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IMEI Generator & Validator
Generate valid 15-digit test IMEI numbers with scannable barcodes — or paste any IMEI or IMEISV to decode its Type Allocation Code, reporting body and Luhn check digit.
IMEI Generator
Serial numbers are random and the check digit is calculated with Luhn. By default the Type Allocation Code comes from a real reporting body; switch to the GSMA test range for numbers that cannot belong to a commercial handset.
IMEI Validator
Paste any IMEI to verify its length and Luhn check digit, and to decode the Type Allocation Code and the body that allocated it. 14-digit and 16-digit IMEISV forms are accepted too.
These IMEIs are test data only. The serial numbers are random, so with a real Type Allocation Code they may fall inside a genuine device model's serial range — use them on your own test systems only, never to report, register, claim or unblock a handset. They are registered on no network, in no Equipment Identity Register and to no device. Switch the TAC source to the GSMA test range if you need numbers that provably cannot belong to a commercial handset.
What is an IMEI?
An IMEI — International Mobile Equipment Identity — is the 15-digit number that identifies an individual handset, as defined by 3GPP TS 23.003. It identifies the device, not the person and not the SIM.
That separation matters: the ICCID identifies the physical SIM card and the IMSI identifies the subscriber on the network, while the IMEI stays with the handset when either of those changes. Moving a SIM into a new phone changes the IMEI in use but not the ICCID or IMSI — and a device's IMEI does not change when it is resold, re-registered or handed to a new subscriber.
In practice you meet the IMEI in device stock and warehouse management, SIM registration and KYC flows that bind a subscriber to a handset, and Equipment Identity Register and blacklist checks against lost or stolen devices.
IMEI structure explained
A 15-digit IMEI such as 35 209900 176148 1 breaks down like this:
| Digits | Segment | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 35 | RBI | Reporting Body Identifier — the GSMA-approved body that allocated the code. 35 is TÜV SÜD (BABT), 01 is CTIA, 86 is TAF in China, 99 is the Global Hexadecimal Administrator at TIA. 00 is reserved for test equipment. |
| 209900 | ME model | Six digits under the reporting body's control. Together with the RBI they form the 8-digit Type Allocation Code, which identifies one device model from one brand owner. |
| 176148 | Serial (SNR) | The manufacturer's serial number for the individual handset within that TAC. The range runs 000000–999999, so a model exhausts a TAC at one million units and is issued another. |
| 1 | Check digit | A Luhn (ISO/IEC 7812) check digit over the 14 digits before it. It is printed on the label but never sent to the network — the handset transmits zero in its place. |
Reading right to left across 35209900176148 and doubling every second digit — 8→16→7, 1→2, 7→14→5, 0→0, 9→18→9, 0→0, 5→10→1 — gives a subtotal of 24. Adding the seven untouched digits 4, 6, 1, 0, 9, 2 and 3, a subtotal of 25, gives 49. The next multiple of ten is 50, so the check digit is 1.
The GSMA reserved test range
GSMA TS.06 sets aside every Type Allocation Code beginning 00 for test equipment, in the fixed shape 00 44 plus four manufacturer digits. Because commercial TACs are never allocated from that space, an IMEI drawn from it cannot belong to a real handset — which is the only TAC source this tool can make that guarantee about.
The trade-off is that a test IMEI is also meant to look like one: GSMA is explicit that mobile operators are under no obligation to admit test-range IMEIs onto their networks and may block them. Use the reserved range when you need a provably non-colliding number; use a real reporting body when you need one that passes a downstream check that expects to see a genuine RBI.