The company Verizon is a big provider of broadband and telecommunication services which started operations in the United States in 1983. It excelled in its circle since then and started to knock out the ‘Wireline’ by its ‘Wireless’ in 2011 because many phone companies had run a contract with them. But the users have to activate a Verizon phone first before they can fully use it.

How to Activate a Verizon Phone

To save time, Verizon recommends to try activating the device yourself rather than going to their store for activation. Here are the different methods on how to activate your phone. You can choose in any of these:

Go Online (This will work to those that have an account on Verizon)
1. First, go to VerizonWireless.com
2. In the right upper corner, you can see the “Sign in to MyVerizon” then click the link.
3. Log into your account by entering your registered username and password.
4. On the left side, you will see the “My Phone” tab. Click it.
5. On the right side, click the “Activate Phone” option.
6. If it is a new phone, click the “Activate New” and if it is an old phone, choose and click the “Activate Equipment.”

Activating a Verizon Phone Offline

If you don’t have an account in Verizon, you can follow these steps.
1. In your new phone, dial *288 directly
2. Use the keypad of your mobile phone to press 3.
3. Wait for 1- 5 minutes and your phone will be programmed.

Entering ESN (this will work for switching phones)

1. Open the back of your phone and remove the battery.

2. You will see the ESN numbers and write it on a piece of paper (make sure you wrote the correct one).
3. In your phone, dial the numbers 1-888-294-6804 and when you heard a prompt, dial your ten digit mobile phone number. When there is a customer service personnel that answered the call, tell him that you are requesting to activate your phone.
4. The customer service personnel will ask you security questions. Answer them.
5. They will ask you for the ESN number located at the back of your phone.
6. Wait for what the customer service representative will instruct you to do and follow carefully. They will tell you to turn off your phone and turn it on again.
7. Dial *228 in your phone and it will be programmed for the minimum of 60 seconds.

Activating Phone Replacement

1. Verizon will send you a phone replacement through mail. Open the package and don’t throw the box because you will use it later when your defective phone is ready to be sent back to you.
2. Using Verizon back up assistant, transfer your contacts, photos and applications to your new phone. This is a toll free.
3. Delete all the data in your phone. It means that you have to delete text messages, emails, and calls.
4. Perform a “Hard Set”. This will return all the data and information to the phone about where you bought it at the first time. You can find it in the “SETTINGS”
5. After performing a hard set, remove the memory card from the phone and place it in your new phone.
6. Dial *288. Now press send. You must follow the prompt. If you are a prepaid user, press *22898 and after that, press send and 2 in the keypad.
7. Next is to follow the method number 2 (Activating Offline)
8. For the moment, it is also a big help if you download a PDF copy of instructions on how to activate your phone from Verizon website. They have instruction for specific phones.

Call Verizon customer support

If your attempts to activate your phone were unsuccessful, you may call the Verizon’s customer support by dialling (800) 922-0204. You may borrow a phone from your friends to perform this since your phone is not yet activated.

Go to Verizon Store

Go to the nearest Verizon store so you can personally get a help from their customer assistance in activating your phone.

If you want to also find more information about compatible apps that goes with your new verizon phone, click here.

The last thing to remember here is once your phone is activated, never forget to check your phone if everything is ok. Test if you can make a call. You should even try sending messages.