How to Unlock Your Sprint Phone

Mindy Woodall

Managing Editor, Habitation Security & Smart Home

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Last Updated: several months ago

T-Mobile caused Sprint in April 2020. As such, we won't continue to update this article, but you tin read our full review of T-Mobile here.

Then yous desire to ditch Dart and take your phone far, far away? Nosotros go it. And luckily, it'south not too hard to become your phone unlocked and then you tin switch to another network (or sell information technology, if that's what you're going for).

Before you unlock your telephone

Make sure you lot come across Sprint's eligibility requirements before you get too hyped most popping in a new SIM card. Sprint makes you check off a few details first.

Dart unlock eligibility requirements

  1. Your telephone's spent more than fifty days on the Sprint network.
  2. You lot've paid off your phone (if it was on a charter agreement).
  3. Yous've paid all your bills and don't have an outstanding residuum.
  4. Your phone hasn't been reported stolen (awkward).

Your phone likewise has to be able to be "SIM unlocked." If your phone is just a couple years old, then don't worry near it. But if you're nevertheless holding on to that iPhone five from 2013, you lot might run into some issues.

Light Bulb

SIM unlock means your phone carrier (in this instance, Sprint) can programme your phone to piece of work with another carrier's SIM cards. Any telephone made after 2022 should exist able to do this, but y'all'll have to double-check if older devices have the capability.

How to unlock your Sprint telephone

Good news! Your Sprint phone might already exist unlocked. If you take a postpaid Sprint plan (where you pay your beak at the end of the month), then Dart automatically unlocks your phone in one case it's eligible.

If you're non certain if information technology'southward unlocked, you can call Dart's Customer Care squad. You'll need to give them a few pieces of information and then they can cease the procedure.

Info to have on paw before you call Sprint

  1. Your full name (should be an easy i)
  2. Your account number
  3. Your account password
  4. The concluding four digits of your social security number
  5. Your phone's IMEI or MEID number. (You can detect it on the body of your phone, usually on the back.)

You might as well demand to telephone call Customer Care if you lot bought a Sprint phone from someone else and want to take it to a different carrier. Keep in mind, you'll still need all that detailed info, and so make sure yous go it from the heir-apparent before you close that Craigslist deal.

Can I utilize my Sprint phone with some other carrier?

Short answer: yes. But not all carriers and non all your phone'south features volition work with every carrier.

Cell phone carriers use ii types of technology to connect your phone to their network: GSM and CDMA. Sprint phones use CDMA technology, which ways they sometimes don't play besides with GSM networks.

Which phone carrier uses which connection blazon?

  • Sprint – CDMA
  • Verizon – CDMA
  • AT&T – GSM
  • T-Mobile – GSM

Sprint phones transfer almost easily to Verizon since they both use the aforementioned technology to connect your phone. But but considering both carriers use CDMA technology doesn't mean every phone will be a perfect fit. Ever double-bank check your phone's ID number with the carrier you desire.

Non sure which carrier to choose?

FAQs

What'southward the divergence between a prepaid program and a postpaid plan?

With a postpaid plan, you pay your beak at the finish of the calendar month after you've used the telephone service. Before you tin can get a postpaid programme, the phone company will usually run a credit check.

But if y'all want to skip that credit check (or you simply desire to control how many calls you brand or how much data you use), then a prepaid plan might piece of work better for y'all. With prepaid plans, you pay for your telephone service before you use it. No surprise mega-bills.

How practice I unlock my Sprint phone if I take a prepaid program?

The biggest difference with a prepaid plan is that Dart won't unlock your phone automatically. Y'all'll take to phone call them (wamp wamp). The eligibility requirements are also a picayune scrap different.

Dart prepaid programme unlock eligibility requirements

  1. Your phone's been on the Sprint network for over 12 months.
  2. Your telephone has not been reported lost or stolen.

If you meet the eligibility requirements, and so just give Sprint's Client Care team a call and have them start the unlocking process.

Is unlocking the aforementioned as jailbreaking?

No. Unlocking just lets your telephone be used with other cell telephone carriers. Jailbreaking is where y'all override all the handy security protections on your telephone so that you tin download apps that y'all tin't usually access.

For case, if you jailbreak your iPhone, and then you can download apps that y'all tin can't find on the Apple App Shop.

Mindy Woodall

Written by

Mindy Woodall

Mindy has been writing about technology for seven years. She covers all things smart home for Reviews.org, and keeps rail of the latest robot gadgets. Mindy attended the University of Utah and her work has been featured on the likes of Parents.com, Digital Care, Hostfully, and more.

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