When your phone unlocks: eleven carriers' rules, side by side

A phone bought from a carrier stays locked to it until you’ve met that carrier’s rules, and every carrier’s rules differ. Verizon unlocks postpaid phones automatically once they’re paid off. T-Mobile needs 40 days of service and paid in full; AT&T, Xfinity, Spectrum, Mint and US Mobile about 60 days. Visible, Total Wireless and Cricket now wait 365 days, as do Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile prepaid phones. Tello doesn’t lock phones at all. This page is each carrier’s own policy: seven read on September 22, 2026, and all eleven checked again on October 3, 2026.

When does each carrier unlock a phone?

Check this before you pay for a new plan. A locked phone won’t take another carrier’s SIM or eSIM, and the new carrier usually can’t tell until you try.

When does a Verizon phone unlock?

From Verizon’s device unlocking policy (page dated February 18, 2026):

• Postpaid phones are locked at purchase and unlock automatically once they were bought at full retail price or the device payment balance is paid in full. No request is needed.
• Prepaid phones stay locked until 365 days of paid and active service, then unlock automatically unless the phone is deemed stolen or bought fraudulently.
• A phone reported lost or stolen won’t unlock until it’s cleared, and paying with a Verizon Gift Card delays unlocking by 35 days.

When does an AT&T phone unlock?

From AT&T’s unlock page, all four have to be true:

1. The phone was bought more than 60 days ago, and isn’t active on another AT&T account.
2. It’s paid in full, either at purchase or with the installment balance at zero.
3. It hasn’t been reported lost, stolen or involved in fraud.
4. If you’re a current AT&T customer, your bill isn’t past due.

AT&T’s support article says eligible Apple, Samsung and Google phones on an AT&T Wireless plan “should unlock by itself,” but its unlock page says Samsung phones released before September 1, 2025 still need a request. Other phones need a request too, which usually takes a few minutes and can take up to 48 hours. AT&T Prepaid phones can be unlocked after twelve months of service. You don’t need to be an AT&T customer to request an unlock for an AT&T phone; the same page has a request form.

When does a T-Mobile phone unlock?

From T-Mobile’s SIM unlock policy, the phone must have been sold by T-Mobile, not be reported lost, stolen or blocked, and be on an account in good standing. Then:

• Postpaid: active on T-Mobile for at least 40 days on the line asking for the unlock, and, if financed or leased, paid in full. On a cancelled account the balance must be zero.
• Prepaid: at least 365 days since the phone was activated, or, if sooner, more than $100 in refills on each line during that time, and more than 14 days since purchase. Other limits apply, including how many unlocks a line can have in a year.

T-Mobile unlocks eligible phones free of charge, and says that once a phone is eligible it “will automatically and remotely unlock the device within two business days” if the phone supports remote unlocking. A prepaid line can have no more than two unlocks in 12 months.

What if you still owe money on the phone?

On Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Xfinity and Spectrum, a financed phone stays locked until the balance is paid. Paying it off early is usually allowed, and the balance becomes due when you leave anyway, so the order that works is: pay off the phone, get it unlocked, then start the switch. The switching checklist puts that in sequence, and the transfer PIN guide covers the step after.

When does an Xfinity Mobile phone unlock?

From Xfinity’s unlock help page, all of these have to be true:

• The phone has been activated for at least 60 days.
• It’s paid in full.
• The Xfinity Mobile account has no past-due balance.
• It hasn’t been reported lost, stolen or involved in fraud.

“Most of the time, your phone unlocks automatically within 48 hours of being paid off.” Only the account holder, a Primary user or a Manager can ask for an unlock. Xfinity also says a locked phone can’t use another provider’s SIM abroad, so a travel eSIM won’t work on an Xfinity phone that hasn’t met these rules yet.

When does a Spectrum Mobile phone unlock?

From Spectrum’s unlock support page:

• Bought from Spectrum Mobile and activated on a Spectrum Mobile line.
• Paid off in full.
• Active on the Spectrum network for at least 60 calendar days.
• Account in good standing, and the phone not reported lost, stolen or involved in fraud.

Spectrum doesn’t unlock automatically: you call to request it, and it emails a confirmation.

When does a Mint Mobile phone unlock?

Mint’s help page says phones bought from Mint “will automatically be unlocked 60 days after activation on our network,” subject to requirements aimed at fraud, with an exception to the 60 days for deployed military.

When does a Cricket phone unlock?

From Cricket’s device unlock policy, revised July 1, 2026:

• The phone has been active for at least 365 days of paid service on that device.
• It’s locked to Cricket’s network, hasn’t been reported lost or stolen, and isn’t tied to a fraudulent account.

Cricket unlocks on request. Its support page adds that phones bought before July 1, 2026 need six months of paid service instead. A year matters if you’re buying a phone from Cricket in order to switch later: the phone is Cricket’s for that long.

When does a Visible phone unlock?

From Visible’s device unlocking policy (last updated August 15, 2026), a phone you bought from Visible on or after January 20, 2026 unlocks on request after 365 days, if:

• it was activated more than 365 days ago and has at least 365 days of paid service,
• it hasn’t been reported lost or stolen, and there are no signs of fraud.

If you stop paying for service, the count pauses and picks up when you reactivate. A monthly-plan phone bought on or after June 1, 2026 with Affirm financing can be unlocked as soon as the Affirm loan is paid off. Visible can’t unlock phones bought elsewhere, or replacements from Assurant or Apple. The page doesn’t say what applies to phones bought before January 20, 2026; ask Visible in chat if yours is one.

When does a Total Wireless phone unlock?

Total Wireless’s unlocking page is the Verizon Value unlock policy, which Total’s support site links to. For phones activated on or after January 20, 2026, “the cellphone will be unlocked upon request after 365 days of paid and active service.” You request it with the form on that page or by calling 1-888-442-5102, and it’s done remotely or with an unlock code.

Phones activated on or before January 19, 2026 follow the older rules on the same page: on Verizon’s network, unlocked automatically after 60 days of paid, active service; on T-Mobile’s or AT&T’s, on request after 365 days. Total’s support FAQ says an early unlock is possible for a charge of up to $300.

When does a US Mobile phone unlock?

From US Mobile’s unlock page: only some phones US Mobile sells are locked, and the sale terms say so. After the required period of continuous use on a US Mobile line, generally 60 days unless the offer says longer, “if your account is in good standing, the phone will unlock automatically.” A locked phone that’s never activated on US Mobile still unlocks 12 months after it first connects to the internet. Phones you bring yourself aren’t affected.

Are Tello phones locked?

No. Tello’s terms say “Tello does not lock customer devices,” and its help center says every phone it sells is unlocked. The catch is phones bought from other stores: some fall under a reseller policy that locks them to the network of the first SIM inserted, and Tello can’t remove that; the network provider has to.

What if you bought the phone outright?

If you bought it from the manufacturer or a store that sells unlocked phones, it was probably never locked. Your phone’s settings usually say whether a carrier lock is on.

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Policies read from each carrier’s own page on September 22, 2026, and all eleven, including Visible, Total Wireless, US Mobile and Tello, on October 3, 2026: some by direct fetch, the rest in a browser because they render in JavaScript or block plain requests. Carriers change these rules; the page linked in each section is the one to trust. If your phone came from UScellular, see what changed when it became T-Mobile.