How to Find, Share, or Change Your Pokémon GO Friend Code

Your Pokémon GO friend code, officially called a Trainer Code, is the 12-digit number on the Add Friend screen: open your Trainer Profile, tap the Friends tab, then tap Add Friend. To change it, tap the refresh icon next to the code. The reset is permanent, so the old code can’t be restored.

The steps are the same on iPhone and Android and follow the Pokémon GO Help Center article on adding friends.

What a Trainer Code is and what you need first

Every Trainer has one unique 12-digit Trainer Code and a matching QR code. A QR code is a square barcode that another phone can scan with its camera, so nobody has to type the digits. Both lead to the same result: a Friend Request sent to your account.

A Trainer Code is not a password. It does not sign anyone in to your account. It only lets another player send you a Friend Request, which you can accept or deny.

Before you start, check these points:

• You are signed in to Pokémon GO and can see the map.
• Your account is allowed to use Friends. On a child account, a parent or guardian has to turn on the Friends feature first.
• Your Friend List has room. The Help Center lists a limit of 550 friends, and that total includes friends from other Niantic apps.
• The app is up to date. Button positions can shift between versions, so update the app if a label in this guide looks different on your phone.

How to find your Trainer Code

1. Open Pokémon GO and wait for the map (Niantic calls this Map View) to load.
2. Tap your Trainer avatar to open your Trainer Profile. The avatar is normally in the bottom-left corner of the map.
3. Tap the Friends tab at the top of the screen. Your Friend List opens.
4. Tap Add Friend. Your 12-digit Trainer Code is shown on this screen, along with a QR Code tab.

If you only see a list of friends and no code, you are still on the Friend List. The code appears after you tap Add Friend.

How to share your Trainer Code

You have two ways to give your code to someone. Pick the one that matches where the other player is.

• Someone next to you: on the Add Friend screen, open the QR Code tab and let them scan your code with their phone. This avoids typing mistakes.
• Someone far away: send the 12 digits in a text or chat message. Check each digit before you send it, because one wrong number sends the request to nobody.

Before you post your code in public: anyone who sees it can send you a Friend Request. If you accept, that player can see your Trainer Profile. According to the Help Center, friends can see your avatar, Buddy Pokémon, team, Trainer level and XP, number of Pokémon caught, most recently caught Pokémon, distance walked, and battles won. Friends may also learn something about your location when you send them a Gift or trade with them. Share the code only with people you are comfortable showing that information to.

How to add a friend with their code

1. Open your Trainer Profile and tap the Friends tab.
2. Tap Add Friend.
3. To use digits, enter the other player’s 12-digit Trainer Code in the code field and send the request.
4. To use a QR code instead, tap the QR Code tab. Your camera opens. Point it at the other player’s QR code.
5. Wait for the other player to accept. They see your request in their own Friend List and can accept or deny it.

You are not friends until the request is accepted. If the other player does not respond, the Friend Request expires after 7 days and you would need to send it again.

There is also a contacts option. On the Friends tab, Contacts lets you sync your phone’s contacts with Pokémon GO and send requests to people whose accounts match. It needs permission to read your contacts and may ask you to verify your phone number. It is optional, and child accounts cannot use it. The full process is in the Help Center’s Adding Friends article.

How to change your friend code

Read this first: the Help Center describes the reset as permanent. You cannot choose the new number, and you cannot switch back to the old one. Any copy of the old code that you printed, posted, or sent to someone stops being useful, and the QR code changes with it.

1. Open your Trainer Profile and tap the Friends tab.
2. Tap Add Friend so your current Trainer Code is on screen.
3. Tap the refresh icon next to the code.

4. If the app asks you to confirm, read the message and confirm the change.
5. Look at the code again. It should now show a different 12-digit number.

The reset replaces the code people use to send you new requests. The Help Center does not describe it as removing anyone from your Friend List. Friends are removed only when you open a friend’s profile and tap Remove Friend.

When a reset makes sense

• You posted the code on a public page and now get requests from strangers.
• You shared it in a group you have since left.
• Someone you do not want to hear from keeps sending requests with the old code.

When a reset will not help

• You want to drop an existing friend. Remove that friend instead. The person is not notified.
• You want a specific number. Codes are assigned by the game.
• You want to undo an earlier reset. There is no undo. After a reset, send the new code to the people who still need it.

Trainer Code vs. Referral Code

The Friends tab holds a second code that is easy to confuse with your Trainer Code. A Referral Code is for inviting someone who is new to Pokémon GO or who has not been active within 90 days. It is found under Friends > Invite, where you can tap Share Referral Code or Copy Referral Code.

Detail	Trainer Code	Referral Code
Purpose	Send a Friend Request to another Trainer	Invite a new or returning player and earn milestone rewards
Where it is	Friends > Add Friend	Friends > Invite
Who can use it	Any Trainer with access to Friends	New Trainers, or Trainers not active within 90 days
Time limit	The request expires after 7 days if not accepted	Must be redeemed within 72 hours of creating or logging in to the account
Child accounts	Only if a parent enables Friends	Not eligible to send or redeem

If a friend who already plays regularly says your code is rejected, check which one you sent. A Referral Code will not work as a Trainer Code. The rules for referrals are in the Help Center’s Referring Friends and Referral Bonuses article.

How to confirm it worked

• After adding someone: once they accept, they appear in your Friend List and you can open their Trainer Profile from there.
• After someone adds you: the request shows up in your Friend List, where you can accept or deny it.
• After a reset: the 12 digits on the Add Friend screen are different from before. Compare them with a copy of the old code if you saved one.

Troubleshooting a friend code that does not work

The code is rejected

Count the digits. A Trainer Code has exactly 12. Then ask the other player to open their Add Friend screen and read the code again, because they may have reset it since they first sent it to you. If you are together, scan the QR code instead of typing.

You cannot add anyone

Your Friend List may be full. The limit listed in the Help Center is 550 friends across Pokémon GO and other Niantic apps. Remove a friend you no longer play with, then try again. Keep in mind that removing a friend ends any friendship bonuses between you. The Help Center says your Friendship level can be restored if you add the same person again within a limited period, but it does not say how long that period is.

The Friends tab or Add Friend button is missing

This usually points to a child account. Parents or guardians can turn on Friends, Gifting, and Trading in the Niantic Kids Parent Portal or on the Pokémon Trainer Central website. Niantic explains both in How can my child access social features. Parents should know that turning the permission off again permanently removes all friends from the child’s Friend List for that game.

The request never turns into a friendship

The other player has to accept it. A request that sits unanswered for 7 days expires. Ask them to check their Friend List for pending requests, or send a new one.

The QR scanner does not open

The QR Code tab uses your camera, so Pokémon GO needs camera permission on your phone. On an iPhone, you can turn camera permissions for Pokémon GO on or off. Entering the 12 digits by hand works without the camera. If you only want to stop the camera view during catches, you can turn off AR mode in Pokémon GO and leave the permission alone.

Photo access is a separate permission, so you can stop Pokémon GO from saving photos without affecting the QR scanner.

Frequently asked questions

Next steps

A longer Friend List brings more alerts and more people who can see your stats. These guides cover the settings most players adjust next:

• How to turn off gift notifications
• How to stop sharing recently caught Pokémon with friends
• How to turn battle challenges with friends on or off