Typically when you purchase a cell phone, the company that sold you the phone (ex: AT&T) 'locked' the phone before you bought it, so you can only use it on their network. This means that you can't use your phone on any other network, even if you change the SIM (which is an abbreviation for Subscriber Identity Module) card. The SIM card is the little piece of plastic that identifies your phone to the cellular network. Changing your SIM card to have your Nokia Phone work on another network is useful especially if you want to travel to another country and want to buy a pre-paid SIM card so you can have cell phone access without roaming charges. There are services that offer to provide unlocking capabilities for a fee, but don't pay for them! You can do it yourself for free, which is the perfect price.
1. Before trying anything else, contact your service provider and ask for an unlock code as per your nokia model. Usually, if you've been a customer of theirs for some time, they will provide you with free mobile unlock codes for your mobile phone. This is, by far, the best way to get your nokia phone unlocked.
2. Download software to generate the unlocking code. Software is available on some websites for free and some pay websites that also offer support if things go wrong. See external links below.
3. Find the Serial number of the NokiaPhone, also known as your IMEI number. This IMEI number help you to find nokia unlock codes for various nokia models. This can be done by either removing the back of your cell phone and looking underneath the battery, or simply by typing in *#06# into your cell phone. It should be something like: 010072321539976/07961780836
4. Using the software you have downloaded, enter in your Manufacturer (which is in this case Nokia), and sliding the card out. Put the battery back in and power the phone on.
5. You will see a message "Insert SIM Card". Enter all of the characters you see in your code, including the # symbols. To get a 'p' press * 3 times, to get a '+' press the * key 2 times, to get a 'w' press the * key 4 times. Disregard any spaces in the code.
6. In order to unlock your phone you generally need to enter only one code. Start with the first one. If your phone is not unlocked by typing the first code (MCC+MNC), use code "7" (Multilock)
7. Once you have finished entering a code that works you should see a message that says "SIM is not restricted" or "Restriction off" message depending on your model. If not, try entering another code. Message "Cannot undo restrictions" means the phone is "hard-locked" and cannot be unlocked by code.
Warning
• Be sure to backup important information from your Latest Mobile Phones [Contacts, Messages etc].
• Make copies of all files downloaded from your phone *before* they are modified. If something is wrong with the modified copy, you can reload the unmodified one to go "back to normal" in many cases.
