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A carrier-locked phone cannot install a travel eSIM. Four ways to check on iPhone and Android before you fly.
A carrier lock is a restriction the network that sold the handset puts on it, so the phone only accepts that network's SIM. It has nothing to do with the passcode on your lock screen. If the phone is locked, a travel eSIM will install and then refuse to activate, which is a bad thing to discover at an airport. The check takes about a minute and every method below works before you leave home.
Networks often sell handsets below their retail price and recover the difference over a contract. The lock is what keeps the handset on that network until the contract is served. It is set in software, it applies to the phone rather than to your account, and it survives a factory reset. Once the network releases it, the phone stays unlocked permanently.
Your passcode, Face ID and fingerprint lock the screen. None of them affect which network the phone accepts. A phone can be carrier locked and have no screen passcode at all.
Some networks lock the eSIM slot and the physical tray together, others release one before the other. If a physical SIM from another network works but a travel eSIM will not activate, that is worth raising with the network that sold the handset.
Open Settings, tap General, tap About, and scroll to the row labelled Carrier Lock. If it reads No SIM restrictions, the handset is unlocked and will take a travel eSIM. Any other wording means the network still holds a restriction on it. The row is present on every iPhone running a current version of iOS, and it reflects the handset's real status rather than a cached value.
On older iOS versions the row can be absent. Updating iOS brings it back. If the phone cannot be updated, use the second SIM method further down, which does not depend on the operating system version.
Anything other than No SIM restrictions is a restriction, whatever the exact phrasing. Some handsets name the network holding the lock, others give a generic message. Both mean the same thing in practice: another network's SIM will not be accepted until the lock is released.
Android manufacturers each name the menu differently, which is why a single set of instructions rarely matches what is on screen. The setting itself is in the same area on every handset: the network or connections section of Settings. Look for a row named Network lock status, SIM status, or Network operators. Where a network lock row exists it will say Unlocked or Locked outright. Where only Network operators exists, tap it and let the phone search: an unlocked handset lists networks other than the one that sold it.
Settings, then Connections, then More connection settings, then Network lock status. Or Settings, then Network and internet, then SIMs, then the network name. Or Settings, then System, then About phone, then SIM status. One of these three exists on almost every current Android handset.
On handsets where no lock row exists, Network operators is the reliable substitute. An unlocked phone completes the search and lets you pick a network from the list. A locked phone either fails the search or refuses the selection, which tells you what the missing row would have said.
On current Galaxy handsets, open Settings, tap Connections, tap More connection settings, and read Network lock status. Unlocked means the phone will accept any network, including a travel eSIM. If that row is not present on your model, go to Settings, then Connections, then Mobile networks, then Network operators, and tap Search now. A handset that lists several networks and lets you select one is not locked to a single network.
Menus can be renamed and rows can be missing, but this test cannot be misread. Borrow a physical SIM from a friend on a different network, put it in the tray, and try to make a call or load a page over mobile data. If it connects, the handset is unlocked. If it shows an invalid SIM message or asks for an unlock code, it is locked. This is the method to use when the settings screen is ambiguous, and it is the one worth doing before an important trip.
Signal bars can appear on a locked handset because emergency service is always available. Load a web page over mobile data with wifi switched off, or place an ordinary call. That is the part a lock actually blocks.
If you already hold a travel eSIM from an earlier trip, installing it does the same job. A locked handset will accept the install and then fail at activation, which is itself the answer.
The IMEI is the handset's serial number. Dial star hash zero six hash on the keypad and it appears on screen; it is also printed on the box and shown in Settings under About. Lock status is not stored in the IMEI itself. It is held in the records of the network that sold the handset, and the IMEI is simply how you identify the handset when you ask them. So the reliable route is to give the IMEI to that network and ask for the status in writing. Results from unrelated lookup sites vary in accuracy because they do not hold those records.
Dial the code star hash zero six hash and it appears immediately, on iPhone and Android alike. It is also in Settings under About, printed on the original box, and on the SIM tray of some models.
An unlocked phone still needs eSIM hardware. The two are separate: a 2016 handset can be perfectly unlocked and still have no eSIM chip in it, and a current handset can have an eSIM chip and be locked to one network. Both conditions have to hold before a travel eSIM will work. Once you know the phone is unlocked, check the eSIM side too, then pick a plan for where you are going and install it before you fly.
Contact the network that sold the handset and request an unlock. In many markets they are obliged to release it once the contract is served or the handset is paid off, and the request is usually free. Processing commonly takes a few days, so a trip in three days is not the moment to start. If the phone stays locked, a travel eSIM is not the answer for that handset, and it is better to know that now than at the gate.
The eSIM check is as quick as the lock check. On iPhone, Settings, General, About, and look for an EID number: if one is listed, the handset has eSIM hardware. On Android, the same EID appears under SIM status or under Settings, Network and internet, SIMs.
| Handset | Where to look | What unlocked looks like |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone | Settings, General, About, Carrier Lock | No SIM restrictions |
| Samsung Galaxy | Settings, Connections, More connection settings, Network lock status | Unlocked |
| Google Pixel | Settings, Network and internet, SIMs | Other networks can be selected |
| Other Android | Settings, System, About phone, SIM status | Unlocked, or no restriction shown |
| Any handset | Insert a SIM from another network | It connects and makes a call |
| Any handset | Give the IMEI to the network that sold it | Written confirmation of release |
On iPhone, Settings, General, About, and read the Carrier Lock row. On Android, look for Network lock status or SIM status in the connections part of Settings. If the menus are unclear, put in a SIM from another network and see whether it connects.
A locked handset rejects a SIM from another network, usually with an invalid SIM message or a prompt for an unlock code. On iPhone the Carrier Lock row shows a restriction instead of No SIM restrictions.
Not from the number itself. Lock status sits in the records of the network that sold the handset. The IMEI is how you identify the phone when you ask them, so give them the IMEI and ask for the status directly.
Open Settings and look in the connections or network section for Network lock status or SIM status. Menu names differ between manufacturers, so if neither appears, use Network operators and search: an unlocked handset finds and accepts networks other than the one that sold it.
Yes. Settings, Connections, More connection settings, Network lock status. If your model does not show that row, use Settings, Connections, Mobile networks, Network operators, then Search now.
The fastest reading is the settings screen for your handset. The most certain is a SIM from another network: if it connects, the phone is unlocked. Written confirmation from the network that sold the handset is the version that settles a dispute.
Two groups. Handsets with no eSIM hardware, which covers most models sold before 2018 and some current budget ranges. And handsets that have the hardware but are still carrier locked, where the eSIM installs and then fails to activate.
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