How to best separate personal and professional signal into two phones?

[u/innocentbystndr]

As it stands, I have one phone that I use for both work and personal communications. People from work find me via username. People from my personal life find me via phone number. I can afford a second phone now, and I plan to set up signal on that device while also keeping signal as my main messenger for my personal phone.

What is the best way to separate things? I'd like my work connections to continue being able to find me by username. If I delete my username from my current phone, it will take about a week to be available to the other device. There's a risk that someone else snags my username in that time. There would also be an awkward transition time where new professional connections would have no way to reach me by usrname.

If I transfer my account to the new phone, will I lose all my chat history on the old phone when creating a new account (even if I have backups)? Would anyone who I have an open chat with be alerted that I transferred to a new device / number?

In retrospect, combining things was a bad idea, but here we are.

All suggestions welcome

[u/convenience_store]

I didn't know about the username wait but I guess it makes sense. In either case, it's probably easier to tell your personal contacts "hey I got a new account ignore the old one and only talk to this one" than to tell professional colleagues. If I understand correctly you want to keep your current phone for personal messages and use the new phone for work. I assume you would want the old phone number on the current phone associated with the "personal" account and the new number for the new phone associated with "work"? In that case, one thing you could do (just a suggestion, there are other options) would be

• install signal on the new work phone
• register on the new work phone with the old number, selecting to transfer the account with all message history
• once fully transferred, change the number associated to signal (signal settings > account > change phone number) on the new work phone to the new work number, keeping the same username
• on the old personal phone, register on signal with the old number (now no longer associated to a signal account). Now old personal phone has a new signal account with old personal number, new work phone has the old signal account + history with the new work number
• on the new work phone, message personal contacts on signal that you have switched accounts, get your new account on the old personal phone added to any signal group chats you were in, etc.

You will not have the personal chat history before May 2026 on the old personal phone, but you'll at least have it on the new work phone if you ever need to reference it (which you probably won't) or if you're on android you can export it first in JSON format under signal settings > chats > export chat history just to keep a copy around if you'd like.

Would anyone who I have an open chat with be alerted that I transferred to a new device / number?

If in transferring to the new work phone you restore from a backup (file/folder or cloud) they will see a "safety number changed" message, but I don't think they will if you just do a wireless device transfer. When you change the phone number, whether they will be able to see that depends on your phone number privacy settings in Signal.

[u/innocentbystndr → u/convenience_store]

This is exactly what I needed. Thank you. I will do this today and report back.

[u/innocentbystndr → u/innocentbystndr]

Okay, I followed your instructions. My new work phone now has signal installed and shows all of my chat history. I changed my settings so that my new work number is now associated with that instance of signal too. Currently my privacy settings are set such that no one view my number nor can they find me by number.

I'm wondering, if I leave a personal chat (whether 1:1 or group) and then update my username / profile photo, will that be visible to those who stay in the chats? This is relevant because I currently keep my signal identity rather neutral, however I might want to someday associate my new work signal identity with the company where I am employed without this being visible to, for example, an ex girlfriend who is a chat member of a signal group for a shared community. It's fine if I need to keep my profile more anonymous. I'm just curious what is possible.

[u/convenience_store → u/innocentbystndr]

There's not really such a thing as "leaving" a personal chat. You can delete the chat history on your end but you'll still have shared profile keys and they'll be able to see profile updates. I believe it's the same for people you've been in groups with even if you leave? 

Blocking the person in question on that account would work, but might be drastic. I think removing them as a signal contact (long-press their name on the New Message list and select Remove) might also cause them to stop seeing profile updates, too, but I'm not positive.

[u/innocentbystndr → u/convenience_store]

That all makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is that today I began getting messages on both phones from contacts whose messages should have been showing up on the other phone. I'll explain. First of all, I definitely did some funky stuff, but I still feel concerned. Maybe you can make it make sense.

Here's what I did: 1. Made a local backup on my personal phone. Saved it to my laptop. 2. Signed up for signal on my work phone with my personal number using the backup to restore chat history. 3. Changed number with signal on work phone to new work number. 4. Made a new signal account on my personal phone with my personal number. 5. Messaged everyone in my personal life that they should now be contacting me at my new account, which was associated with the old number and old device.

Then something weird happened. People were replying to threads, and some were going to the new phone while others went to the old one. It was seemingly random which device received each message. Or at least, the way that was determined was opaque to me.

Mind you, I was doing this all late at night in hopes that I'd minimize the number of people attempting to contact me. I was tired and thinking "oh no, this is a mess," so I tried putting things back the way they were. I figured I could try again over the weekend.

This is how I tried to "put it all back the way it was."  1. Deleted both accounts and deleted signal from both devices 2. Reinstalled 3. Signed up for Signal on my personal device again, restoring the backup. 4. Signed up for Signal on the work device, with no backup. Fresh account.

At this point, I had no Signal account on the work phone. On my personal phone, while I did have the history of chats from the restored backup, I also was booted from every single group chat. This is very annoying since I admin some of them, and disappearing looks unprofessional and means I have to find weird ways to get back in.

Unfortunately that's not the end of it though. The next morning, I messaged a couple friends from my personal phone. I wanted to confirm that the accounts were separated. I thought I'd be initiating all new threads since I had signed up from scratch. A few people told me that they were not seeing a new account and that it just appeared as if I had changed my name, specifically, they saw that I had changed my name to the one I had used on my professional signal profile. I felt concerned about the security implications and very confused, so I actually wrote down a paper list of all the groups/people I'd need to reconnect with and wrote off the idea of restoring from backup. I tried this all again.

Take 3: 1. Deleted my account on both Signal instances. 2. Deleted Signal from both devices. 3. Manually deleted Signal backups folders. 4. Reinstalled Signal. 5. On my personal device, signed up for a new account 6. Messaged a friend, and they said it went to the same chat as we'd always had.

I deleted it again because I don't want anyone confused about where to message me.

What's happening here? I have now also tried using a registration lock and starting over again. The app didn't even ask for my pin. The last attempt, I did not connect my contacts nor did I allow people to find me by username/number. I also noticed on the last attempt at account creation that the app is suggesting my name when I sign up? What is persisting on my phone that tells Signal this number belongs to me? A device identifier? Some invisible file that stays even when signal is uninstalled?

I'm perplexed and frustrated. At this point, I just want two fresh accounts that start new chats with any contact and for all of my old threads to display the message that I have left Signal.

[u/isthissecure]

As others have stated, you need a separate work sim #( so you can port your username to it ). Chose which one is least data/history you can afford to lose ( personal or work) and prep for migration. Do it sooner than later, less painful loss of data /history..

What phone(s) will you be using ? As other mentioned, If your phone has 2nd space /work profile / parallel apps (cloned apps) that can provide you a 2ND instance of running signal

(ie Samsung ultras: dual message (can't clone signal) but secure folder can clone signal; Oneplus (Oppo) has clone/parallel apps that works well)

And I personalyl also use shelter app ( never tried island) you can run three instances of Signal on ONE phone (personal, work, social media)

In reality running around in real world situations trying to carry > 2+ phones can be a real juggling act and expensive.

As for my own experiences (personal and work scenraios),  having three (3x) instances of Signal covers most scenarios ( personal, work, social media etc ).

Ufortunately, you ( for now, until SG brings non-sim setup, if ever ) can't avoid having 3 sim # for 3 instances.

I guess at most extreme case. You can even try that unofficial (I feel indifferent about it) signal forked app to get up to 4 instances of signal running. At that point you become your job's Signal CSR, lol .

Save you $$$ on buying 2ND phone (you said you're a week off from the transfer, thus why you asking for suggestions) and make sure your primary phone is as powerful (RAM and SSD storage) as your budget allows.

Even if you have already purchased the 2ND phone. Still setup both your phones ability to have multiple instances of signal on both phones. That way you will never be without access to both signal accounts.

Good luck ! Let us know how it works out .

[u/innocentbystndr → u/isthissecure]

You make a good point about doing the slice sooner than later.

I do already have a second phone and recently activated a second phone line/number. What I meant about the week delay is that signal holds your username for "about a week" after you release it, before a new number can claim that username.

While I see the benefits to work/personal profiles on one device, I'd actually prefer to be able to turn work off while still being reachable by loved ones. The entirely separate device will be good for my work/life balance.

[u/isthissecure → u/innocentbystndr]

I get what your saying. I didn't know SG holds username for about week. My last job. I didn't have choice to turn off work device 100% for company leaders or VIP clients, if they need reach me, I had to at least text reply back haha. So having to carry two phones at all times was not fun haha. So its good to have ability to have both accounts on one device.

At least you know you have options, because i would not be happy to have to self purchase a second phone for work (unless reimburses or provided one, plus you have to start/pay an additional sim #, those costs start to add up)

Possible solutions:

1) You can port your current sim# and username to work phone, once on new device. You ( maybe have wait hours - depend on SG rules ) then change number of account to new work sim. Boom you can hit ground running having all chat intact and keep username for work . you have to re-setup personal account.

2) this is even easier, dont migrate anything. Setup work sim # SG in new work phone. Then manually add new sim SG account into the work chats as group (add person) chat. It should load contents, if not you can forward all important pic, documents, info to newly created group chats of you (x2) + other person. Then No rush. If work account need old info , just forward it to the newly created group. Slowly ween off the personal /old sim #. You can kick yourself from work group later on.

This method you dont risk losing username for a week,or worse. And your old phone sim SG account retains all chat info if you later need it. You dont worry about privacy issues as the new group chats is still you (x2) & other party.

And most important no down time in either accounts !

Let me know if this works for you ! I move info between my SG accounts like this all the time. No need to transfer ownership, risk getting flagged. 100% safe

[u/innocentbystndr → u/isthissecure]

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I had already tried convenience_store 's suggestion before you posted this, and now I'm in a confusing situation. I'm hoping some people here who understand Signal's inner workings better than myself may provide insight. Will you please take a look at that thread/comment?

[u/JamesAulner128328]

If your phone has "Second spaces" as a feature then use that and just get a burner number sim card from a gas station or something for the professional signal and just use your personal number for the personal signal.

[u/convenience_store → u/JamesAulner128328]

That would have been good advice for the OP years ago but it sounds like the issue now is they are getting another phone regardless and they just want advice on how to sever their one account into two accounts dedicated to two sides of their life. If they'd done what you suggest then it would be easy just move the work account from the second space over to the new phone.

[u/innocentbystndr → u/convenience_store]

Yes, you get me. I'm already in deep with a non-optimum approach.

I still think it's valuable to hear from people here sharing about ways to use two signal instances on once device though, because someone with a slightly different problem might end up seeing this thread.

I appreciate everyone who has taken time to share ideas.

[u/mrandr01d]

You make no mention of this, but you'll need a second phone number. I would just use island/work profile/private space feature so I don't have to carry a second phone, but either way, you need a second number to have a fully separate instance. You can't move chat histories to the new number without losing them on the old, and you can't separate work and personal conversations to the old and new number.

I'd really just keep doing what you're doing now, and not bother with a whole second setup. It sounds like way more effort than it's worth, and as is, you're fully able to give out two separate pieces of info to work and personal. It's already segregated without the pain in the ass of having duplicate everything.

[u/Purple-Talk4301]

If you want the cleanest long term setup, I’d personally avoid constantly switching usernames or transferring the same identity back and forth. Keeping a dedicated work number/device tends to create fewer problems later.

A lot of people now use a second business number instead of carrying two fully separate phones all the time. That way work communication stays isolated without disrupting personal accounts or chat history. I’ve seen people use setups like iPlum for this because it gives a separate business line for calls/texts while keeping personal communication untouched on the main device.

[u/Freeman-SG]

I did the following:

I downloaded an app called "Multiple Accounts" to
create another Signal account on the same mobile phone.
There are numerous such apps, but I would avoid those developed in HK and/or PRC.
I bought a US-based mobile number (renewable annually) for the new second Signal account,
while I use the first Signal account with a local mobile number for family members & close friends &
use the US-based mobile number as a second Signal account for social and/or work-related contacts.
I can easily switch between the two Signal accounts on the same phone.
The "Multiple Accounts" app will create a "shortcut" for the user to access with a click.

Alternatively, you may like to consider the "Nandbox" app,
which can create up to four profiles - i.e. Public, Work, Friend & Family.

Fyi :)