- Use SIM Card to Check Your iPhone Carrier Status. Turn your device and look at the text at the back of the iPhone. You can find this number after the “IMEI:” text. Go to Settings and tap on General. Choose the About section, and besides the other information, you will see the IMEI number.
- Method 2: Check IMEI to Tell If Your Phone is Unlocked or Locked Another method is to check it using mobile tphone IMEI number, which is the International Mobile Equipment Identity number. This unique number is issued to all GSM devices.
Step 1: Firstly, you have to install iMyFone LockWiper on your system. After launching it, click on “ Start “. Step 2: After connecting your device to the computer, put your device into DFU or recovery mode. Follow instructions. Step 3: Now, you will land on a download interface. Use Settings to Find if iPhone is Unlocked or Locked If the seller has provided you with access to iPhone, you can follow the steps below to check if iPhone is Unlocked or Locked to a Carrier. Open Settings scroll down and tap on Cellular.
Your iPhone might be locked to your carrier. Unlocking your iPhone means that you can use it with different carriers. To contact your carrier and unlock your iPhone, use these steps.
If you don’t want to switch carriers and your device is locked because you forgot the passcode, then you don’t need to use the steps in this article. Learn how to reset your passcode.
Apple can't unlock your iPhone for use with a different carrier. Only your carrier can unlock your iPhone.
How To Check Whether My Iphone Is Unlocked Or Not
Contact your carrier
- Only your carrier can unlock your iPhone. Contact your carrier and request an unlock. Your account might need to meet requirements for unlocking. After you submit the request, it might take a few days to complete. Contact your carrier to check the status of your unlock request.
- After your carrier confirms that they unlocked your iPhone, follow the steps below.
If you have a SIM card from a carrier other than your current carrier
Use these steps to finish unlocking your iPhone:
- Remove your SIM card.
- Insert the new SIM card. Your device will activate.
If you don't have another SIM card to use
Use these steps to finish unlocking your iPhone:
- Back up your iPhone.
- After you make a backup, erase your iPhone.
- Restore your iPhone from the backup you just made.
Get help
You might see this message on your computer or on your iPhone: 'The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported. Only compatible SIM cards from a supported carrier may be used to activate iPhone. Please insert the SIM card that came with your iPhone or visit a supported carrier store.'
If you see this message on your device with iOS 14, use these steps:
Determine If Iphone Is Unlocked
- Go to Settings > General, and tap About.
- Under Carrier Lock, you should see a message that says 'No SIM restrictions.' If you don't see that message, contact your carrier.
If your device is on iOS 13 or earlier, use these steps:
- Contact your carrier to make sure that they applied the unlock in their system.
- Restore your iPhone to factory settings.
- Restore your iPhone from a backup.
Is your iPhone unlocked or locked? No, I am not talking about Pin, Password or Pattern lock that you apply to protect your privacy and phone’s contents. I want to know if your phone is locked to a particular network. Confused? Just read along to find out what is meant by your iPhone being ‘locked’ and the ways on How to check if iPhone is Locked or not.
We have mentioned 3 methods including how to check lock status with or without a SIM card. Also, a method to check lock status with IMEI Number.
How To Tell If Your IPhone Is Unlocked & What Does That Mean ...
Contents
- 2 How to check if an iPhone is locked?
Is your iPhone locked??
If you are new to iPhones you probably might not know this. iPhones are available in two variants: locked and unlocked. An unlocked iPhone will be able to use any phone network. A locked iPhone, on the other hand, will be able to work only on the network it is locked on. So, if you are planning on buying an iPhone, you must know to check if it is locked or not.
If you have purchased your iPhone from the Apple Store then it is most likely that your iPhone would be unlocked. But if you have purchased your iPhone under a carrier contract then it might be possible that it is locked till the fulfillment of the contract. The resale value of unlocked iPhones is higher than that of the locked ones.
Cached
Before we move forward with the difficult methods to check whether your iPhone is locked or not, I would like to share the easiest method to do so. Simply call your network carrier service and enquire if your iPhone is locked or not. It is the easiest and most accurate method. But if you don’t want to go through all the trouble to call the customer service, don’t worry, we have got you covered.
How to check if an iPhone is locked?
Perform any of the following tried and tested methods stepwise to know if you posses an unlocked iPhone or not.
Method #1. Check via Settings
The best method is to check directly on your phone. Here’s how you can do it.
- Navigate to the Settings app on the iPhone.
- Select Cellular.
- Click on Cellular Data Options.
- If you see Cellular Data Network as an option, your iPhone is probably unlocked. If you don’t see it, your iPhone is probably locked.
This method, however, isn’t the most accurate one. Try another method just to be sure.
Method #2. Check iPhone Unlock Status with SIM Card
You can also check lock status of your iPhone using your SIM Card.
- Power off your iPhone.
- Open the SIM card tray, then remove the current SIM card.
- Place a SIM card of a different carrier (must be the same size) into the SIM card tray of the iPhone.
- Close the tray back into place.
- Power the iPhone on.
- Now, try to make a call to any working number.
If you get an error message that the call cannot be completed that is you are unable to make a call, then your iPhone is locked. If you’re able to connect and make the call, then your iPhone is definitely unlocked.
Top 4 Ways To Check If IPhone Is Unlocked Or Not
Method #3. Check iPhone Unlock Status with IMEI
You might come across quite a few online tools that allow you to check if your phone is unlocked using the IMEI number; however, most of them would ask you to pay about three dollars to get the info. But we have found a tool that’s free, IMEI24.com. Alternatively, if you don’t mind paying $2.99, IMEI.info is a great, very professional website that will tell you for a small fee.
To find your IMEI number on your iPhone.
- Open Settings.
- Select General.
- Select About.
Now scroll down until you find the IMEI number.
- Now visit this website: IMEI24, preferably on a computer.
- Enter the IMEI number you just found and click Check.
- You will need to solve the captcha to prove you’re not a robot.
Now, the website will automatically present you will a card of information. Look for Lock Status.
Final Take!
I hope that you were able to understand what is meant by your iPhone being ‘locked’ and the ways to identify it. In case if you face any difficulty, please feel free to comment and let us know. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
I hope you found the article informative and enjoyed reading it. This is all for the day. Thanks for reading!