How to Find the IMEI Number in my Mobile Phone

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), ESNs were created to give a unique identifiers to mobile devices. Since then, usage of mobile devices has exploded, and the ESN of yore became the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) and the MEID (Mobile Equipment ID—a superset 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). 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.

Keypad Method

1. 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 phone.
• 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!
2.  Go to the dial screen on your phone. On the keypad, enter *#06# without any spaces.
3. 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 don’t have to look it up again!

The Battery Method

1. 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? 
2. Remove the back cover. Slide the back open carefully, and remove the battery.
3. Find the IMEI. Look in the empty battery slot for a white label noting the IMEI. It should be 15 or 17 digits, not including a few forward slashes, and shouldn’t contain any letters. Only the first 15 digits are needed.

iPhone and iPad

1. Tap Settings. This will open up the Settings window where you can set and see all your preferences.
2. 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
3. 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.
4. Look on iTunes. Connect your iPhone to your computer, and launch iTunes.
5. 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.
6. Click on your phone number. When you click on your phone number in iTunes, it will toggle between your number and your MEID.

Android

1. Use the dial method. From the phone keypad, enter *#06#, and your IMEI will be displayed.
2. Look under the battery. Like all phones with an accessible battery, the IMEI is located on a label underneath.
3. 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.

Motorola iDen Units

1. 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.
2. 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. The first fourteen digits are displayed; the fifteenth is always a 0.
   • 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.

Lost or Stolen Phone

1. Locate the original packaging for your mobile device. Don’t worry about the booklet; look for the box.
2. Locate the barcoded label stuck to your box. It might have been placed over the opening to act as a seal.
3. Look for the IMEI. It should be clearly labeled and is usually listed together with the barcode and serial number.