Composed of 19 digits, it allows you to uniquely identify a SIM card. It is used to change operator or recover SIM PIN
If you have decided to change phone operator to join a more advantageous offer, you will certainly have been asked for the serial code of the SIM you want to bring under the new operator. The serial number of the SIM, in fact, is a number unknown to most people but essential for those who must manage the voice and data traffic of the card.
This string uniquely identifies the SIM, the phone number associated with it and the owner of the card. The ICCID (Integrated Circuit Card ID, this is what the serial number of each SIM card is really called) is a 19-digit number, which usually starts with "8939", and which is also used to replace the phone card with another one that has the same number (for example if you need to change the format of the card and adapt it to the one accepted by your new smartphone) or to recover the SIM PIN by calling the service center of your phone operator. But how to recover SIM serial code?
Android app to recover SIM serial code
The easiest way to recover the ICCID serial code of a SIM, if you have an Android smartphone or tablet, is to use an app. It's also the way suggested by many phone network operators when switching carriers. There are plenty of such apps and they are all very similar. We recommend one, but you'll find the same features in others. It's called SIM Card Info and you can find it on the Google Play Store. Once you've downloaded and installed this app, to find the ICCID of your SIM card you have to launch it and you'll immediately be shown a screen that collects all the information about the card.
Find SIM Serial Number on iOS
If your smartphone or tablet is an Apple iOS device, it's even easier because you don't have to install any apps: Apple's operating system, unlike Google's, provides you with the ICCID number directly. Just go to Settings > General > About to see a screen that gathers a lot of information about your device and SIM, among which is also the serial number of the phone card. Alternatively, you can connect your iOS device to the computer via the Lightning cable and launch iTunes, select the icon of the device you just connected, click on Summary in the left sidebar and then on the Phone Number entry. Among the various information that will be provided by iTunes will be the ICCID code of the SIM.
Find the ICCID code from the SIM card
The last alternative to find the SIM serial number is to remove it from the device and read it directly from the SIM itself. Remember that it is a 19-digit number that usually starts with 8939, it will be very easy to find it. Very often the same number is also printed by phone operators on the plastic card that comes with the SIM, so you may not even need to take the card out of the phone. Always remember to keep this card carefully: you may also need it to retrieve the PIN code and PUK code of the SIM card.