A locked phone only accepts plans from the operator that sold it, and it will refuse a travel eSIM even though the chip is right there — most phones bought on a contract start out locked
Operators subsidise handsets and protect the subsidy with a lock. The phone still works, the eSIM chip is still present, but any attempt to add a plan from someone else fails — usually with a message about the plan not being supported, which reads like a fault at our end rather than a setting at theirs.
Checking on an iPhone
- Open Settings
- Tap General, then About
- Find Carrier Lock
No SIM restrictions means you are free to install anything. Anything else — usually the name of an operator — means the phone is locked.
Checking on Android
Android has no single equivalent screen. Look under Settings › About phone › SIM status, or Settings › Connections › SIM manager, for wording about network lock. If nothing there is clear, the answer is with whoever sold you the phone — and they are also the only people who can remove the lock.
Getting a Phone Unlocked
- Ask the operator that sold it — in many countries they are obliged to unlock free of charge once the contract is paid off
- Have the IMEI ready; dial *#06# to see it
- Allow a few working days, and do it before you travel rather than at the airport
A locked device is one of the situations the Refund Policy excludes, because the plan was delivered correctly and the restriction is on the handset. Checking takes a minute and is worth doing before you pay.
Buying a phone outright, or SIM-free, means it was never locked. If you have owned yours for years and it came from a shop rather than a contract, it is almost certainly fine.
