Unlocking an O2 phone to use a different SIM card.

[MI5]

Please note: all new O2 devices are sold unlocked, so you just need to test a different SIM in the phone before you request unlocking. If it is indeed locked, then you can follow the rest of this guide.

Note also that since June 2018 it is completely free to unlock any O2 phone at anytime.

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If you want to use your O2 contract or PAYG phone with a SIM from another network, ie a local SIM when on holiday, you will need to release the network lock.

If you have a monthly contract it is free to get your phone unlocked......

Any phone can be unlocked (No exceptions).

The easiest way is by using the link found in your MyO2 Unlock (this assumes that it is the current phone you are using is the one you want to unlock)

If you want to unlock a phone you have stopped using, all you need to do is submit this form manual form taking care to enter the correct details. Pay attention in particular to the security question as this is the most common cause of failure.

PAYG as above.

If you have just purchased a PAYG phone which was previously supplied by O2, insert an O2 Simply PAYG SIM free sim and top up. Make a few calls to register the phone on the network then fill out the form as above manual form

Business users can also submit the form for a free unlock.

Once the form is submitted it can take upto 28 days to receive the unlock code but it is usually much quicker - Typically within 7 days.

You will receive the code with instructions on how to complete the process with your specific handset, but in general, you insert a non O2 SIM card and enter the code when prompted.

For iPhones you will not receive a code. Just replace the O2 sim with one from a different network once you receive notification that it is unlocked.

If the unlock fails first time, try connecting to iTunes to complete the process, but this is not required for every phone.

Note: Unlocking the phone does not relieve you of any contractual obligations. You still need to complete your minimum term as agreed.

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Note for iPhones:

If you’ve already requested an unlock for your iPhone but you feel it hasn’t worked, try the following:

1) Insert a non-O2 SIM in the phone

2) Connect to Wi-Fi

3) Go to Settings > General > About, and enter your Apple ID and password, and you should be good to go.

If it’s still not working, please contact customer services on 202 or 4445 or post on the community so we can escalate the issue for you.

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[sohagan857]

I've now raised 6 unlock requests for my phone, 3 online, 3 via chat. I'm now 13 days since the first request and still paying airtime which is what I'm trying to stop! How can I escalate this?

[MI5]

I'll ask @EmilieT to help you @sohagan857 

[Clem]

I followed the recommendations from this community (followed link )  - i.e. putting the O2 sim in and making an unlatching request using the IMEI number of that phone. I returned my O2 sim to my current phone. 6 hours later I received an email instructing me to connect the non-O2 sim into the device to be unlocked and connect it to iTunes. I did this and hey-presto the new sim is live and everything worked. I feel lucky not to have had to wait more than a few hours. 

Thanks for all the clues from everyone. Reading other's experiences helped me. I hope mine helps some others. The link I used is posted by: Marjo **Personal info**16 16:01 - last edited on ‎**Personal info**18 17:47

[Desperatemum]

Hi, have been trying to get an iphone6s unlocked that was gifted to my husband by a friend when his phone went for a swim. My daughter is currently using the phone in Canada and costing the daily travel rate to do so but would like to unlock it but we keep getting emails saying....has not been used on our network with the MPN
provided, so it will not be possible to unlatch it.just spoke to customer services on 202 and they were no help except to say get the person who gave my husband the phone to get it unlocked! He is a fisherman friend, they meet occasionally, we don't even know his mobile number! Any help would be gratefully received.

[jonsie]

If it is locked to O2 then they have to unlock it by law. Their response is usually that unless the phone has been used on their network they can't unlock it.

Are you sure that it is locked to O2 because if it has been bought overseas then it will be locked to the parent network and that network will have to unlock the phone.

[MI5]

The phone will need to have been used on o2 for it to show on the system first. 

[Desperatemum]

@jonsie and @MI5 thank you for replying. To the best of my knowledge the phone was a UK purchased and used phone. It was spare when the guy upgraded and he gave it to my husband. Unfortunately my daughter did not put her SIM in it until in Canada as she didn't realise it was locked until she tried a Canadian SIM and then thought she could use the 'unlock my phone' from the app. She has her usual iPhone se with her for departing and arrival calls but did not want to unlock it and have to back up and reset it. I understand if they think it could be stolen but we even have the box with part no etc. Very frustrating😒

[jonsie]

I suspect it isn't locked to O2 but to another network. Unfortunately, O2 won't unlock it until it shows on their own network.

As for your daughter's se, it won't need to be reset. The phone is unlocked by Apple and then you need to put in the Canadian sim. It really is that simple, no backup and reset required at all.

[Desperatemum]

@jonsie surely if her O2 SIM works in the iPhone 6s then the phone is locked to O2? Why would her SE be unlocked by Apple, surely she needs to request from O2? At least if she doesn't need to reset that will be good🙂

[jonsie]

Ah, I wasn't clear that her O2 sim worked in the phone so yes it will be locked to O2. Unfortunately, as the phone has not been used in the UK with the sim, it will not register on their system because it's on the roaming Canadian network. The phone will need to be physically in the UK to show on their systems.

Her own se will have hopefully been working in the UK so will have already  been registered. The unlock form will need to be done to O2 who will then submit the IMEI to be unlocked. It is then unlocked on the Apple system and she will receive a text to say it's been unlocked and to onnect to itunes. That part does not now need to be connected to itunes. Simply put the Canadian sim in and she is good to go.

It' the donated phone that she will find difficult to get unlocked until she comes back to the UK.

[Desperatemum]

@jonsie thank you for your response. I may stop trying now that I have exhausted all my options🙂

[Styzzi]

Hello, how do I know if a phone is unlocked before buying it? I want to buy a nokia 3310 3G but I don't know if it is locked to the O2 or unlocked, anybody?

[MI5]

O2 no longer sell locked phones so all are unlocked to any network.

[Adepizza]

Does anyone know how I can get O2 to unlock my iPhone 6?

I haven't been an O2 customer for a while so using the online form that requires me to enter the date and amount of my last bill is not an option.

I believe that it can be unlocked if I have used it on the O2 network recently and as I am using a Giffgaff sim which uses the O2 network would this not work?

Thanks

[jonsie]

No it needs to be an O2 sim that registers the IMEI on My O2.

[MI5]

@Adepizza 

Just get a free O2 payg sim and follow the help in the first post of the thread.

[Adepizza]

Thanks @MI5 and @jonsie. I was hoping there was a way of doing it for free but I'll give it a go.

Cheers

[MI5]

@Adepizza 

It could be free if you know anyone with an O2 sim already?

[Adepizza]

Thanks a good point @MI5 

Would I just need to use the sim to connect to the network or would I need to make calls with it in place?

Thanks

[MI5]

Maybe a couple of calls and a text. Just until it showed up in the MyO2 account.

[StephenWoody]

I’ve been through all suggestions.
I can’t phone using my iPhone as it’s disconnected to O2; I can’t do anything manual as I can’t access myO2 as that been disconnected.

[MCollins]

Hey guys, I tried unlocking but now get an email saying there was multiple unlock requests so it’s not working. Any idea how long I have to wait before I can try again?

Thanks.

[MI5]

I'd give it a week or call in Guide: Coronavirus Community Help and Support 

[Chris7]

Thank you for help everyone Chris7

[MI5]

Welcome

[AW2]

Hi Everyone, 

So I have made a cataclysmic error! I ordered a new sim from a different network provider to replace my current O2 sim, and through my own stupidity I entered the code incorrectly too many times (i read the wrong websites and misunderstood what I was meant to do). So after the 5 attempts I am not allowed anymore. Is there anyway of undoing/refreshing this? 

I have an android phone.#

Thank you!

[jonsie]

Depending on your phone type you may have hardlocked it now

[MI5]

@Martin-O2 should be able to help you @AW2 

[AW2]

@MI5 thank you!

[MI5]

 @AW2 

[AW2]

@jonsie it's a Sony Xperia xa ultra. Is there any way I can find out?

Cheers!

[MI5]

@AW2 

Might be best for you to private message @Martin-O2 as I don't think he saw the tag.

It's definitely hardlocked now due to too many failed attempts.

[AW2]

@MI5 I have messaged him. Thank you again for your help!

[Andrew11]

Please send me an unlock code for Microsoft lumia 550 - 355132078658103 - mobile number 07873993313

[gmarkj]

This is a public forum @Andrew11, so anyone and everyone can see it.
Please come back and remove your number.
If you want to unlock your phone to use another sim in it, the best way is to use the My o2 app and request it there.

[Simple]

The phone I am trying to unlock is an Lumia 550 which my husband bought in 2017. It is locked to the o2 network.   After a struggle with the forms I eventually received an unlocking code which has not been accepted on the Lumia as there is not enough space to enter it. I am at the end of my tether as I could not find a way to explain the problem on the live chat. Can anyone advise me please?  I have been a loyal customer with o2 but the difficulty I am experiencing with this issue is testing that. It seems obvious to me that the reason they make it complicated is to keep us tethered to their network. What's new!

[MI5]

@Simple 

I'd call O2 rather than chat Guide: Coronavirus Community Help and Support 

[Simple]

Thank you MI5 for the advice to phone. I phoned customer service and spoke to a lady who took some time to understand my problem. In all humility I suspect it was my inability to articulate this small yet obviously complicated situation. However, she did say she would call me when she got an answer from the relevant  department. That was over 24 hours ago. I expect I will have to buy another phone but it galls me that I have to do that. 

[pgn]

All links to the 'manual form' are broken - is there a different place to look for those who need to unlock a phone from pre-2018?

I found this one, can it be dropped into the guide above, please, @Martin-O2?

Thanks!

[Martin-O2]

Thanks @pgn I've updated the links to the current form. 😊

[pgn]

Thanks - that's a lot better 👍

[MrAngry2]

Good evening people, I am having exactly the same problem as everyone attached to this thread. I have placed a new sim card from a different provider in to my phone and I get a message reading  invalid sim, network unlock code required. I have followed all the help and support suggestions but to no avail, I tried on chat, spent 43 minutes on the phone trying to get the network unlock code from o2 but was put on hold 3 times and eventually got told it was a technical issue!! 

Having read all the other comments attached to this thread, I am thinking that this is a deliberate tactic used by o2, to try keeping us with them a bit longer so that the extra days we're trying to leave they can charge us for.!?  I shall be going into Chester City tomorrow morning and into the o2 shop to get it sorted and if it is not sorted before I 

[MrAngry2]

Sorry I  pressed the wrong button while typing. What I was saying is, if my issue is not sorted before I return home tomorrow afternoon, I will be writing a letter of complaint to o2 and to Ofcom regarding this. I have screen shot all the comments on here as proof of this so called technical issue, that has been ongoing since 2016, when the first post was written.... As already commented, I own the phone that needs unlocking but can't use it because o2 won't give me a network unlock code? 

It is very suspicious that the exact same technical issue has not been sorted since 2016. Amazing that o2 do not have the technical staff to fix this ongoing issue and haven't had them since 2016.. Let's see what Ofcom have to say about it..

[KBTen]

@Martin-O2 I'm trying to unlock an old iphone 7 and cannot see where in the my02 app to do this, the help says to click on "more" in the menu banner but that option does not exist.

I've tried using the form here Unlocking an O2 mobile to use on a different network | Help & Support | O2

but keep getting an error message once you get past the first page.

Could you advise please?

Thanks

[gmarkj]

Are you using the o2 sim in the iPhone @KBTen ?
Your My o2 needs to recognise the iPhone before the option will appear, so use that for a couple of days.

[Chrisholmes90]

I have an old iPhone 8 that I would like to sell and haven't used for several years.

It's no longer registered in MyO2 (my upgraded phone is on there now), and the manual form linked several times previously doesn't work, and hasn't for a while based on the reply a couple above (error after submitting information).

The guidance on the O2 website is frustratingly bad - referring to menu links that don't exist.

Any help?

[MI5]

@Chrisholmes90 

Quickest way would be to use an O2 PAYG sim in the phone (or borrow any O2 sim) so that it is registered back on the network. You can then request the unlock through your MyO2.

[summne01]

Been trying to unlock my Mums O2 iPhone7 plus for weeks so she can give it to her grandson. She's forgotten her online secret work and can't submit letters from it. They've refused to help. I've tried Unlocking an O2 mobile to use on a different network | Help & Support | O2 but the page responds "oops, something went wrong - we've got our best technicians on it." I've raised a complaint. It's 4 weeks since and I've got to wait another 4 weeks before I can raise the complaint to the Ombudsman. It's an 8 year old iPhone ***. Jesus - the red tape and officious nature of this industry is astonishing.

[gmarkj]

Is there no-one else with an o2 phone that could use it for a couple of days @summne01 and then request the unlock?

[iPhoneuser-2000]

A manual form is insane - I need to be able to use the phone now, because my current phone isn't working and needs to be serviced. Also, I don't have an alternate phone number to put on the form.