How to unlock your iPhone
You can unlock your iPhone, so you can use it with different carriers. An unlocked phone is sometimes called a SIM-Free or contract-free phone.
Use the steps below to contact your carrier and unlock your account. Then follow the steps to finish unlocking your iPhone.
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Contact your carrier
- See if your carrier offers unlocking. 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. To get your request's status, contact your carrier.
- 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 and insert the new one.
- Set up your iPhone again.
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 in iTunes or on your device: "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, use these steps:
- Restore your iPhone to factory settings.
- Contact your carrier to make sure that they applied the unlock in their system.
- Restore your iPhone from a backup.
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