Privacy: the FCC ID stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to our servers, logged, or stored. The buttons in the result open the FCC's own site in a new tab, and only you decide whether to click them.
What should I check on the FCC grant?
The grant of certification is a short public file, and five fields carry most of the value for a buyer. Work down this list once the record opens.
What is an FCC ID?
An FCC ID is the identifier the US Federal Communications Commission assigns to a radio frequency device certified for sale in the United States. It has two parts: a grantee code identifying the company that holds the authorisation, and a product code that company assigns to the specific product.
Because the equipment authorisation database is public, the ID is a key to real evidence: the grant record shows the applicant, the equipment class, the tested frequency bands, and the photographs and label artwork the applicant filed. Free primary-source detail about a model is unusual in this trade.
The FCC states the format rules in its own instructions: grantee codes beginning with a letter A to Z are three characters, grantee codes beginning with a number 2 to 9 are five characters, and a grantee code never contains a zero or a one. The product code is chosen by the grantee, runs to fourteen characters, and may contain hyphens as long as no two sit together. Source: FCC, Equipment Authorization, Grantee Code.
How do I look up an FCC ID?
Split the ID into its two parts, then type each part into its own field on the FCC's search. The FCC form takes the grantee code and the product code separately, which is where most people get stuck: you cannot paste the whole ID into one box.
The tool above does the split and gives you a copy button for each half. The search itself lives on two official pages. The simple one is the FCC ID Search page, which has the two fields plus the FCC's own format notes. The fuller one is the Equipment Authorization Search, which adds applicant name, date range, equipment class and frequency filters. Both submit as a form, so there is no shareable result link: you paste the two codes and press search.
If the search returns nothing, re-read the characters first. O and 0 look alike on a moulded label, and so do I and 1, but a grantee code contains neither 0 nor 1, so any you read in the first three or five characters is a misread letter. Then search the grantee code alone to confirm the company exists, and narrow back down.
What do the grantee code and product code mean?
The grantee code is permanent and belongs to the company. The product code is chosen per product by that same company. One company therefore has one grantee code and many product codes, which is why every certified Apple device starts with the same three letters.
Five-character codes exist because the three-character pool ran short. The FCC began issuing them on 1 May 2013, formed as a digit from two to nine followed by four alphanumeric characters, and holders of older three-character codes keep them indefinitely. Source: FCC Public Notice DA 13-669. That one rule splits any ID: look at the first character, take three if it is a letter, five if it is a digit.
| FCC ID | Grantee code | Product code | Grant holder on the FCC record |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCG-E8441A | BCG (3, starts with a letter) | E8441A | Apple Inc., Cupertino, California |
| 2ABCB-RPI5 | 2ABCB (5, starts with a digit) | RPI5 | Raspberry Pi Trading Ltd, Cambridge, United Kingdom |
Both rows were read from the FCC Equipment Authorization Search itself. The hyphen between the parts is a convention rather than a rule: older grants often show no separator at all, so treat the character count as the real boundary.
What if the device has no FCC ID?
A blank back panel usually means the label is electronic rather than absent. Most phones sold in the United States now show the ID in software instead of printing it on the housing.
Check the phone's settings first: Settings, General, Legal and Regulatory on iPhone, or Settings, About phone, Regulatory labels on Android. FCC guidance on both printed and electronic labels sits in KDB publication 784748, whose attachments cover general labelling and e-labelling.
The second explanation is that the unit was never destined for the United States. A handset built for the European Union carries a CE mark, a UK unit carries UKCA, and other markets use their own regulator's mark, none of which needs an FCC ID. Our guide to certification marks when reselling electronics by country sets out which mark to expect where. A narrower third case: equipment authorised under the Supplier's Declaration of Conformity route is not filed in the public database, so no record exists to find.
Why wholesale buyers check FCC IDs
The FCC ID is the cheapest primary-source check available on a lot of phones. It costs nothing, takes under a minute, and rests on a public government record rather than a seller's description.
It answers three questions at once. Is the model what the offer says, since the grant ties the ID to one certified product. Is the unit built for this market, since the tested bands say who the stock suits. And does the unit match the paperwork, since the grant carries the applicant's own photographs and label artwork.
What it cannot tell you is anything about the individual handset. An FCC ID describes a model, not a unit, so it says nothing about blacklist status, carrier lock, activation lock or cosmetic grade. Those are per-unit checks: the IMEI Check tool for format and checksum, a paid blacklist query for status, and a physical inspection for condition.
Frequently asked questions
What is an FCC ID?
An FCC ID is the identifier the US Federal Communications Commission assigns to a radio frequency device certified for sale in the United States. It has two parts: a grantee code that identifies the company holding the authorisation, and a product code that company assigns to the specific product. The ID is the key to that device's public certification file.
How do I search an FCC ID on the FCC website?
Split the ID into the grantee code and the product code, then enter each part in its own field on the FCC ID Search page at fcc.gov, or on the fuller Equipment Authorization Search at apps.fcc.gov. The FCC form has two separate boxes, so pasting the whole ID into one of them returns nothing. The tool above does the split and gives you both halves to copy.
What does the grantee code mean, and why are some five characters?
The grantee code identifies the company holding the equipment authorisation and is permanent, so every product that company certifies starts with the same code. Codes beginning with a letter are three characters. Codes beginning with a digit from two to nine are five characters, a format the FCC began issuing on 1 May 2013 once the three-character pool ran short. A grantee code never contains a zero or a one.
How long is the product code?
Up to fourteen characters, chosen by the grantee. It may contain hyphens, but never two in a row, and it is the whole remainder of the FCC ID after the grantee code. Because product code length varies, FCC IDs vary in total length.
My phone has no FCC ID printed on it. Is that a problem?
Usually not. Most phones sold in the United States now carry an electronic label, so look under Settings, General, Legal and Regulatory on iPhone, or Settings, About phone, Regulatory labels on Android. If nothing is there either, the unit was probably built for another market and carries that regulator's mark instead, which matters only if you are reselling into the United States.
Does a valid FCC ID prove the device is genuine?
No single check proves that. A valid ID confirms a certified model exists under that code and lets you compare the filed photographs and label artwork with the unit in your hand, which is a strong signal. It says nothing about that handset's blacklist status, lock state or condition, so treat it as one layer of a lot inspection.
Is this tool free, and is my input stored?
Free, with no signup. The parsing runs entirely in your browser in JavaScript, the FCC ID is never transmitted to us, logged or stored, and the page makes no network request of its own. The only outbound traffic is the FCC link you choose to click.
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