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8 Ways to Find the IMEI Number on a Mobile Phone - wikiHow

How to Find the IMEI Number on a Mobile Phone

Keypad Method The Battery Method Units Samsung Units Nokia Units iPhone and iPad Android Lost or Stolen Phone Motorola iDen

Having your cell phone or tablet stolen is not just a bad day at the zoo, it potentially compromises your safety and security. Thanks to the FCC (back in the age of the dinosaurs, the early '80s), Electronic Serial Numbers were created to give a unique identifiers to mobile devices. Since then, usage of mobile devices has exploded, and the Electronic Serial Number of yore became the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) and the MEID (Mobile Equipment IDa super set of IMEI) of today. If a phone, iPad, or other mobile device is stolen, carriers in some countries can blacklist the IMEI or MEID so that the thief cannot use the phone in any capacity (regardless of whether or not the SIM card has been replaced). In addition, if you file a police complaint some police forces will require the IMEI number in addition to the phone model for the complaint. Some police forces will add the IMEI number to a stolen devices database and, if recovered from stolen property, they could be able to return it to you. This is a number you should keep on file, in a secure place, should the need ever arise. We'll show you a few tips on how to do this.

Method 1 of 8: Keypad Method

Dial it in. Most phones have a very simple key-in method to retrieve IMEI/MEID numbers: enter a 5-digit string*#06#and the number will be displayed on your This is not true for all carriers or phones. For example, while an iPhone on the AT&T network will return the MEID number, an iPhone on the Verizon network dials the number and reaches a recording that says, "Your call cannot be completed as dialed." Good thing there are other methods!

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Go to the dial screen on your phone. On the keypad, enter *#06# without any spaces, as shown:

Copy your IMEI. The IMEI will appear as you dial the final character, and should call the information automatically without your having to hit dial or send. Consider adding *#06# as a phone contact. That way you dont have to look it up again!

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Method 2 of 8: The Battery Method

Turn the phone completely off. As with any electronic device, it's always best to power down before you start poking around the innards. It's doubtful the phone will

give you a jolt, but you could fritz out phone easily, and then what good would there be in having your IMEI?

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Remove the back cover. Slide the back open carefully, and remove the battery.

Find the IMEI. Look in the empty battery slot for a white label noting the IMEI (highlighted in yellow here). It should be 15 or 17 digits, not including a few forward

slashes, and shouldnt contain any letters. Only the first 15 digits are needed.

Method 3 of 8: iPhone and iPad

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Tap Settings. This will open up the Settings window where you can set and see all your preferences.

Scroll down to General, and tap that. You will be shown a list of all the basic information about your pad or tablet. Tap the About field, highlighted on the iPhone

below:

Locate your MEID. Scroll down the information list that tells you about your songs, videos, photos, etc. Towards the bottom, you will see MEID and to the right of that, a

14-digit number. This is your MEID. Shown below on an iPad:

Look on iTunes. Connect your iPhone to your computer, and launch iTunes.

Locate your phone. It will be listed on the left-hand column, under the heading Devices. At the top you will see a picture of your phone, along with your name,

capacity, software version, serial number, and phone number.

Click on your phone number. When you click on your phone number in iTunes, it will toggle between your number and your MEID.

Method 4 of 8: Android
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Use the dial method. From the phone keypad, enter *#06#, and your IMEI will be displayed.

Look under the battery. Like all phones with an accessible battery, the IMEI is located on a label underneath.

Look in settings. From the home screen, press Menu, then Settings, then About phone, and then Status. Your IMEI (or IMSI) will be located on the resulting screen.

Alternatively, you can also use Google's Dashboard application to retrieve this information from any Internet-connected computer. To do this follow these steps:

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Access the Google's Dashboard at https: //www.google.com/settings/dashboard

If required, logon to the Google account the phone is associated with. If authentication is not required, make sure you are using that account. If you see

another account select Sign out, and sign in as a different user

Once in the Dashboard, expand the Android item (fourth on the list).

Since the application lists all the mobile phones associated to your account, look for your phone model in the list. Its IMEI number will be listed right next to it.

Method 5 of 8: Motorola iDen Units

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Turn on your phone. Power up your phone and go to the dialing screen. Press the following key sequence in rapid succession: # * [menu] [right arrow]. Try not to pause

or linger.

Locate your IMEI. On units with SIM cards, scroll down until you see IMEI/SIM ID and select Enter. From here you can view your IMEI, SIM, and on some units, your MSN. On older units without SIM cards: Continue to hit the [right arrow] key until you see IMEI [0] on the display. The first seven digits are displayed. Hit the menu key and then the "soft key" under "next" to display the next seven digits. The fifteenth and final digit is most often a 0.

The first fourteen digits are displayed; the fifteenth is always a 0.

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Method 6 of 8: Samsung Units

If you are using a Samsung Device and have installed the Samsung Kies application in your desktop to synchronise your device, you might be able to retrieve its IMEI number from the information stored in your PC.

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Logon to your Windows PC as the user used to access the Kies application

Open the Windows registry using 'regedit'

Navigate to the following registry entry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Samsung\Kies\DeviceDB\

You might find many different subentries, each with a different number since Kies can store data about multiple phones.

Look through the different entries and find the one associated with your phone. Use the HIDSWVEr and ProductCode values as a guide, as they include

information on the phone hardware.

In the entry you have located, you will find the IMEINUM and DEVCONINFO keys. Those keys can contain the IMEI number of the phone.

Please note that the registry keys might be ofuscated (in hexadecimal) if you are using a Samsung Kies version newer than the one available on February 2013.

Method 7 of 8: Nokia Units

If you are using a Nokia device and are using the OVI (Nokia PC Suite) Desktop application to synchronise your phone information with the PC chances are that you will be able to retrieve the IMEI number from the application.

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Logon to your Windows PC as the user used to access the Nokia PC Suite application

Make sure you have enabled Show Hidden Folders'. By selecting in the folder browser Folder Options >> View >> Tick Show Hidden Files, Folders and Drives

Navigate to the directory where the Nokia phone information is stored. The full path can be found at My Computer-->C Drive-->Users-->(Your user Name)--

>Application Data-->Local-->Nokia-->Nokia Suite

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Within that directory you will find two directories (Contacts, Photos and Messages).

Once you open any of these folders you will see folder names that will have numbers which are the IMEI number. These folders will also include files in which

part of the filename is the IMEI number. For example you will find the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_Contact.html file, where XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is the IMEI number.

Note: In older versions of the application you might have to look for a PCSync directory and a SynchData subdirectory under it. Alternatively, if you have a Nokia Backup (.nbu) file from the lost phone you can retrieve the IMEI number as follows:

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Logon to your Windows PC as the user used to access the Nokia PC Suite application

Navigate to the directory where backups are stored. This directory is defined in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Nokia\ContentCopier\Settings_CC4.xml

or %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Nokia\ContentCopier\Settings_CC4.xml

Download the NBUexplorer application from http: //sourceforge.net/projects/nbuexplorer/

Open the .nbu file, then look at the file parsing log. There you will be able to find your IMEI number.

Method 8 of 8: Lost or Stolen Phone

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Locate the original packaging for your mobile device. Dont worry about the booklet; look for the box.

Locate the barcode label stuck to your box. It might have been placed over the opening to act as a seal.

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Look for the IMEI. It should be clearly labeled and is usually listed together with the barcode and serial number.

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Tips
Write your IMEI down before your phone gets lost or stolen. If your mobile phone is stolen, you can call or go to the nearest service center of your mobile network and give that IMEI number to staff to block your phone. If you are South African, you are required by law to report the theft to your service provider and to the police (either SAPS or your local Metro Police). It will be blacklisted across ALL networks so that it can't be used for criminal activities. If it is recovered, it is possible to remove from the blacklist it provided that you have proof of ownership. Not all phones have an IMEI number . Currently, its on all GSM and UMTS mobile phones commonly found in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and increasingly in America. AT&T & T-Mobile are the major US carriers using GSM with IMEI numbers, but there are growing numbers of regional carriers who are switching to GSM like Centennial Wireless, Highland Cellular, Dobson Cellular to name a few. Verizon and Sprint phones will generally not have IMEI numbers but rather MEID numbers unless they have a dual mode module for overseas use. Most prepaid and non-contract phones in America dont have IMEIs; the same applies to disposable phones throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Register your device at www.iscpr.info
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Warnings
Some thieves replace the IMEI numbers of phones they steal with the IMEIs of other devices. If you purchased a phone from someone or someplace you dont quite trust, try to research whether or not your supposed IMEI actually goes with that model of phone. Blocking a stolen or lost phone via the IMEI will cut off all communication between your phone and your carrier , making it
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impossible for the phone to be recovered via tracking. Only do this as a last resort if your phone contains sensitive information.

Article Info

Categories: Cell Phones Recent edits by: Chris, Rock20000, Sambhav Desai In other languages: portugus: Como Descobrir o Nmero IMEI de um Celular, Deutsch: Wie man die IMEI Nummer eines Handys findet, franais: Comment trouver lidentifiant IMEI sur un tlphone, espaol: Cmo encontrar el nmero de IMEI de un telfono mvil, italiano: Come Trovare il Codice IMEI di un Telefono Cellulare, : IMEI , : IMEI, Nederlands: Het IMEI nummer van je telefoon vinden
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