The short answer
Google Pay creates a UPI ID from your mobile number when you first link a bank account. To add a private one: open Google Pay, tap your profile photo (top right), open your bank account under Payment methods, select Manage UPI IDs, and tap Add next to a new UPI ID slot. Choose a username instead of the auto-filled number, pick a handle, and confirm — Google Pay allows up to four IDs per linked account, so this doesn't replace your existing one.
Step by step in Google Pay
If "Manage UPI IDs" isn't visible immediately, it sits one level under the bank account screen — Google Pay groups multiple IDs there specifically because it supports several per account.
After you create it
What you can do next
- Share the username ID instead of your number for new payments.
- Keep up to four IDs active on the same bank account at once.
- Create a second username ID later if you ever need another.
Worth knowing
- An ID must be created inside Google Pay — you can't import one.
- Your number-based ID stays active unless you remove it.
- A previously shared QR with the old ID still routes correctly.
Related UPI guides and tools
Sources and methodology
- Google Pay Help: Create or find your UPI ID — official steps and the four-ID-per-account limit.
- MediaNama: NPCI asks UPI apps to mask phone numbers, pushes username IDs — the masking directive this guide's "what happens to your old ID" answer relies on.
Steps and the four-ID limit are taken directly from Google's own support page. Menu wording can still shift with app updates; if a label doesn't match exactly, Google Pay's in-app help search for "UPI ID" points to the same screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many UPI IDs can I have in Google Pay?
Google's own help page states you can create up to four UPI IDs for each bank account you add in Google Pay. Adding a username-based one doesn't use up your only slot or remove the number-based ID.
Will my old number-based Google Pay ID stop working?
No. It keeps sending and receiving payments. Under NPCI's number-masking rule, the change is in what the other party sees — only the last four digits — not whether the ID still functions.
Can I use a UPI ID I created in another app inside Google Pay?
No. Google Pay's own help documentation says a VPA or UPI ID created through another UPI app or net-banking portal cannot be used inside Google Pay — any new ID has to be created directly in the app.
What if my chosen username is unavailable?
Google Pay will flag it at the creation step. Try a small variation — a middle initial, a short number, or a nickname — rather than defaulting back to your phone number.
Does the handle after @ (like @okaxis or @oksbi) matter for privacy?
No. The handle only indicates which partner bank is processing that UPI ID's routing behind Google Pay. Any of Google Pay's supported handles offer the same privacy once the part before @ is a username rather than your number.