What Is an EID, and How Do You Find Yours?
· · 4 min read
The EID is the serial number of the eSIM chip soldered into your phone — the GSMA’s SGP.22 specification calls it the eUICC identifier. It identifies the chip itself, permanently, and never changes no matter how many profiles you install or delete.
For most people its usefulness is indirect: if your phone has an EID, it can take an eSIM. That is the definitive compatibility test, and it takes about ten seconds.
Finding it
The dialler code is the same on every make, which is why it beats hunting through menus:
- Dial *#06#. On most handsets the EID appears alongside the IMEI as a long numeric string.
- iPhone: Settings → General → About, scrolling past the serial number — Apple lists the EID, IMEI and ICCID together on that screen.
- Android: Settings → About phone, then SIM status, which is where Google puts the EID on a Pixel.
No EID means no eSIM hardware, and nothing will add it. It is a physical chip, so no update or setting produces one that was not fitted at the factory.
What it is not
Three identifiers get confused with each other constantly, and they answer different questions:
- The EID identifies the eSIM chip. One per phone, permanent.
- The IMEI identifies the handset. One per phone, permanent, and what a carrier wants for an unlock request.
- The ICCID identifies a single profile or SIM. It changes with every plan you install.
A provider asking for your EID wants to know which chip to prepare a profile for. One asking for your IMEI is usually checking the device itself — a lock check, most often.
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Why a provider would ask for it
Legitimately, in two situations: preparing a profile bound to your specific chip before issuing it, or reissuing one after a failed installation. Apple says the same thing from the other side, telling you to have the IMEI or EID ready before contacting a carrier about an eSIM that will not set up. Some providers ask up front, most do not need to.
What its presence actually proves
That the hardware is there. Not that a given plan will work — an EID says nothing about whether the phone is carrier-locked, which is the most common reason a profile installs on capable hardware and then never connects.
So treat it as the first of two checks rather than the only one. Hardware, then lock.
If your phone has one
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Common questions
- How do I find my EID?
- Dial *#06# and look for it beside the IMEI. On iPhone it is also in Settings → General → About; on Android, under About phone and then SIM status.
- What is the difference between an EID and an IMEI?
- The EID identifies the eSIM chip, the IMEI identifies the handset. Both are permanent. A carrier wants the IMEI for an unlock; a provider wants the EID to prepare a profile.
- Is it safe to share my EID?
- Yes, with a provider that asks. It identifies hardware rather than entitlement and cannot be used to install or take a plan. Guard the activation code instead.
- My phone has no EID. Can I still use an eSIM?
- No. The chip is physical and cannot be added by software. A rented hotspot or a local physical SIM are the alternatives.
