Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

This wikiHow teaches you how to determine if your iPhone is network locked or not. The easiest way is to call your carrier and ask, there are also a few other ways that will help you guess the lock status of your iPhone. Unfortunately, there is no free online service that you can use to check the unlock status of your iPhone.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: General methods

1. 

   IPhone Settings. Click the gear-shaped Settings app icon in the gray frame.

2. 

   turn right.
   • The power button is on the right side (iPhones 6 and later) or the top side of the phone chassis (iPhones 5S and earlier).
   • On the iPhone X, you must hold down the power button and either volume button until the switch appears.

3. 

   
   
   Find the SIM slot. You need to remove the iPhone cover / case first (if any). With most iPhones, the SIM tray is in the lower half of the right edge on the phone's frame.
   • The original iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPhone had a SIM slot located on the side of the phone's frame.

4. 

   
   
   Find and straighten a paperclip. If you still have the SIM stick that came with your iPhone, use it for the next step.

5. 

   Push the paperclip (or tool) into the small hole in the SIM tray. The SIM tray will pop out.

6. 

   
   
   Pull the SIM tray out of the iPhone. You need to be careful because both the SIM card and the tray are fragile.

7. 

   Remove the current SIM card and replace it with another SIM card. This only works if the replacement SIM is the same size as the original SIM card.

8. 

   Put the SIM tray back in to iPhone. Again, be gentle.
   • Make sure the SIM tray is in the correct position before proceeding.

9. 

   Power on iPhone. Hold down the power button until the Apple logo appears, then wait for the iPhone to display the Home screen.
   • If your iPhone has a passcode, you'll need to enter the passcode or use the Touch ID sensor to open the Home screen.

10. 

    Open the Phone app. The app is green with a white phone icon inside.
    • If a message asking for "Activation Code", "SIM Unlock Code" or a similar error appears when you open the Phone app, your phone is locked.

11. 

    Dial the number and press the call button. If this shows an error message, the operator voice says "Call cannot be completed as dialed", or a similar situation occurs, the iPhone is locked; But if you can make outgoing calls, your phone is unlocked and the SIM card of another carrier is available. advertisement

Advice

• There are many online services that allow you to check your iPhone's IMEI number on the list of unlocked iPhones (for a fee). Unfortunately, the results of these services are unlikely to be successful, so you should be careful when using them. In general, calling your mobile network service provider is the best way to find out if your phone has been unlocked.

Warning

• Be careful when handling the SIM card.
• Unique websites that can provide accurate information about the unlock status of an iPhone via IMEI number will charge for the service.These sites need to access Apple's GSX database, not everyone can access it, and it can be quite expensive.
• If you come across some free website that provides IMEI unlock information for iPhone, chances are that the content on the page is outdated and therefore inaccurate.