How do I know if my phone is unlocked?

Where did you buy it, and how?

First and foremost, mobile carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon want to keep you paying monthly for their service. To do this, they offer discounts for those willing to stick around for a couple of years. It's not uncommon for a carrier to lock a phone until you pay it off to prevent you from taking advantage of a discount and switching carriers.

While your phone is locked, you won't be able to use service from another carrier. Luckily, getting your phone unlocked isn't too hard, and it may even unlock automatically if enough time has passed. Unlocking the phone might take longer than you'd like, but it'll all be worth it when it is unlocked and accessible with another carrier.

If you bought your phone from a carrier, the first thing to do is make sure you pay it off. If you were paying it off with a series of payments, you'd need to ensure you have paid the total balance. You haven't paid the phone off if you see a deduction offset by a bill credit for a phone purchase. Contact customer support for the information if you're unsure how much your remaining balance is.

Remember that some carriers use buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deals with monthly bill credits to lock customers into a cycle of paying off the phone for the entire term. If you've participated in one of these promotions, you still have to pay for the phones, and switching to a new carrier could invalidate the bill credits that were bringing the phone price down.

Once you pay off the phone, it will either unlock automatically, or you can request an unlock from the carrier. If switching to a new carrier, unlock your phone before leaving your old carrier. You can still get your phone unlocked down the line, but it's easier to misplace the needed information, and the process could take longer.

If you bought your phone from Amazon or another online retailer, it would list it as unlocked or carrier-specific. Be sure to choose the unlocked version for your region. International models will more often than not work with U.S. carriers, but you may not have access to all carrier bands, and 5G support may be weaker than that of U.S. models.

When you buy a phone directly from a manufacturer such as Samsung, Asus, or OnePlus, it is undoubtedly unlocked and ready to use with your new carrier. When you buy the phone from an online retailer such as Amazon, ensure that you choose the unlocked version before heading out to checkout.

There's only one foolproof way to check for the rest of the phones: Try it.

How to check if your phone is unlocked

You can also try those online services that claim to let you know if your phone is unlocked by providing them with the phone IMEI. While that might be true, these services cost money and are often incorrect. I'll come right out and say it: Don't bother.

Instead, you can call your carrier or the carrier/MVNO you're considering switching. Companies keep a database of IMEI numbers indicating which phones are compatible, unlocked, or blocked. 

You might not have any luck here, though, because the person answering the phone might not be able to give you that information—they either don't have access to it or aren't allowed to tell you over the phone. However, it's worth a try if you can't access a SIM card from a different company.

Skipping all that, the easiest way to find out if your phone is unlocked is just to put in a SIM card from another carrier. It doesn't have to be a SIM card connected to an active account — the phone will try to initiate a connection with any SIM card in place. If you don't want to buy one or your friend won't let you use theirs, you can also try one from Mint Mobile's free trial offer and get a SIM card. Some carriers like Google Fi will even send you a SIM for free when you sign up for a plan, and it doesn't charge you anything until you activate the card. 

The process is as follows:

1. If possible, make a phone call using your current SIM card to check that the phone is working properly. (Call your parents to say "hello"; they'll appreciate it.)
   
2. Shut off the phone and remove the SIM card. If you're not sure how to do this, look in the manual or online. If you need a SIM card removal tool, there's usually one stuck to the paperwork in your phone's box. A small paper clip may also work if you can't find the tool. You may also want to give it a SIM PIN code first so no one can steal and use your old SIM card.
   
3. Put the new SIM card in your phone and power it back on.
   
4. If you're greeted with a dialog box telling you to enter a SIM unlock code, your phone is SIM-locked to the carrier from which it was initially purchased.
   
5. If you don't see an unlock code prompt, check that it says you have service if you used a valid SIM card. If you do, your phone is probably unlocked. Sometimes, the phone takes a few minutes to configure for a new network, so be patient. Try making another phone call. (Your parents won't mind two calls on the same day.)

You'll probably get a recorded message with an error code if you can't call using the new SIM card. You can jot down the code and check online to see why you can't complete the call so you know if it's because of a SIM lock or incompatible hardware. A wholly incompatible phone with another network is unlikely nowadays, but it's worth checking.

If you don't have access to another SIM card, you can also take your phone to a carrier store and tell them you're thinking of switching carriers and want to check if it's unlocked. Don't feel bad about telling them you want to switch; they probably hear it constantly. They can help you insert the SIM card and check if the phone is unlocked.

If your phone is SIM-locked, don't fret. Carriers will SIM unlock your phone provided you've paid the total amount and your account is in good standing. Each carrier has slightly different rules regarding how long you must own the phone and how long your account must be open.

You may request an unlock directly from your phone's settings. T-Mobile has a help page dedicated to showing customers how to do this. If your phone doesn't have this option, you can also download the T-Mobile Device Unlocker app for Pixel users. 

AT&T also has an unlocker app and a website to request unlocks. Depending on your device, the unlocking process might take a little time, so be patient if it doesn't unlock immediately.

In many cases, you may need to do nothing at all. Verizon, for example, states that it will automatically unlock phones 60 days after the purchase. If your Verizon phone hasn't been unlocked automatically after 60 days, you may need to call customer service to have them submit the unlock request.

If all that doesn't work, you can call customer service, and they'll help you. If you've paid the phone off and it hasn't, no one reports it lost or stolen; you should have no trouble getting it unlocked.

Do you need an unlocked phone?

Most smartphone owners ask how to check if their phone is unlocked because they plan to switch carriers. You've probably seen some ads for prepaid MVNO carriers offering cheaper service than the Big Three. And since they use the same networks as the Big Three, they'll usually work with just about any unlocked phone.

We think that's great because having even more choices isn't bad. Even if you go with one of the prominent carriers, having the ability to switch whenever you want to one of the best cell phone plans puts the power in your hands.

But no matter which carrier you choose, you'll need to make sure you have a SIM-unlocked phone first. That means you can use a SIM card from any company without restrictions, so long as the hardware is compatible with the network.

Most of the best Android phones are available unlocked, but if you're paying a monthly fee to your carrier for a phone, it's likely locked. Just be careful not to get trapped into a buy one lease one free agreement, with monthly bill credits that keep you on the carrier for 24 or 36 months. If you can't pay for the phone outright, you can often set up payment plans with the manufacturer, like Samsung, without getting locked into a carrier.

Switching to an MVNO

Now that you know how to check if your phone is unlocked, your next question should be what to do with your newly freed phone. You should make several important considerations when switching to an MNVO, including checking if your phone works with MNVOs.

If you've already decided that's your path forward, then your next step is choosing an MNVO. Since your phone may be restricted to a single provider, we have round-ups on the best Verizon prepaid carriers, best T-Mobile prepaid carriers, and all AT&T prepaid carriers to help you decide.