How to find a phone's IMEI number

Every GSM phone, be it a basic, dirt-cheap handset or a pricey, powerful smartphone, has its own International Mobile Equipment Identity number, commonly known as IMEI. This is usually a string of 15 or 16 digits, and carriers use it to identify the devices registered on their networks. Being unique and hard to modify, the IMEI can also be used to blacklist stolen phones from a given network. In some cases, the number can even be used to track down a certain device in order to return it to its rightful owner.

But how do you find a phone's IMEI number anyway? Well, there's a number of ways to do that – by entering a special code using the device's keypad or Phone app, by digging in the handset's settings, or by checking the details stored on your user account, to give a few examples. These and other methods of finding a phone's IMEI number are described in the slideshows below.