Ways to Unlock Cellphones via IMEI (3 very easy steps)

By Julio Otwell

Whenever you purchase a phone via a cellular provider, its locked into that network's service. If the company provides you with a free or reduced price cellphone, you ordinarily have to agree to a one- or two-year plan as well. You can avoid this contract and freely swap between providers, in addition to travel outside of the country and roam on other networks, easily by unlocking your cellphone using the IMEI number. By simply following the 3 simple steps below your phone will be unlocked in permanently.

Step 1

Get the 15-digit IMEI number. This is typically written on the cell phone beneath the battery. You can also generally locate it inside your phone's setting page or by keying in a specific code to get your cellphone to show the IMEI number on your screen. In many instances, the code is *#06#

Step 2

Upon having located the IMEI code of your cellphone, get in touch with your current service provider and ask if they are willing to supply you with an unlock code. Dependent on the circumstances, they may very well grant your request. Even so, many network carriers are going to have thier own requirements that need to be met before they are willing to supply you with an unlock code, and many may refuse. Typically, if you've finished your service contract, your cellphone provider will most likely supply you guidelines on how to factory unlock your phone, but in most cases they'll insist you're the original owner of the cell phone (the contract on thier system is in your name). If you're not, for instance, you bought the cellphone second-hand, you'll need to locate an alternative unlocking process to unlock your mobile phone.

Step 3

When you are not the orginal owner of the cell phone, you are going to need to acquire an unlock service from a third party service provider. Thankfully there are a lot of on-line vendors offering services simply by giving them your cell phone's IMEI code, it's make and model and the network its locked to. The price of the service and the time it takes to IMEI unlock your smartphone depends upon the aforementioned factors, and may vary quite considerably for more obscure phones or networks. Making use of a third party unlocking service is often the fastest and most straightforward method to unlock your smartphone, as it is done remotely without your cellphone ever having to leave your pocession. Once your smartphone has been sucessfully unlocked it can then be used on any network and in any country you chose.