How to receive SMS in France with a free French number
Open the free numbers list and choose France. If a French number is listed, open its page: you will see the live inbox, with the newest messages first and the time each one arrived.
Copy the number into the site or app asking for a phone. Pick France (+33) in the country list if there is one, and leave out the leading zero. Request the code, return to the number's page, and wait a minute or two. If nothing turns up, try another French number if there is one, or move to one of the alternatives below.
No registration on ASMS.ai is needed for any of this, and the number is not tied to you.
French number format: +33 and the 06 or 07
French mobile numbers start 06 or 07 when written inside France. Internationally the 0 is dropped and +33 goes in front, so they start +33 6 or +33 7. The number +33 6 12 34 56 78 is the same phone as 06 12 34 56 78.
If a form rejects a French number, the format is often the cause. Check you chose France in the country picker, that +33 is not typed twice, and that the leading 0 is gone. Forms built only for French users may want the full local number with the 0 instead.
Why French numbers are limited, and what that means for you
The French free list is small. With only a few numbers, each one is used by more people, and a popular app is more likely to have seen it before. It may say the number is already in use, or refuse to send a code to it.
So treat the French list as something to check, not something to count on. Look for a number with messages in the last few minutes or hours. If every French number has been quiet for days, or there are none listed, do not keep requesting codes. Go straight to an alternative.
We would rather tell you this up front than have you lose time on a number that is not going to work.
When no French number is free: your alternatives
Many services accept phone numbers from any country, even if you are in France or signing up to a French site. If the service does not insist on +33, a free UK number works the same way, and the UK list is much larger.
If you want an inbox only you can read, use a private per-code number on the /otp page, from $0.50. The pools are VoIP High Quality (US, +1, the cheapest) and United Kingdom (+44, real UK mobile numbers). You see the price and stock for your service before paying, and if no code arrives the order is refunded automatically.
For an account you want to keep, rent a private non-VoIP number from $4.99, for 1 day up to 12 months depending on the country. You keep the same number for logins and recovery. If a service accepts only French numbers, none of these will help, and a French SIM of your own is the honest answer.
Good uses for a temporary phone number in France
A French temporary number suits a single confirmation where you would rather not share your own: a one-off sign-up, a trial you will not keep, or testing that your own product delivers SMS to French numbers.
It keeps your real number away from another marketing list and another database that could leak. That is the main privacy benefit of a number you use once.
It is not for banking, two-factor login, account recovery or payouts. Whoever can read a number's texts can receive the reset code, and on a public inbox that is anyone. Use a number only you control.
France number searches: what this page is and is not
This page is about receiving SMS on a French number online. It is not a phone line for any company in France, and the numbers here cannot make or take calls.
Every number on ASMS.ai is receive only. You read incoming texts in your browser, and you cannot send replies from it.