# How do I create an account with Blink?

Creating an Blink account is a simple process that involves the following steps:

1. Download the Blink application from your phone's app store or [use the apk on Android](how-to-install-the-apk-from-github)
2. Select \`Settings in the upper right corner of the Home Screen
3. Select the flag based on the area code of your phone number
4. Enter your phone number and swipe right to complete the puzzle
5. Enter the code received by SMS

## Add an email address (optional)

Adding and email address makes you able to use it to login so you don't need to rely on the phone number. Steps to add and email address:

1. select the menu on the top right and tap `Account`
2. select `Email (for login)`
3. enter an email address and complete the verification to enable login with email

## Set your username (optional)

The username is your internal blink identifier and also serves as your [lightning address](../blink-payment-methods) 6. Select `Settings` 7. Select `Your Blink address` and click in `Set your Blink Address` 8. Choose a username for your account. Your username should not have any special characters or spaces. If your desired username is not available, you can add numbers or more letters to check for availability. 9. Click on `Set Your Blink Address` to finalize the creation of your account
