Elon Musk’s X launches X Numbers: Here's how it works

Elon Musk's X has launched X Numbers, a new feature that lets users share a secret eight-digit code so they can be contacted on XChat without sharing their personal numbers or following one another.

This comes months after Meta's WhatsApp introduced a username feature that lets users find people in the app by their unique names instead of their phone numbers. WhatsApp, which says it has more than 3 billion users globally, has until now allowed anyone with a user's phone number to contact them.



How does X Numbers work?

X Number is a private code you can create and share so people can message or call you on XChat even if they don't follow you. Having an X Number is optional.

X Numbers can be used for audio and video calls, depending on the recipient’s settings. Messages sent through the code go directly to the user’s main chat inbox instead of the message requests section.

In a post explaining the feature, X said the code is not a phone number, but an additional way for people to reach someone. People don't need to know someone's X Number if that person's inbox already accepts message requests from non-followers.

"If you have a closed inbox, people you do not follow cannot message you unless they enter your X Number, and only if your X Number is enabled," the blog post read.

People you follow, people you’ve already chatted with, and members of the same Premium Business or Premium Organization can still reach you without an X Number.

New messaging

Direct Messages (DMs) are not open on X by default, a policy introduced earlier this year. You can only receive an unsolicited DM from someone if you follow them (or they follow you), if you've turned on the "open DMs" setting that lets anyone message you directly, or through a message request from a non-follower (which lands in a separate "requests" folder until you approve it).