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Help Please Help: How to move SIM card from old phone to new phone?

N

NewbAndroidUser

 
VIP Member
Hi all,

These are the specs of my old phone and as you can see it uses a "Mini-SIM" Card

Huawei Ascend G510 - Full phone specifications

www.gsmarena.com www.gsmarena.com

I need to buy a new phone and all of the new phones use a "Nano-SIM" card.

How can I take my old SIM card to the new phone without destroying the SIM card? Is it possible for the data on the old phone's SIM card to be kept intact?

I know e-SIM cards are available but that may not be an option for me. 😢 😢 😢

Thanks for any help!!!
 
NewbAndroidUser said:
Hi all,

These are the specs of my old phone and as you can see it uses a "Mini-SIM" Card

Huawei Ascend G510 - Full phone specifications

www.gsmarena.com www.gsmarena.com

I need to buy a new phone and all of the new phones use a "Nano-SIM" card.

How can I take my old SIM card to the new phone without destroying the SIM card? Is it possible for the data on the old phone's SIM card to be kept intact?

I know e-SIM cards are available but that may not be an option for me. 😢 😢 😢

Thanks for any help!!!
Click to expand...
sim cards themselves hold very little data. the sim card is mainly used by carriers to know who and what phone is on their network. it might have some contact data, but really there is not much on it. you need to get in touch with your carrier about transferring your sim card to a new phone.

www.tomsguide.com

What is a SIM card: What it does, how it works and why your phone needs one

Everything you needed to know about SIM cards but were afraid to ask
www.tomsguide.com www.tomsguide.com
 
ocnbrze said:
sim cards themselves hold very little data. the sim card is mainly used by carriers to know who and what phone is on their network. it might have some contact data, but really there is not much on it. you need to get in touch with your carrier about transferring your sim card to a new phone.

www.tomsguide.com

What is a SIM card: What it does, how it works and why your phone needs one

Everything you needed to know about SIM cards but were afraid to ask
www.tomsguide.com www.tomsguide.com
Click to expand...

AugieTN said:
Your carrier should have a tool to cut your SIM card to a Nano SIM card. Then you just put it in your new phone.

As #ocnbrze said, not much info is on your SIM card. They use to store contacts
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Is it possible for me to cut the SIM card at home without me needing to go into the phone store?

Will I lose data when I cut the SIM card?

I'm still not sure if an e-SIM card is a possible solution for me.
 
NewbAndroidUser said:
Thanks!

Is it possible for me to cut the SIM card at home without me needing to go into the phone store?

Will I lose data when I cut the SIM card?

I'm still not sure if an e-SIM card is a possible solution for me.
Click to expand...
if your phone has an esim, then your carrier can do it over the phone. also if you talk to your carrier (either in person or over the phone), they can send you a new sim card. its a fairly easy process really.

and i'm not sure i understand when you say "cut". and again there is not much data really on sim cards. if you have your contacts saved under google than they are already backed up. that'smpretty much it as far as user data. most of the info on sim cards are info for your carrier.
 
NewbAndroidUser said:
Thanks!

Is it possible for me to cut the SIM card at home without me needing to go into the phone store?

Will I lose data when I cut the SIM card?
Click to expand...

Don't try to cut your SIM card. you need a SIM card cutter. They have them at Amazon

When using the cutter you won't lose any data

Screenshot 2024-06-15 at 05-07-28 Amazon.com MMOBIEL Universal 3 in 1 _ Standard_Micro_Nano Si...png
 
It must be quite an old SIM, since the mini-SIM has been supplanted twice now (first by "micro" and now "nano" SIMs). Modern SIMs usually come with plastic surrounds that can be popped-out to the size you want, but presumably this one is too old for that?

You can cut it yourself, but it's a task you only get one go at: cut it too small or off-centre and it won't line up with the contacts and hence won't work (and potentially could come loose and jam the SIM tray). So I'd follow @AugieTN's advice and get the right tool for the job.

However, one other thing to think about: does the replacement phone have newer network technologies, e.g. LTE? If so you might need a new SIM anyway. So perhaps speak to your carrier: they can issue you a new one if it's needed.

If you have contacts stored on the SIM you can use the phone's Contacts app to "export" them (as a .vcf file) and then "import" them to a new phone (copy file to phone and "import"). Import and Export are usually in "Manage contacts" in your phone's contacts settings, but Huawei may do things differently (I've never owned one). If your old phone isn't working and you don't have another copy I think the new phone will be able to read the contacts off a cut-down SIM even if it needs a newer SIM for full functionality, but I've never tried so can't be certain (I gave up storing contacts on a SIM more than a decade ago - I had a SIM fail in 2011, never bothered copying contacts back into its replacement. BTW SIMs can fail, so it is best to make sure you have a copy of the contacts somewhere else).

If you store your contacts on the phone and allow them to be synched with Google then you have a backup anyway and the contacts will load into the new phone when you first sign in. But that doesn't work for contacts stored on a SIM.
 
en.wikipedia.org

SIM card - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
You can try to trim down your current SIM card yourself but I'd suggest you just contact your carrier and have them mail you new replacement SIM card. Just be sure to tell them just what type of SIM card your new phone requires.
As for eSIM, that will depend on which model phone you buy. eSIM isn't something you buy to add to your phone, your phone either supports eSIM or it doesn't. It's not a card you add, it's a chip on the phone's logic board. And on top of that, not every carrier supports eSIMs so it's a matter where both your phone and your carrier support eSIMs.
A typical SIM card retains your user account info with your carrier. But with an eSIM, there is no card involved. Your user account info is just data stored in a electronic chip.
 
Based on your posted queries, I still think you will be much better off just asking your carrier to send you a new SIM card. One that is already the size you need.
If you don't trim your current SIM card to the exact, necessary dimensions it's not going to work out and your carrier will need to send you a new card anyway. Instead of creating so much unnecessary drama, just tell them what type of SIM card you need for a new one. Cellular carriers have sent out millions of cards of various sizes and type over the years so this isn't a rare occurrence. You can waste lots of time and effort trying to buy a card trimmer (that you'll most likely use very rarely), waste money buying one, and them maybe or maybe not be successful with it. Or just ask for a new one. Most carriers don't even charge anything for their SIM cards,and even if your carrier does, it's just minimal amount,equal or less than a trimmer. If you're mistakenly assuming you also need to pay a new account fee just because you're asking for a new SIM card, that's not correct.
 
It seems that NONE of the SIM card cutters I linked even mention the mini-SIM card size of my old phone?

Does this mean they won't work to cut the SIM card down from mini-SIM to nano-SIM??? 😢 😢 😢 😢
 
AugieTN said:
I think you should just take your SIM card into your carrier to be cut. I had never heard of a Mini SIM card before. Unless you can find a SIM cutter for a Mini SIM card. The Mini SIM card is a total curveball to me.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

Did you see the specs of my old phone? It states that it has a mini SIM Card on the specs page:
"Single SIM (Mini-SIM)"

Huawei Ascend G510 - Full phone specifications

www.gsmarena.com www.gsmarena.com
 
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