4G LTE Phones
New Verizon Wireless Customers
Service activation with or without transferring your existing number
- Follow the instructions in the owner's manual to insert your new SIM card and battery, and then charge your phone completely.
- Turn on your phone.
- Activation will begin automatically. If prompted, follow instructions to accept Customer Agreement.
Existing Verizon Wireless Customers (Contract Extensions/Upgrades/Replacement Phones)
Activating your newly upgraded phone
- Save contacts from your old phone by visiting Verizon Wireless Backup Assistant. See "How to Back Up Your Contacts" for instructions on downloading Backup Assistant.
- Once contacts are backed up, turn off old phone.
- Dial 1-877-807-4646 from any phone and follow the prompts to activate your 4G LTE service.
- Remove the battery cover and battery from your old phone and snap the SIM card out of the holder without touching the gold electrical contacts or remove SIM from your old 4G LTE device's SIM card slot.
- Remove the battery cover and battery from your new phone.
- Insert the SIM card into your new phone by aligning the notched corner of the SIM card and place in the pull out tray or insert into SIM card slot until it clicks into place.
- Insert battery and replace battery cover.
- Charge your new phone completely.
- Turn on new phone. Activation will begin automatically. If prompted, follow instructions to accept Customer Agreement. Follow on-screen prompts to set up your phone and download or activate Backup Assistant to transfer your contacts. (Your phone should now be ready for use.)
Note: Do NOT dial *228 to complete the activation process.
Activating your new replacement phone
- Please call Verizon Wireless customer service at 1-800-922-0204.
Standard Phones (non-4G LTE)
New Verizon Wireless Customers
Service activation without transferring your existing number
- Before you begin, follow the instructions in the owner's manual to charge your phone's battery.
- Turn on your phone.
- Dial *228, press "Send," and then press "1" when prompted. You will be notified via the voice prompt when it has been successfully activated.
- Return to the Your Account and view your order to retrieve your new phone number. Service activation with transfer of your existing number
- Before you begin, follow the instructions in the owner's manual to charge your phone's battery.
- Return to the Your Account section to view your order details. Once you've signed in, follow the instructions at the top of your order details to activate your phone.
New individual service plan customers:
- Turn on your phone. Verizon Wireless will e-mail you when your phone is ready for use (1-5 business days after you submit your request from Your Account in step 2 above). Upon receipt of the email, dial *228 from your new phone to complete the activation. Upon completion of the number transfer, your service with your previous provider will automatically be canceled.
New family service plan customers:
- We are not able to transfer your numbers for now due to some technical limitations. But if you have signed up for a family account through us, you can still call
- Verizon Wireless customer service at 1-800-922-0204 to port your numbers (if they are eligible).
- Existing Verizon Wireless Customers (Contract Extensions/Upgrades/Replacement Phones)
Activating your newly upgraded phone
- Before you begin, follow the instructions in the owner's manual to charge your phone's battery.
- Turn on your new phone.
- Dial *228, press "Send," and then press "1" when prompted. You will be notified via the voice prompt when it has been successfully activated. Your existing service will be canceled automatically once your new service is activated.
Charging your new phone
- Follow the instructions in the owner's manual to charge your phone's battery.
Completing activation
- Please call Verizon Wireless customer service at 1-800-922-0204 to complete the activation process.
Whether you already picked up a SIM card from Verizon or not, you will inevitably have to enable it. Don’t worry, we’ll cover both stages, and explain exactly what you should do. First, refresh your memory on what is a SIM card and what is SIM card used for. You might have also bought the wrong SIM card type (in that case, ask Verizon to switch from a prepaid SIM to postpaid SIM, and vice versa), or the wrong SIM card size. It’s better to catch the error early so you can enjoy its benefits right away. With that said, here’s how to activate Verizon SIM card.
1. Verify network capabilities
If you purchased a new SIM card alongside a new smartphone, they should be compatible. But if you purchased a new phone from Verizon, especially one using a 5G network, you might or might not have trouble activating an “older” SIM card with 4G LTE capabilities, even if it fits perfectly. It’s officially supported, but if you aren’t in a hurry, it’s always best to block your current SIM card and get a brand new one from Verizon. You’ll save yourself from hassle, and ensure you’re unlocking the maximum network potential of 5G.
2. Inserting the SIM card
We already taught you how to insert a SIM card on Android and iOS devices. If you need to remove a SIM card to put a new one, learn how SIM swapping works. If you bought a new device, educate yourself on what happens if you put your old SIM card in another phone. Long story short, everything that’s stored on a SIM card will be carried over, although it’s recommended that you download the data from a backup.
3. Instructions to activate Verizon SIM card
If the SIM card was pre-installed, e.g. already inserted at the time of purchase, you might get away with simply unlocking the SIM card from Verizon with a PIN, and maybe following the steps to enable the SIM card in that article if needed.
1. Do you need to transfer data (including contacts) from an old phone to the new?
You can use Verizon Wireless Backup Assistant or the Verizon Cloud app for Android and iOS. Follow these official steps. You can also use Verizon Content Transfer for Android and iOS.
2. To turn on Verizon SIM card online
Connect your device to a Wireless network or hotspot, then do this.
- Open Verizon’s Activate or Switch Devicepage.
- Log in with your User ID or mobile phone number.
- If you haven’t registered yet, click on Register below, then enter your 10-digit mobile number given by Verizon.
- If you registered in the past but forgot the User ID or password, click on Forgot your info?
- Click on Sign in.
- Switch to the My Devices tab.
- Click on Activations or Activating My Phone.
- Keep in mind, “Phone” might be replaced with the actual name of your phone.
- Click on Verizon Activations, then on Activate SIM.
- You’ll see a list of devices if it’s an old account, or just your current one if it’s new.
- Click on Select Device.
- You might be prompted to click on Activate a Device on an Existing Line.
- Under Device Type, choose 4G / LTE or 5G, depending on the phone.
- ESN/IMEI will typically be automatically filled.
- Under SIM Card Number, you need to enter a long SIM ID number. It is printed:
- On the Verizon receipt you got at the time you purchased the SIM card, or:
- On the Verizon full-size SIM or mini-SIM card that you punched the nano-SIM card out of.
- Click on Check SIM Card to the right of SIM Card Number to get a list of available plans.
- If you already registered a plan at the store, the Complete Transaction step will be skipped.
- As a final check, Verizon will ask you to pick the phone to send a code to.
- Click on the phone image/name, and click on Text Me the Code.
- Enter the code you received as an SMS into the field on the website.
- Click Confirm and you can now use your phone.
2. Using the My Verizon app to activate the SIM card
Once again, connect to the Internet.
- Tap on the My Verizon app on your smartphone (both iOS and Android).
- Sign in if you haven’t already.
- Tap on Add device.
- Tap on Activate a device I already own.
- Select the type of device and the operating system if it doesn’t detect them automatically.
- Enter your device ID.
This is the IMEI/EMEI/IMSI/MEID number, depending on the phone model. It can be found in different places if the app doesn’t detect it automatically. Do a little research or install a third-party app to display it on-screen. - Your phone will now be activated.
3. Using a telephone number
If you don’t have access to the Internet and don’t trust apps, you can do this process from any phone.
- Turn off your current phone, but insert the SIM card.
- Call 1-877-807-4646 from any other phone.
- Follow the voice commands and on-screen prompts to enter the necessary data.
- Turn your primary phone on. You’ll notice 3G/4G/5G functionality is now enabled.
- Follow the on-screen Setup Wizard instructions that appear after you enter your PIN.
- After you accept Verizon’s Customer Agreement, your SIM card has full access to the network.
4. Still confused?
If so, maybe a nicely drawn, simple yes/no algorithm will help you determine what to do.
5. Did you buy a device from a different carrier?
If you read our article on how to unlock a SIM card, you know that carriers impose a software lock to prevent you from jumping ship. You’ll have to send an unlock request to the carrier whose device you own. After you meet all of their requirements, they’ll send you a code that will make your phone capable of using a Verizon SIM card. Come back and follow these steps afterward. If they don’t, read about potential alternatives in the same article.