LG K20 SIM Card not working / not reading SIM Card – Fix

There are 3 variants of LG K20 which are K20, K20 v & K20 Plus. Out of this K20 & K20 Plus are GSM phones whereas K20 v belongs to Verizon and its a CDMA + GSM Phone.

K20 is from AT&T and K20 Plus belongs to MetroPCS / T-Mobile.  After knowing the K20 variants it would be easier to troubleshoot SIM card related issues on your K20 Phone.

There are various possibilities for a SIM card failure on your K20 / K20 Plus. First of all, we’re going to re-install the sim card and later on, we’re going to follow the troubleshooting steps –

LG K20 Sim Card Installation – The Basic troubleshooting step

Lift your LG K20 / K20 Plus back cover using the groove as shown above.

Insert your SIM card in the lower slot. The upper slot is for the micro SD card.

Make sure you insert a Nano-SIM in the SIM card slot.

 

Now reboot your phone and check whether the SIM is working or not.

If it’s still not working then based on the error you’re getting we’re going to resolve the SIM card related issue using the below troubleshooting steps –

Troubleshooting Step 1:  Check if the Airplane Mode is ON on you K20 / K20 Plus

If Airplane Mode is ON on your K20 or K20 Plus then the SIM card won’t work.

FIX – Disable the Airplane Mode

You can disable Airplane Mode either by pulling down the notification bar and tapping on “Airplane Mode” to turn it off or by going to Settings < Networks tab < Airplane Mode.

 

Troubleshooting Step 2: If you’re getting a “Network Locked” Error

If your K20/ K20 v / K20 Plus is network locked, you cannot use an AT&T SIM with K20 Plus / K20 v, T-Mobile SIM with LG K20 AT&T / K20 v or a K20 v Verizon SIM with K20 / K20 Plus.

In this case, you’ll see a “Network Locked” error as shown above.

FIX –

LG K20 Plus MetroPCS T-Mobile Device Unlocking –

If you have a MetroPCS / T Mobile K20 Plus it can be unlocked using the device unlock app pre-installed on your phone.

Follow this guide to unlock your K20 plus using the device unlock app.

If it fails to unlock your phone, you need to buy the K20 plus device unlock service from here.

LG K20 AT&T Unlock Code – 

In case you have LG K20 from At&t, it can be unlocked with an unlock code. If you’ve served 60 days with At&t you can get your K20 unlocked for free using this link https://www.att.com/deviceunlock.
Else you can buy the K20 at&t unlock code from here.

LG K20 v Verizon Unlock Code –

Similar to AT&T if you’ve served 60 days period after activation on Verizon network your device is eligible for free unlock. Else you can purchase the K20 v VS501 unlock code from here.

 

Troubleshooting Step 3: If you’re getting a “No Service” or “Emergency Calls Only” Error

If you’ve inserted the correct SIM and getting a “No Service”, “Emergency Calls Only” or “Searching Error”, then either the network is down, your SIM card has gone bad or your carrier has barred your service.

 

At this point, we need to check the Service State. Go to Settings < About Phone and open it.

Now select “Network” and check the service state.

If it says “Out of service” try out the below steps to fix this error –

If possible insert another SIM from the same network to make sure the issue not with your particular SIM card. Get a replacement SIM from your carrier if the issue is specific to your SIM card.

FIX – 

1. Make sure that you’re in an area with a good network coverage

The network signal should have at least 2 bars. You can check the network signal in the status bar as shown above.

2. Toggle the Airplane mode on and off

Turn on airplane mode then turn it off using the airplane mode shortcut in the navigation panel. Swipe from top to bottom of the screen to open the navigation panel.

3. Soft reset your K20 / K20 Plus 

Reboot your K20 / K20 Plus and check if your sim card has started working.

4. Use Safe Mode to check if you’re getting the network signal

To boot into safe mode Long-Press the power button to get the “Power off”option on the screen.

Long-Press “Power off” and you’ll get an option to turn on the Safe Mode. Click “TURN ON” to boot your phone into the Safe mode.

If Safe mode restores your network connection that means some app is causing the network problem. Remove apps one by one to detect the malicious app.

If still not getting network in Safe mode move on to the next step.

5. Reset network settings

Go to Settings < Backup & reset < “Network settings reset” to reset the network settings and check if your issue is resolved.

 

6. Call your Carrier 

If your SIM card is still not working, it can be a temporary network outage or your service is barred. You need to call your network service provider to get an update on this.

 

Troubleshooting Step 4: If you’re getting a “No SIM Card” error even though you’ve properly inserted the SIM Card

If you’ve inserted the SIM card properly in your K20 / K20 Plus and yet you’re getting a “No Sim Card” error that means either your SIM card is bad or the SIM card slot has damaged.

Try to insert your SIM card in some other phone if it gets detected then the SIM Card is fine.

Try to install some other SIM card on your K20 / K20 Plus. If the SIM is detected then the Slot is fine but your SIM card is bad.

The service state still shows “Out of service” error when No SIM card is inserted in the phone.

FIX –

If the SIM Card is bad – Get a replacement SIM from your carrier.

If the SIM Card Slot is bad – Get a replacement LG K20 SIM Card slot and follow the below video to replace it –

 

Please share which step worked for you via the comment section below. Feedback is welcome

 

 

 

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