What dose it mean to "lock" or "unlock" a phone?

[michaelnosebaseball]

bc i saw a lot of questions with this and it confused me

[lot_a_trouble]

it means if it is locked, you cant dial any numbers.. ie.accidentally calling 911

[Susan B]

its so if your phone is in your pocket or some where that none of the buttons would mess up ur phone and also so its harder for people to steel your phone and use it. usually there is a code or a special button combo you have to use to lock and unlock ur phone

[ºoº Ericka ºoº]

if my phone is from at&t and it's locked, it can only be used on the at&t network. if i switch to verizon, it will have to be "UNlocked" so it can be used there. to unlock it, you will need to contact your service provider. if it's unlocked, you can use it with any network, such as verizon, firefly, etc. basically, it will work on all networks.

[jay]

It restricts which country your phone will work in and which phone company network you can use the phone with and which SIM card you can use with the phone.

[happilyengaged]

i think its so somebody else cant get on, make all kinda of call w/out u knowing it and get in to ur private stuff
ask the cell phone dealer. thats best bet

[lissa]

It has to do with your phone's keypad. If you lock your phone, the keys cannot be accidentally pushed. If unlocked, you can push the keys and make calls, play games, etc.

Have you ever gotten a phone call only to hear background noise. Someone didn't lock their phone, probably put the phone in their pocket or purse and through normal daily movement, buttons got pushed.

This happens to me often. My husband wears his phone on a belt clip, so even if he bumps into someone else (or something like that) the "send" key can be pushed. Whoever he called last is now getting another "call."

[Esspyca]

I'm pretty sure the guy is not talking about his keyboard :P

Like he said, a locked phone will prevent you form switching carrier and with some of them, it will also block some data transfer feature to make you buy your ringtones and other downloadable content only from their site ..

Thats nasty ...