How to Check Who Your Phone Carrier Is [Guide for iPhone & Android]

To check who your phone carrier is, go to About Phone or General Management Settings and check the SIM card status. Alternatively, use Free Phone Carrier Lookup.

A phone carrier, also known as a mobile operator or network carrier, offers telecommunication services to mobile phone and tablet subscribers. It is the cellular company that you pay for your cell phone usage.

Understanding your phone carrier allows you to manage services, access customer support, and troubleshoot problems with your phone number.

You may not know your phone carrier if:

• you’ve recently switched carriers;
• you’re using a prepaid phone;
• you’ve borrowed someone’s phone;
• your phone shows “network is not available”;
• you want to unlock the phone through the carrier.

Use the HeyLocate Free Carrier Lookup tool to quickly identify your phone carrier. In this article, we’ll also examine the differences between searching for a carrier on Android and iOS and how a SIM card and IMEI number can help.

Check Your Phone’s Settings

Your phone shows the carrier in the status bar near the signal strength indicator. If you cannot see the name in the status bar, you can check what carrier your phone is in the settings.

How to check phone carrier on iPhone

iPhones have the carrier information displayed on the lock screen and the control center.

To this end, check the screen’s top-left corner to see the carrier information. Next, check the control center by swiping down from the top of the screen. If you can’t see the current carrier, look into iPhone settings.

To check your cell phone carrier in iPhone settings:

1. Open Settings and tap on General.
   
2. Click About at the top.
3. Scroll down until you see PHYSICAL SIM or eSIM. You will see the network and carrier names displayed.
   
4. If you have two SIM cards, you will see the primary SIM card carrier first and the second SIM card carrier below it.

Besides, you can check cellular settings on iPhone: open Settings and click Mobile Service. You will see a section displaying the carrier name. Under this section, you will see the cellular settings, such as Wi-Fi calling, calls on other devices, and Carrier services.

How to See Your Phone Carrier on Android

Most Android phones, like Samsung, don’t display carrier information on the lock screen or the control center. Thus, the best way to discover your carrier is to access the About Phone settings.

To do a carrier check on Android (showed on a Samsung A33):

1. Open Settings and scroll down to About Phone.
2. Click on Status Information.
   
3. Tap SIM card status. You will see the phone carrier name under Network. It will also show you other features such as the mobile network state, service state, IMS registration status, and signal strength.
   

You can also see the mobile carrier name in the connections settings:

1. Open Settings > Connections.
   
2. Click on SIM manager.
3. Under SIM Manager, you will see the SIM cards. Under each SIM number, the mobile carrier will be displayed. You will also see the phone number and whether it’s active or inactive.
   

When Your Phone May Show the Wrong Carrier

Still, there are situations when your phone may show incorrect information about your network provider, such as when you move to another country.

This is due to roaming agreements — your original carrier partners with local networks in different countries. Thus, your SIM connects to the available partner carrier there, but your billing and service still go through your original carrier.

Moreover, some mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) don’t own their towers but lease services from bigger networks. When you travel, the parent network might replace your MVNO’s name.

Besides, some carriers share towers or have merged, leading to mixed branding. Example: T-Mobile & Sprint in the U.S. — some phones still show Sprint even though it’s now T-Mobile.

More reasons for incorrect carrier information on your phone are shown in the infographic.

Use Free Phone Carrier Lookup Tools

If you’re unsure about the carrier information your phone shows you, check it with web tools. Several online services can tell who your phone service provider is by entering your phone number.

The carrier lookup service analyzes your phone number, finds information in its database, and displays the carrier information.

Our HeyLocate Free Carrier Lookup Tool scans databases of phone numbers and their corresponding network carriers to show your carrier information in seconds. You don’t need to install an app or create an account. The platform is entirely free to use.

HeyLocate will give you the lookup results, including the telecom provider name, the network type, the operator’s area code, and the country.

Besides, HeyLocate offers other tools to discover more information about any phone number.

Use Service Code to See Phone Carrier

If you don’t know your phone carrier, troubleshooting problems like poor call quality, network problems, or issues with SMS messages can be difficult. However, there’s a number that can connect you to your phone carrier.

611 is a service code that connects you directly to your wireless phone provider in the United States and Canada, such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.

Dial *611. You will be connected to your service provider’s customer service. Ask the customer service representative to confirm what phone service you have.

Check Your SIM Card or Device Documentation

You can know the phone carrier of a phone number by looking at the SIM card. The SIM usually has the carrier’s logo or name printed on it.

To check your SIM card for carrier information:

1. Power off your device.
2. Locate your phone’s SIM card tray. It can be on the top or the side.
3. Use a SIM card ejector tool and insert it into the small hole of the SIM card tray.
4. Pull the SIM card tray gently to look at the SIM card. You should see the carrier’s logo or name printed on the SIM card.

How to Check if Phone is Carrier Locked

A carrier-locked phone means you can only use it with that carrier, while an unlocked phone allows you to use SIM cards from different carriers.

To check if your iPhone is carrier-locked:

1. Open Settings > General > About.
   
2. Scroll down to Network Provider Lock. If the iPhone is unlocked, you will see no SIM restrictions. If it shows a network name, the phone is locked to that carrier.
   

To check if your Android phone is carrier-locked:

1. Open Settings > Connections.
2. Click More Connection Settings.
3. Click Network Unlock option. It will tell you if your phone’s network lock status and if it’s eligible for unlocking.

If these options are absent, the device is likely not carrier-locked.

Can You Check the Phone Carrier by IMEI?

You cannot know your phone carrier using the IMEI number. The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) identifies the device on a network, but it cannot tell which phone carrier a phone is affiliated with.

A mobile network can use the IMEI to track a device’s location on its network, but it cannot link the carrier to a SIM card.

Conclusion

The phone’s settings are the fastest way to check who your phone carrier is. You can quickly access your carrier information to manage your phone number’s services, access customer service, and troubleshoot network problems.

Still, there are cases when the phone shows wrong information, so you should always know an alternative tool like HeyLocate Free Carrier Lookup.