The IMEI code is associated with our SIM and identifies our smartphone differentiating it from any other phone in the world, here’s how to recover it
Some of us have never heard of IMEI code. It means we’ve been pretty lucky and never lost, or had our Android smartphone stolen. The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a numeric code that uniquely identifies a mobile device.
Thanks to the IMEI our phone is different from any other in the world and is able to connect to the cellular network through the SIM card that the smartphone is equipped with. Hardly anyone writes their IMEI in their diary or on a post-it note. Luckily though, having been registered by Google, it’s easy to retrieve. To do this we have to take another phone and go to google.com/settings. Here we’ll just log in with the Google account we use on our smartphone. Then we go to the Personal data and privacy section and look for Google Dashboard. Here we will find a list with all the data of the smartphone associated with the Google account, including the IMEI code.
How to find the IMEI code of the Android smartphone before theft
The IMEI code alone is not enough to lock the device or to make the lost or stolen phone perform certain actions, such as ringing loudly, but it is the key information to declare to the authorities and our operator. In this way, our phone can be identified quickly. On the other hand, it is much easier to memorize the IMEI code before losing the smartphone or suffering a theft. Just pick up the phone and dial *#06# and start the call. Depending on the smartphone, we will receive an SMS or a message will appear on the screen with our IMEI code. Remember that if we have a dual SIM phone in the message we will see two different IMEI codes. This is because each code is associated with a SIM. At this point we just have to save the IMEI. Where? This depends on us, we can use an app like Evernote or a cloud service like Dropbox. Or more simply a sheet of paper to insert between documents. But this is a risky solution, losing it would be quite easy, or even worse the IMEI code could end up in the wrong hands.