Google Account & profile sharing in Google Messages

You can control how Google Messages shares your profile information:

1. Open Google Messages .
2. At the top right, tap your Profile picture.
3. Select Your profile .
4. Select one of these options:
   • People you message: Your profile is visible to people after you send them a message.
   • Only your contacts: Your profile is visible to people after you send them a message, but only if they're in your contacts.
   • No one: Your profile isn't made visible to anyone after you send a message.

If you find a tilde (~) before someone's name, they're sharing their profile, and they're not yet saved as a contact.

If you accidentally share your profile with a suspected spammer, block and report the conversation as spam. Your profile information is immediately removed from that conversation, which removes access to your profile name and picture from the spammer.

Learn how to block senders & report spam in Google Messages.

1. Open Google Messages .
2. At the top right, tap your Profile picture Down arrow Use without an account .

When you use Google Messages without an account, you may not have access to features like Magic Compose, Device Pairing or Gemini. Your profile isn't shared with anyone, and you won't find other users' profiles.

To enable Google services and help people reach you, your carrier and Google periodically verifies your device info and phone number. You can opt out at any time.

1. Open your Google Settings. Based on your phone’s model:
   1. Open your phone's Settings app, and then select Google.
   2. Open a separate app called Google Settings.
2. Select Privacy & Security Phone Number Verification.
3. Choose whether to automatically verify the phone numbers.

Learn how to verify your Android phone's number.

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Google Manage your Google Account.
3. At the top, select Personal info.
4. Under "Contact info," tap Phone number.
5. Select your phone number.
6. From here, you can:
   • Add a phone number: Under "Your phone numbers," select Add recovery phone.
     • If you haven't already, add a recovery phone number.
   • Change your phone number: Next to your number, tap Edit Update number.
   • Delete your phone number: Next to your number, tap Delete Remove number.
7. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Tip: If you change the number in your Google Account, it affects some Google services. Learn how to change the phone number on your account & how it's used.

You can choose to display your contact’s profile picture in Google Messages. You can set a local contact picture or their shared profile picture.

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Open a conversation with the contact.
3. At the top of the conversation, tap the Contact's name or Profile picture.
4. On top of the details page, tap the Profile picture.
5. To switch between the shared profile picture and your local contact photo, swipe left or right.