Samsung · Knox Status

Samsung Knox Check

Knox Guard and enterprise MDM both lock a Galaxy remotely, and a factory reset clears neither. Check what is recorded against the IMEI before you buy a used or ex-corporate handset.

15-digit IMEI

Dial *#06# on the handset to display its IMEI.

This check runs against a live device database. Create a free account to run it.

Takes a moment, and your results are saved to your account.

Create free account I already have one

Two Locks

Two Knox Locks, Neither of Them Yours to Clear

Samsung Knox is a security platform built into Galaxy hardware rather than bolted on in software. Its workplace side is Mobile Device Management: an employer's IT administrators configure, restrict and lock the handsets the company owns, from wherever they happen to be.

Knox Guard is the other half, and the one that catches private buyers. Carriers and retailers use it on handsets that are leased or still being paid off. It can be applied after a sale as well as before one, so a phone that worked perfectly the day you collected it can lock later, over an agreement you were never party to.

Neither lock is yours to clear, and neither is touched by a factory reset. Whoever applied it has to release it, which puts the outcome in the hands of a company or a carrier you have no relationship with. That is the argument for checking the number while you can still walk away.

What a Result Can Say

Clean

Nothing enrolled — no Knox Guard, no MDM

Knox Guard Active

A carrier or finance lock is set against it

MDM

MDM Enrolled

Managed by a company, with policies applied

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Knox Guard or Knox MDM — which one am I looking at?

Knox Guard is the retail and carrier lock, used on devices sold on finance or lease, and it can lock the screen from a distance. Knox MDM is the workplace one: an employer managing a company handset with app restrictions, Wi-Fi policies and security settings. Both limit what the phone will do in your hands, and each is released by a different party.

Can I get Knox removed myself?

No. Knox Guard comes off only when the carrier or retailer that applied it releases it, and an MDM enrolment only when the company IT administrator removes the device from their estate. A reset clears neither. That is precisely why the check belongs before the purchase rather than after it.

What is the Knox counter, and does tripping it matter?

Knox includes a hardware fuse that trips the first time custom firmware or root access is detected. Once it reads 0x1 it cannot be reset, and Samsung treats the warranty on that handset as void from then on. The check can surface this, which matters if you are being sold a phone as unmodified.

Why would a second-hand Galaxy still be enrolled?

Because company fleets get sold on. Businesses run Knox to enforce security policy, keep data from leaking and wipe a handset that goes missing. When those phones reach the resale market the enrolment sometimes travels with them, because the device was disposed of without being taken off the management console first.

What does a clean Knox result actually prove?

That no Knox Guard lock and no MDM enrolment are recorded against that IMEI at the moment it is checked. It is the best evidence available before a sale, and a straight seller has no reason to refuse it. It cannot tell you that the finance agreement behind the phone has been settled, so treat it as one check among several rather than a clearance certificate.

The seller says a factory reset will sort it out. Is that true?

It is not. Knox locks sit below the operating system, so wiping the phone changes nothing about them. If a handset is showing a Knox Guard screen or a management profile and the fix on offer is a reset, that is the point to stop.