one for 24 hours. If you removed yours by mistake, you can add the same number back straight away. And please don't remove your number just to "refresh" it - if something seems off with how it displays, this article explains why and removal won't help.
• Ready to verify the new number? The full walkthrough is here: Verify Your Own Number as Caller ID.

If a switch doesn't seem to stick

Occasionally you might see a message like "Server did not confirm..." - this just means the change didn't reach us, usually because of a momentary internet blip. Check your connection and tap the option once more; the setting only changes once it's safely confirmed. Also note that adding a number needs an active team selected and a little credit on the balance - the app will gently tell you if either is missing.