Postpaid: payment, not time

If you bought a postpaid device from Boost, it unlocks after you complete any financing plan. If you paid for it in full up front, it is eligible right away — there is no minimum service period. Either way Boost unlocks it remotely within two business days of eligibility, at no charge.

Where a remote unlock is not technically possible, Boost notifies you immediately that the device is eligible, and you complete it from there.

Prepaid: one year, plus three conditions

For current and former customers in good standing, Boost unlocks a prepaid device one year after initial activation — once you have met all payment and usage requirements. Those requirements are where the detail lives:

• No outstanding device balance — if you financed the phone, it must be paid off in full before it is eligible.
• The account must be active — if it is in suspended status at the one-year mark, the phone will not be eligible until it comes out of suspension.
• Not already unlocked by request — if you previously had it unlocked manually, for international travel say, it will not be automatically unlocked at the one-year point.

Requesting one anyway

Boost unlocks eligible devices automatically, so in normal circumstances there is nothing to do. If you believe you meet the requirements and it has not happened, or you need a military unlock, call Boost on 833-50-BOOST (833-502-6678).

How to tell whether your phone is actually locked

Worth checking first — a phone bought secondhand or brought from elsewhere may never have been locked at all.

• iPhone — Settings, then General, then About. Scroll to Carrier Lock. "No SIM restrictions" means unlocked; "SIM locked" means locked.
• Samsung released before September 2025 — Settings, About phone, Software information, then Service provider software version.
• Samsung released after September 2025 — Settings, Connections, More connection settings, then Network lock status.
• Any phone — insert a SIM from another carrier. If it connects, the phone is unlocked. This is the only test that cannot be misread.

Military deployment

Boost will perform an international SIM unlock for deployed personnel, subject to five conditions: the unlock has to be technically possible on that device, you or a family member on the account must be an active member of a US military branch, you must have been issued overseas deployment papers, you must be a current authenticated Boost customer, and the account must be in good standing. Call 833-50-BOOST to arrange it.

Two warnings in Boost's own policy

Boost states plainly that it cannot unlock devices from other carriers — only phones it sold. And it reserves the right to refuse a request it believes would abuse the policy or the terms of service, or that forms part of an attempt to defraud the company or its customers.

There is also a caution worth heeding: attempting to reprogram a device for another network, or altering its initial programming or settings yourself, may leave you unable to reactivate it on Boost afterwards. Wait for the official unlock rather than working around it.

Once it is unlocked

An unlocked phone is worth more secondhand and removes the main reason people stay on a plan they have outgrown. Two things before you move: check the handset supports the bands your new carrier uses, because unlocked does not mean fully compatible, and re-pick the plan rather than porting the old one across.