Verizon phones now unlock automatically 60 days after the date of purchase. If your phone was purchased prior to July 2019, you will need to call Verizon to unlock your phone—dial *611 from your handset, or call 1-888-294-6804 from any phone to do so.
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Half a decade ago, if you wanted to have your phone by your carrier, it was a huge hassle. All major carriers made it very difficult to get your phone unlocked in order for you to stay with them. Now, it’s very simple to request an unlock code from Verizon or from any carrier committed to CTIA’s Consumer Code for Wireless Service. Anyhow, if you own a Verizon phone and would like to unlock it to use it on another network, here’s how to do it. Although the procedures are a bit different from iPhone and Android devices, it’s not that complicated to do.
Verizon unlock policy
Luckily, Verizon is pretty straight-forward with their unlock policy; it’s also the easiest carrier to get your phone unlocked from. To get your phone unlocked from Verizon, you literally don’t have to do anything. Verizon’s unlock policy states that they will automatically unlock your device after a certain amount of time depending on your situation.
Postpay devices: Your device will be automatically unlocked 60 days after it was purchased from Verizon. If the device was purchased from an authorized Verizon retailer, the 60 days countdown will begin once the device gets activated, not at the date it was bought.
Prepaid devices: If you bought your device as a prepaid device for a prepaid Verizon account, your device will be automatically unlocked after 60 days of being activated.
Verizon will not unlock your device if it has been either reported lost, stolen, or purchased through fraudulent activities.
Unlock Verizon iPhone
As it’s always been, Apple has never required iPhone users to enter an unlock code into their cell phones in order to have it unlocked. After 60 days, Verizon will automatically submit an unlock request to Apple for your device. Once the process is done, you do not have to do anything other than inserting a non-Verizon SIM card into your iPhone. The iPhone will automatically connect to Apple’s server and unlock itself.
Unlock Verizon phone without the code
As of now with Verizon, it appears that Network Control Key (NCK) or unlock codes are a thing of the past. After the 60 days period, even if you own an Android device, Verizon will remotely unlock your device. Previously, remote unlock was limited to iPhone devices and non-iPhone users had to enter an unlock code provided by each individual cell carrier.
Can a phone be unlocked prior to 60 days?
Officially, there’s no way to get your Verizon device unlocked prior to the 60 days policy unless you’re in the military. However, you can send try talking to a customer service representative and they might help you out. If you find the right rep, they will make an exception for you and bend the rules to help you out.
Verizon often gets a bad rap before being more expensive than most, but that comes with a handful of different perks. Aside from having one of the best networks in the US, they also make it extremely easy to unlock their devices — no request form or stringent customer requirements necessary. The only “requirement” per-say is that you have a Verizon phone.
So if you’re not quite sure how to unlock a Verizon phone, be sure to follow along below. We’ll show you step-by-step on how you can unlock your phone, and in just a couple of seconds, too. Here we go!
Unlock a Verizon Phone
Verizon for years has made it extremely easy to unlock one of their phones with the unlock code at all. Verizon doesn’t have any request portal or step-by-step guidelines to unlock their phones; in fact, they don’t even have a list of requirements that you have to follow in order to unlock it. That’s because Verizon keeps all of their phones, well, unlocked from the get-go.
Any SIM-equipped 4G LTE smartphones are already unlocked. You can take your phone at any point in time to another carrier — even if you just bought the phone a few minutes ago! Here’s the official statement from Verizon:
“We do not lock most phones or tablets that are activated with our postpay service either during or after the term of your service contract or Device Payment Plan installment sales agreement. We do not lock our 4G LTE devices, and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier.”
See? No unlock code necessary. Of course, there are a couple of things to remember when taking your. Most Verizon phones launched recently will work flawlessly on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile — even as far as texting, calling, and LTE features go; however, Verizon has been a CDMA carrier for years, which means that’s the primary network that many of its phones have operated on. So, naturally, some of the older phones might not have the GSM radios necessary to call and text within the US, not to even mention being able to operate on LTE. Once again though, you should be fine as far as any recent Verizon phone goes, but you’ll need to do your research on some of the older ones (or even just take one for a test run).
If you’re running into trouble with using your SIM-equipped Verizon phone on another network, you can call 888-294-6804 for assistance.
Many postpaid 3G devices can sort of be unlocked without a code. There are two preset codes that you can use to unlock them — either “000000” or “123456”. However, there is a brand of 3G devices that do require a special code. That brand is Verizon’s World Devices, and you have to talk to a Verizon tech to get that unlocked, or use a third-party service, which we’ll touch on momentarily.
Prepaid devices are a little different. Like postpaid 3G devices, many can be unlocked with the preset codes “000000” or “123456″; however, many prepaid devices bought off the shelf have to be activated for 12 months before you can unlock. Luckily, there’s a way around that with third-party unlock companies.
Use a third-party service
As you can see, it’s pretty easy to unlock a 4G LTE SIM-equipped smartphone, but it gets a little more difficult when it comes to 3G devices and prepaid devices. After all, the carrier certainly wants to keep you on their network and not on a competitor’s network. That said, you can skip the Verizon red tape by simply using a third-party service to unlock your phone. You’ll just buy a code from an unlock company — which can cost as much as $60 — but it’ll get your phone operating on another network in no time, and without all of the barriers that Verizon puts in front of you, such as a prepaid device needing to be activated for 12 months.
You’ll want to search around and research good companies for this, though. Make sure they’re reputable, otherwise you might end up handing your money to one in return for, well, nothing. Most reputable companies out there will have a customer service team on standby to assist you with unlocking your phone with their supplied code.
Verdict
Here we’ve shown you how you can unlock a Verizon phone without the code; however, some phones on Verizon just require a code — there’s not much way to get around it without one. The good news is that you don’t have to meet Verizon’s requirements to get that code — an unlock service can get one of those phones operating on another network in a jiffy.
Do you have an unlocked Verizon phone? How easy was it for you to use it on another carrier’s network?