If you're considering switching to a new network to save money, looking to improve signal or if y'all're selling your phone and need to know the state of its carrier lock beforehand, here, nosotros show you how to check to see if your phone is unlocked and how to unlock it if it isn't already.

There are a number of reasons why you might want an unlocked telephone or tablet if it has cellular connectivity. Maybe you desire to use a unlike SIM bill of fare when abroad for cheaper calls, texts or browsing, or want to simply switch mobile networks. Perchance you've purchased a phone online and want to know if information technology's locked to a particular network, or want to make sure it's unlocked in club to sell it.

If your phone or tablet is locked, you will simply be able to use a SIM card from the mobile network it's locked to. This tin can be very frustrating if you need to apply a SIM from a different network, merely to discover that your phone (or tablet) won't let you.

If you lot purchased your telephone SIM-free (and yous've purchased it brand new, rather than second-hand), information technology's nigh definitely going to be unlocked to allow you to determine which SIM yous desire to put in it. Still, buying one on contract from a telephone retailer or a network might mean that information technology'southward locked from the first.

Locked phones are much less common at present than they used to be, and it'south much easier to unlock them than information technology once was, so there'due south no need to worry if you lot do find that your phone won't accept SIM cards from other networks out the gate. It might price you a small fee, and sometimes you'll need to expect until your contract is up to unlock your phone, only these factors really hinge on the network your phone is locked to.

How to check whether your phone is unlocked

If you have the phone on your person – whether information technology's an iPhone, Android phone or something else – and then the easiest thing to do to bank check whether your phone is unlocked is by trying different SIM cards from other networks/carriers in information technology.

Borrow a SIM bill of fare from a friend or family fellow member that's from a different network to the one you've been using, and pop it into your phone to check whether you lot have any bespeak. If not, it's likely that your phone is indeed locked. Y'all might likewise be greeted with a message asking for a SIM unlock code, which is too proof of a carrier-locked phone.

Is my iPhone locked

Nosotros'd also recommend restarting the phone earlier checking, as information technology sometimes takes a restart for the SIM card to be picked upwardly by the device itself.

If you lot tin't readily tell whether the newly inserted SIM card is working or not, effort making a telephone call. If the call doesn't connect, information technology'due south likely that your phone is locked.

If you don't have the phone withal because you're the ane buying it, you'll have to ask and trust the seller to detect out. Even if it does plow out to be locked, still, there'due south an easy fix in most cases, and so it'due south unlikely to render your new phone useless.

Notation: You may detect apps claiming to be able to tell yous if your phone is unlocked just we would avoid using this method, as they tin can't necessarily be trusted. Simply trying different SIM cards is your best pick.

If you detect that your phone is indeed locked, follow the links below to become to the unlock page for your network.

  • Unlock an EE phone
  • Unlock a Vodafone phone
  • Unlock a Three phone
  • Unlock an O2 phone
  • Unlock a Tesco Mobile phone
  • Unlock a GiffGaff phone
  • Unlock a Virgin Mobile phone
  • Unlock a BT Mobile phone
  • Unlock a Sky Mobile phone
  • Unlock a VOXI phone

Alternatively, use a tertiary-political party unlocking app like DoctorSIM. Nosotros would recommend existence careful to simply utilize an unlocking service yous trust. We take tested DoctorSIM and found it to be successful and fairly priced, merely some volition charge significantly more and not all services are legitimate, so research is recommended before yous function with whatsoever greenbacks if you decide to become this route.

We have more data about how to do this in our article how to unlock a telephone to use whatsoever SIM.