Transfer PIN by carrier: how to switch and keep your number

You can take your phone number with you when you switch carriers. Your new carrier moves it, using three things from your old one: the account number, a transfer PIN and the billing ZIP code. The PIN is where people get stuck, because every carrier gives it out its own way and most PINs expire within days. Below is how 11 carriers do it, side by side, checked on each carrier’s own support page on November 8, 2026. The only way to lose your number is to cancel too early.

Transfer PINs by carrier

Every carrier asks for the same three things:

• Your account number with the old carrier. This is not your phone number. It is on your bill or in the account app.
• A Number Transfer PIN, also called a port-out PIN. It is a temporary code you create on purpose. It is not your account password or security PIN.
• Your billing ZIP code on the old account.

The name on the account must match exactly. Here is where each carrier gives out the PIN. Make yours right before you order, because it expires.

“Not stated” means the carrier’s page does not say. A few details from the same pages:

• Who can ask. Verizon: the account owner or a manager, signed in. AT&T: the user with primary online access. T-Mobile: the primary account holder only. Visible: any member, up to three PINs in 24 hours, as long as the account is active or within 50 days of the last payment.
• Prepaid. Verizon’s page does not cover prepaid. AT&T says “AT&T Prepaid® accounts don’t need a Number Transfer PIN.”
• Your account number. Metro’s 9-digit account number is in the myMetro app or at the top of a downloaded statement. Google Fi shows the account number with the PIN.
• T-Mobile also needs any VPN and iCloud Private Relay off when you use the app.
• Straight Talk first checks that you own the line with a code sent by text. If you do not have the phone, its page gives 1-877-430-2355.
• Mint has no port-out page we could find. Its Help Center lists Customer Care at (800) 683-7392.

The two rules the FCC sets

The FCC’s porting guide says: “If you’re switching service providers and remaining in the same geographic area, you can keep your existing phone number.”

The same page gives the instruction that matters most: “Do not terminate your service with your existing company before initiating new service with another company.” Your new carrier pulls the number from your old one. If the old account is closed, there is nothing to pull.

Your old carrier “cannot refuse to port your number, even if you owe money for an outstanding balance or termination fee.” And FCC rules require simple ports to be processed in one business day. For wireless to wireless, you “may be able to use your phone within a few hours.”

The switch, step by step

1. Check that your phone is unlocked. See below.
2. Pick the new plan. Our plans page lists every plan we could verify at $15 or less, and the catches.
3. Note any balance with the old carrier. The FCC says you still owe it, even though it cannot block the port.
4. Turn off any port-out lock: Verizon Number Lock, AT&T Wireless Account Lock, T-Mobile or Metro Port Out Protection, Visible Line Lock.
5. Get the transfer PIN, using the table above. Write down the account number and billing ZIP at the same time.
6. Order the new plan and choose the option to transfer your number. Enter the number, account number, PIN and ZIP exactly.
7. Activate the new SIM or eSIM when told to. Keep the old SIM live until the port completes.
8. Test by calling your number from another phone. When it rings on the new SIM, you are done.
9. Only then cancel anything left on the old account, such as extra lines. Most carriers close the ported line automatically.

How long it takes

The FCC requires simple wireless ports to finish within one business day and says you may be able to use your phone within a few hours. For a number moving to T-Mobile, its page puts a wireless transfer at “10 minutes to 3 hours” and a landline at 3 to 10 days. T-Mobile also warns of dual service for up to 24 hours. If you call 911 in that window, stay on the line, because the operator may not be able to call you back.

While the port runs, leave both SIMs alone. Do not call the old carrier to cancel. Do not change the name or address on the old account.

Unlocking your phone

A locked phone only works on the carrier that sold it. The FCC’s unlocking guide says even full-price phones may be locked “for a short period of time, such as 60 days.” Under the CTIA code the FCC describes, carriers unlock postpaid phones once financing is paid, unlock prepaid phones “no later than one year after initial activation,” and do not charge current or former customers to unlock. Each carrier’s actual rule:

• Verizon unlocks postpaid phones automatically when bought at full price or when financing is paid off. Prepaid phones “remain locked to the network until the completion of 365 days of paid and active service.”
• AT&T requires that you bought the phone “more than 60 days ago,” paid it off, and your bill is not past due. AT&T Prepaid phones need “12 months of paid AT&T service.”
• T-Mobile requires 40 days active on the line for postpaid, with financing paid in full. Prepaid needs 365 days, or more than $100 in refills plus 14 days since purchase. T-Mobile unlocks an eligible phone remotely within two business days, where the phone supports it.
• Mint Mobile locks phones it sells for 60 days after activation, longer if financed, then unlocks them automatically where possible.

Phones bought unlocked from the maker are exempt, but check anyway. On an iPhone, Settings, General, About, Carrier Lock should say No SIM restrictions.

Troubleshooting

The port is rejected. Nearly every rejection is a mismatch: wrong account number, expired PIN, or a name or ZIP that differs. Check for typos, generate a fresh PIN and resubmit.

The port is stuck. Call the new carrier, not the old one. It owns the request. T-Mobile says it sometimes has to fix misspelled names or addresses before a port can finish.

You already canceled. AT&T and Cricket both say you must reactivate the old line before the transfer can go through. Call the old carrier right away.

The PIN will not generate. You are probably not the primary account holder, or a port-out lock is on. On T-Mobile, you may be on Wi-Fi instead of T-Mobile’s network, or have a VPN on.

You are moving. The FCC says that if you move to a new geographic area, you may not be able to keep your number. Ask the new carrier before you order.

Once the port is done, test calls and texts. If you lean on public Wi-Fi while you sort things out, read our Wi-Fi safety guide. If cost is why you switched, see genuinely free mobile plans, free phone plan trials and the Lifeline free phone program.