How to activate my giffgaff SIM card

You have to activate your giffgaff SIM to be able to use it. Follow our step-by-step guide:


3 Things You need to activate your giffgaff SIM card

  • A giffgaff SIM card
  • O2 / Unlocked phone
  • A payment method
How to activate giffgaff SIM

You will be able to test the signal strength before spending any money by inserting the SIM in your unlocked phone, however, payment is required to activate your giffgaff SIM card. You can make the payment by credit or debit card, or visit your local shop and get a giffgaff top-up voucher. We also accept O2 top-up vouchers - as giffgaff runs on the O2 network.

Minimum payment activation amount

  • If activating your SIM by topping up credit only, the minimum payment is £10.
  • If activating a SIM by the direct purchase of a goodybag, the minimum payment is £6 (if you use a debit card/ credit card) or £10 if you are using a voucher. This applies both to "referral" or "free SIMs".

If you order your giffgaff SIM card on our website, you will get £5 free credit bonus after activation.

Before you get started, make sure that your phone is unlocked and that you have coverage where you are.

Start by inserting the SIM card into your phone:

Signal Check giffgaff

 See a signal? Great, you can now activate your SIM card.

No Signal giffgaff
  • It could be due to your mobile phone being locked to your previous provider. Do not worry, we have a helpful guide which gives you advice on how to unlock your phone in our unlockapedia section.
  • If your iPhone has been previously unlocked, you may have to synchronize with iTunes to complete the unlock.
  • If your mobile phone is unlocked, you may want to check the coverage in your area.
  • In case your giffgaff SIM is damaged, try inserting the SIM card into another mobile phone to check if there is a data connection symbol or a signal bar. Now dial * 100 #, if your phone does not show you any message on the screen, then you must order another giffgaff SIM card.
Step 1

Click on the link below to begin the activation process.


Activate your SIM
Step 2

Enter your activation code and click on the "Activate your SIM" button


How to activate giffgaff SIM

The 6 digits activation code can be found on the plastic card that contains the giffgaff SIM.

In the case of the card that you can see in the following image, the Activation Code is 5PKJ46.

Activation Code giffgaff SIM

In the image below, you can see that we have entered our Activation Code (5PKJ46) in the "Activate your SIM" button tab.

Activate your SIM button


In case you have lost your Activation Code, you have to use the 13 digits code printed on the SIM card itself, just before 4Ggg6.

13 digits code giffgaff SIM
Step 3

Register or login

If you still do not have a Giffgaff account, you must create one now.


Register or login on giffgaff
Step 4

Select your deal

You can select a monthly plan (Goodybag) or you can just top up and have airtime / PAYG credit. You will be able to exchange the credit for a goodybag if you decide to do that.


Select a giffgaff monthly plan
Step 5

Select your payment method

You can use a credit / debit card, or a voucher.

If you have chosen a Goodybag deal, you have the option to renew the same Goodybag every month or to change it from "My giffgaff" on the official Giffgaff website. If you have chosen credit value, you can choose the auto top-up option.

The following credit / debit cards are accepted: Visa credit / debit (including Electron), MasterCard credit / debit (including Switch). Giffgaff doesn't accept payments with American Express or Diners Club. If you don't have another card, you will have to buy a top-up voucher.


Select your giffgaff ayment method

Click on the "Voucher" option and enter your Voucher code numbers and personal data.

If the goodybag deal you have chosen is more expensive than the value of the voucher, your voucher will automatically become credit. If the goodybag is cheaper than the value of the "voucher", the remaining credit will be available as airtime credit.

After activating your giffgaff SIM card, you can buy a monthly goodybag with your coupon using the 43430 Top-up service. Otherwise, if you redeem it on the Internet, it will automatically become airtime credit.

You can then choose to exchange your credit for a goodybag.

Activate giffgff SIM with Voucher Code
Step 6

Activation confirmed

If you have correctly entered your personal and bank details in the previous step, after clicking on the "Activate your SIM" button, the activation of your Giffgaff sim card will be successfully completed.


  How to activate my giffgaff SIM - FAQ



Can I activate a giffgaff SIM without paying?

If you want to change to giffgaff, and you need to have a mobile number or transfer your current number to giffgaff, but you do not want to start consuming calls or data at the moment, we recommend the following:

To complete the sim activation process, You have to add airtime credit or a Goodybag to activate your SIM card.

Unfortunately, you cannot activate your giffgaff SIM card without making the first payment of at least £10.

To avoid losing that money from your first recharge, you can activate your SIM card by adding £10 or more Airtime Credit.

The credit will not time-expire and can be exchanged for a Goodybag later.

Keep your mobile data turned off or it will quickly eat your credit.


How do I know if my giffgaff sim is activated?

Activation can take between 30 minutes and 24 hours. Once activation is complete, You can check if your SIM has been activated by logging in to My giffgaff page. Your mobile number will be displayed here: https://giffgaff.com/dashboard

If your giffgaff number appears correctly in your giffgaff account (under your username), but you can't get any signal at all, your mobile phone is probably locked, or you may (on rare occasions) have a damaged sim.

Remember that to activate a giffgaff SIM card and use it, you must use an unlocked or O2 mobile phone.

In case no phone number appears in your giffgaff account, your activation has not been completed.

If activation is not completed after 24 hours please raise the issue with a giffgaff agent, as only they can look into this. To contact an agent, copy and access the following link: https://giffgaff.com/support/ask/activations.


What is the minimum amount to activate a giffgaff SIM?

It is very nice to see that you want to join giffgaff and activate your new SIM card. A purchase is required when activating a giffgaff SIM card.

To complete the activation of the giffgaff SIM card, you will need to make a payment with a £10 minimum top-up.

You can top up your SIM card using either your debit / credit card, PayPal, or by buying a top-up Voucher.


Problems activating your giffgaff SIM card?

There are a few reasons that might be causing problems for you. Keep in mind that in some situations it can take up to 24 hours. So if you have already activated, it could just be a bit slow:

Check you have got the activation code right. It can be easy to misread it or type the wrong thing.

If you are trying to activate a second SIM under your giffgaff account, it will not work. You need to create a separate account for each giffgaff SIM.

Make sure that if you are trying to activate your SIM with a voucher, that the voucher has enough credit for the Goodybag you are trying to buy.

If you are still stuck, we would recommend asking our giffgaff community.


Have you lost your activation code?

Pop over to giffgaff.com/activate to start activating your giffgaff sim card.

Do not worry. If you have lost the SIM cardholder, you can activate your giffgaff SIM card using the SIM serial number (SSN), which is printed on the back of the SIM itself. This is either 13 digits starting '00' or 19 digits starting '8944'.

You have to enter the SSN code in the same tab of the "Activate your SIM" button and start the activation process by clicking on this button.

You can also obtain the activation code by typing the SIM serial number (SSN) on the tab "Enter SIM number or code" that you will find at this link: www.mtrak.co.uk