How to Find Your iPhone IMEI Number, Even Without the Phone
Apple lists Settings, the Hello screen, a computer, your Apple Account and the box. Where it is printed by model, and what to do with the number.
Open the Phone app and dial *#06#, or go to Settings, General, About and scroll down. Either one shows the IMEI on a working iPhone, old or new, and in Settings you can touch and hold the number to copy it.
Apple’s own list has the Settings route and the others below. The dial code is not on it. That one comes from the mobile industry body GSMA and from networks such as O2.
When you cannot get into Settings
- New or erased iPhone: turn it on, wait for the Hello screen and tap the Info button at the bottom right.
- Screen locked or misbehaving: connect it to a computer. On a Mac, use Finder (iTunes on macOS Mojave or earlier). On a PC, use the Apple Devices app or iTunes. Find the iPhone, then click Phone Number under its name.
When the iPhone is lost, stolen or dead
- Your Apple Account: sign in at account.apple.com, open Devices and select the iPhone.
- Another Apple device on the same account: open Settings, tap your name, scroll to your devices and tap the iPhone.
- The box: the barcode label on the original packaging shows the IMEI.
- Your network: O2, for one, says its customer support can give you the number for a lost or stolen phone.
Where it is printed on the phone
| iPhone | Printed IMEI |
|---|---|
| iPhone 14 and everything newer | None. Apple stopped engraving it, so use Settings, your account or the box |
| iPhone 13, 12 and 11 series, XS, XS Max, XR, X, 8, 8 Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE (2nd and 3rd generation) | SIM tray |
| iPhone 6, 6 Plus, SE (1st generation), 5s, 5c, 5 | Back of the phone |
| iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 (GSM model), 4s | SIM tray |
| Original iPhone | Back of the phone |
Older pages may ask for an MEID: Apple says that is the first 14 digits of the IMEI. A second number on a phone with a SIM and an eSIM is normal too. Apple’s page does not explain it, but Google does for Pixels, which have one IMEI for each kind of SIM. Your network will tell you which one it wants.
What the IMEI is for
It is a 15-digit number that identifies the phone itself, not your SIM or your account. That is why a network can block the handset whichever SIM goes in it.
Reporting a stolen iPhone
This is Apple’s order, with the IMEI going to your network at the end:
- Go to iCloud.com/find, select the iPhone and choose Mark as Lost. Leave your contact details off if it was stolen, and do not remove it from Find My, because that lifts Activation Lock.
- Report it to the police. They may ask for the serial number, which sits next to the IMEI in Settings, your account and on the box.
- Call your network, ask them to suspend your account and give them the IMEI so they can block the handset. Other networks that share block lists may refuse it as well.
In Nigeria, the NCC’s guide says to get a copy of your police report and give it with the IMEI to your network or the police. In India, after a police complaint, you can request a block yourself on the government’s Sanchar Saathi CEIR site.
The IMEI will not show you where the phone is. O2 says individuals cannot track a phone with it, and Find My is the tool for that. The steps for Find My iPhone are under find my phone apps for iPhone.
Checking a used iPhone or a network
Read the IMEI from the phone in front of you, not from the seller’s message, and check that it matches the box. Then:
- Stolen or not: in the US, CTIA’s Stolen Phone Checker takes the IMEI and returns a red “Reported Lost or Stolen” or a green result. Elsewhere, ask your network: operators share block lists through GSMA’s registry, and GSMA’s own Device Check site works through an account login.
- Locked to an old owner: the IMEI will not tell you this. Apple says not to take a phone showing “iPhone Locked to Owner” or asking for the previous owner’s Apple Account. A phone that is ready for you shows Hello.
- Locked to a network: in Settings, General, About, “No SIM restrictions” beside Carrier Lock means it is unlocked. Only the network can unlock it.
- Works on your network: Verizon and T-Mobile ask for the IMEI to check a phone before you switch, and O2 uses it to confirm 4G and 5G support now its 3G has gone. You will find the three big US checkers under unlocked Android phones.
A seller who gives a warranty takes most of this off your hands, which is why our refurbished phone guide starts with the makers’ own stores.
Walk away from anyone who offers to change or “repair” an IMEI. In the UK, even offering to is a criminal offence for anyone but the maker or someone it has authorised.
