If you’ve ever been in the position of having a locked Samsung phone, you’ll share the frustrations of not being able to use another SIM card abroad, not being able to sell your phone on easily, or feeling trapped to a carrier no longer offering the best deals or service. In some cases people buy a used Samsung phone without knowing it is locked, the realisation you can’t use your shiny new(ish) Samsung is not one I would wish upon anyone!
However there are ways out of this, some great, and some leaving you wishing we lived in the dark ages before all of this technological wizardry was a thing.
What methods can I use to unlock a Samsung phone?
A quick online search will leave you with a few different ideas to go about unlocking your Samsung phone. You’ll still find generic unlock codes kicking around on forums, usually these are for very specific networks or Samsung phone models but the major downside with this method is it will almost certainly void any warranty on the device, and may even cause irreparable damage to the device!
It’s harder than ever these days, but you can still find apps that you can download which promise to unlock your Samsung phone, however if you do find this needle in a haystack don’t ever think about updating your phone to the latest shiny new software – it may look good and offer more security but you’ll find your phone has locked itself again, d’oh!
You could take your phone to a high street phone shop, they’ll be able to unlock your phone for a fee but you’ll have to leave it with them a day or even more… so much hassle right? You don’t want to be picking your phone up with 25,567 unread messages.
The way to do it is by using a reputable online IMEI unlocking service, we found the best to be Official SIM Unlock. IMEI unlocking provides a safe and permanent unlock which will not void the manufacturer’s warranty or make your Samsung phone behave in strange ways.
IMEI Unlock for Samsung Phones
IMEI unlocking is a guaranteed way to unlock Samsung Galaxy s9, unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 and unlock Samsung Galaxy S10 models, as well as loads of other models, pretty much every smartphone Samsung has ever made in fact.
IMEI, this sounds complicated. Well, it really isn’t. You can play along at home now by following three simple steps:
- Get your 16 digit IMEI code by dialling *#06# on your Samsung phone, or go into your phone’s ‘Settings > …More > About Device > Status’ screen. Once you have this it’s time for step 2.
- All you then need to do is give this code along with other basic information such as the model of your Samsung phone and country to Official Sim Unlock or another IMEI unlocking service, who, for a small fee, will unlock your Samsung phone. Simples, step 3.
- Once you’ve done this the IMEI unlocking company will send you the Samsung unlock code linked to the IMEI number. Within 24 hours, but sometimes instantly your unlock code will be available. Once you have this you simply simply power on your device with the non accepted SIM card, the device will then prompt you for the unlock code, enter the unlock code and your device is unlocked! It’s that simple!
Samsung Phone Unlock FAQ’s
If you’ve got this far and your Samsung phone is still locked, you might have a few more questions before you’re ready for the road to freedom, here are some of the most common questions we get:
- How long will it take to unlock my Samsung?
Usually your Samsung unlock will take less than 24 hours.
- Do you need to send your phone away?
The answer is no, you can keep your handset with you at all times if you use a Samsung remote unlock service.
- Is it legal to unlock your cell phone?
The answer is a resounding yes! It is totally legal to unlock your phone. Many people don’t realise this, which is why they stay with their provider for years on a bad deal.
And remember, even though this article was based around Samsung devices, IMEI unlocking generally works for most Android phones! We hope this simple guide helped you on your way to living a life of smartphone freedom by showing you how to unlock a Samsung phone.