How To Retrieve A T-Mobile Pin - ItStillWorks

Home Phone How to Retrieve a T-Mobile Pin

By Michaele Curtis

Each T-Mobile phone comes with a SIM personal identification number (PIN) that you must enter before you install a new SIM card into the phone. Although the default PIN is 1234, you can change it at any time. After you change the SIM PIN, you must remember it. If you fail to do so, the phone will block the SIM and require a PUK code to make any changes to it. To retrieve your PIN, you'll have to enter the correct PUK code, which you can get from a T-Mobile Customer Care agent.

Call T-Mobile Customer Care when your phone asks for the PUK code (see Resources). Give the representative the security information on the account, including the account holder's name and address and the last four digits of his Social Security number.

Explain that you've forgotten the phone's PIN and have reached the maximum amount of attempts to enter it. Write down the PUK code given to you. End the call.

Navigate to the SIM of your T-Mobile phone. Enter the PUK code when prompted. Press the "Enter" key.

Enter your new SIM PIN twice when prompted and click "Done."

References

• T-Mobile Support: What is a PIN?
• T-Mobile Support: What Should I Do if My Phone Asks for a PUK Code

Tips

• Not having the correct PIN for your phone doesn't prevent you from making calls. However, if you call from a phone other than the phone in question, you can enter the PUK code while on the phone with the representative and verify immediately that it worked.

Warnings

• The PIN for your T-Mobile phone only applies to the SIM. The PUK code will not help you retrieve a forgotten device security code. In those scenarios, the T-Mobile representative will take you through the steps to master reset the phone back to factory settings. Unlike entering the PUK code, a master reset will delete all of your user data stored in the phone.

Writer Bio

Michaele Curtis began writing professionally in 2001. As a freelance writer for the Centers for Disease Control, Nationwide Insurance and AT&T Interactive, her work has appeared in "Insurance Today," "Mobiles and PDAs" and "Curve Magazine." Curtis holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication from Louisiana State University.

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