By M. Curtis McCoy · Last reviewed September 20, 2026 · How we make money

Before you start: three checks

Switching to Verizon from your current carrier

The steps are the same everywhere. What changes is whether your phone needs checking first.

Switching to Verizon from Verizon

Your phone is already on Verizon’s network, so there is no compatibility question at all. The handset will work. What changes is the account it bills to and, if you are moving to a prepaid brand, where you sit in line when a tower is busy.

Either way you need your account number and transfer PIN from Verizon first. Here is how to get them.

Switching to Verizon from AT&T

This is a network change: you are coming off AT&T and onto Verizon. Most phones sold in the US in the last few years carry the bands for all three, but that is not the same as being certified. Run your IMEI through Verizon’s compatibility checker before you pay for anything. Dial *#06# to get the IMEI.

Either way you need your account number and transfer PIN from AT&T first. Here is how to get them.

Switching to Verizon from T-Mobile

This is a network change: you are coming off T-Mobile and onto Verizon. Most phones sold in the US in the last few years carry the bands for all three, but that is not the same as being certified. Run your IMEI through Verizon’s compatibility checker before you pay for anything. Dial *#06# to get the IMEI.

Either way you need your account number and transfer PIN from T-Mobile first. Here is how to get them.

On a different carrier? Find it in the database — there are port-out instructions for 230 of them.

How to activate your Verizon SIM or eSIM

1. Have your account number, transfer PIN, and the billing name and address exactly as your old carrier has them. A mismatch here is the most common reason a transfer fails.
2. Start the switch with Verizon and choose to keep your existing number.
3. Install the eSIM or insert the physical SIM when Verizon tells you to — not before.
4. Leave the old line active and the old phone powered on until the new one is working.
5. Restart the phone once service appears. Carrier settings often do not apply until you do.
6. Test a call and load a web page over cellular with Wi-Fi off.

What it costs you to leave your current carrier

No US carrier is allowed to charge you a fee for transferring your number out. That is federal law, not a courtesy. What can still cost you:

• An unpaid device balance. If your phone is on an instalment plan, the remaining balance becomes due when the line closes, and the phone stays locked until it is paid.
• Promotional credits you were part way through. Trade-in and bill credits are usually spread over 24 or 36 months and stop the moment the line closes. You do not repay what you already received, but you lose the rest.
• A final partial bill. Postpaid carriers bill in arrears, so expect one more statement after the transfer.

Check the device balance and any remaining credits before you switch, not after. Those two numbers are the real cost of leaving, and neither one is a termination fee.

Is Verizon the right fit?

Verizon makes sense if you want the widest rural coverage in the US and are willing to pay postpaid prices for it. It is the most expensive of the three networks and the one least likely to throttle you behind its own MVNOs, because there are none above it.

Verizon prioritises its own postpaid customers over the MVNOs riding its network, so the same tower can feel faster on Verizon than on Visible or Total Wireless at a busy hour.