Friday, August 8, 2014

Invalid Sim Error for Windows Phones

As a Technical Support, "missing sim" or "invalid sim" error for Windows phone is often an issue customers are calling about. They just bought the phone, the device is new as well as the sim card but when they have already activated the phone, insert the sim card and have the phone turn on, they will have an error missing sim or invalid sim then emergency calls only. First, if you will have this kind of error to any type of phones it means that the device does not recognize the sim card. Reasons for that are the following:

-sim is not inserted or positioned properly inside the phone or into the sim case or slot
-sim is broke or damaged
-phone or sim slot is broke or damage

But for Windows phones like for example the Nokia 520 or other windows phones, this is already a common or known issuen even if the device and sim is brand new. So what you will need to do to fix invalid or missing sim error? Here are your options:

1. Wipe the sim card with a clean dry cloth. Make sure there are no foreign particles or dirt on the sim's gold contact.  

2. Make sure that you inserted the sim card properly inside the phone. Gently push it into the sim slot - gold contact facing down and touching the metal contact of the phone.

3. If doing the above steps does not resolve the issue, you may also try to insert the sim card into a different phone model, like Samsung or iPhone that requires a micro sim. If it reads the sim card, reinsert it back to your Windows phone.

4. If none of these work, sim replacement is our last option. Follow the steps above and check if it would still say "invalid sim" or "missing sim" which I do hope will not.

I would not say that this is an issue with your service provider's system or your phone's software but rather a device issue, how it was built. So, just try your luck and follow the above steps. If you have other questions, feel free to comment. Thanks!


2 comments:

  1. I took out the nano SIM card and tried the micro SIM card. To my horror, it fit also. When it didn't look like it should. Now, the SIM card is still invalid but no longer missing. I guess Tech Support can change the SIM s/n on the plan.

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  2. I took out the nano SIM card and tried the micro SIM card. To my horror, it fit also. When it didn't look like it should. Now, the SIM card is still invalid but no longer missing. I guess Tech Support can change the SIM s/n on the plan.

    ReplyDelete