What This Guide Covers
- The etisalat balance check code
- Checking your data balance
- Postpaid: current amount, not credit
- Checking the balance in the app
- The codes other guides get wrong
- If the menu does not answer
- Looking for something else?
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
Almost every page that answers “how to check etisalat balance” hands you a short code and stops there. That is why so many people report the code “not working”. Etisalat does publish a route from the dialer, and it is a menu rather than a code that prints a number. Once you know which entry to pick, it takes about ten seconds and costs nothing.
The etisalat balance check code
On its own Dial *101# page, Etisalat lists what the menu contains. The very first entry under Prepaid is Credit enquiry — that is your balance.
- Open the phone’s dialer on the Etisalat SIM.
- Type
*101#exactly, including the star and the hash, and press call. - The e& self-service menu opens on screen. Choose Credit enquiry.
- Your remaining credit is shown.
There is no separate code that prints the figure by itself. That single fact explains most of the frustration around the etisalat balance check code: people dial something they read elsewhere, get an error or an unrelated menu, and conclude the service is broken.
Checking your data balance
Credit and data are two different things, and they sit in two different entries. The etisalat data balance check is the second item on the same prepaid menu: Allowances enquiry. That is where the remaining minutes, SMS and data in your bundle are listed.
So from one dial you get both answers: *101# → Credit enquiry for money, *101# → Allowances enquiry for what is left of the package you already paid for. If your data has stopped working while you still have credit, it is almost always the second screen you want, not the first.
Postpaid: current amount, not credit
On a postpaid line the question changes shape. There is no credit to run down — you are billed at the end of the cycle. The same *101# menu therefore shows something different: Etisalat lists current amount for postpaid, alongside Smiles points and FLTE usage, plus billing and payment information with last month’s bill, payments received and a bill summary.
So if you are on postpaid and looking for a “balance”, what you actually want is the current amount: how much this cycle has cost you so far. Allowances and add-on enquiries live in the same place.
Checking the balance in the app
The dialer is the fastest route when you have no data connection. When you do have one, the etisalat UAE app shows the same figures on the account screen for the line you are signed in with, and it keeps the history that a USSD menu cannot.
Both routes read the same account, so they cannot disagree. If they appear to, you are almost certainly signed into the app with a different line than the SIM you dialled from — worth checking before contacting support.
Self-service menus only respond on an active, registered SIM. If a prepaid line has lapsed for non-use, or a SIM was never properly activated against an Emirates ID, the menu may return nothing at all. Re-activate the line first, then try again.
The codes other guides get wrong
Search results for this question are full of short codes that no Etisalat page lists — *135*0# and *101*1*3*3# among them. *121# is a different case and worth getting right: it is an Etisalat code, but Etisalat publishes it for the Visitor Line, its prepaid product for visitors, together with 121 as a voice line. Five, a separate consumer brand on the same e& network, publishes *121# as its balance code as well. So if the code does nothing for you, the likely reason is simply that your line is neither a Visitor Line nor a Five line — on a standard Wasel prepaid line the route is *101#.
The rule we apply here is simple: if a code does not appear on the operator’s own page, it does not appear in this guide. Everything above comes from Etisalat’s published menu, and the sources are named at the end.
If the menu does not answer
A few things stop *101# from returning anything:
- No network at all. USSD runs over the signalling channel, so it works without data or credit — but it still needs a tower. One bar is enough; flight mode is not.
- A lapsed or unregistered SIM, as described above.
- Dual-SIM handsets. The code runs on whichever line the dialer is set to. If the phone carries two SIMs, check which one the call would go out on before you blame the code.
- A data-only SIM in a router or tablet has no dialer at all. Those lines are managed from the app or the web account.
If none of that applies, Etisalat Customer Care is on 101 from the same line.
Looking for something else?
- Not sure what your own number is? That is a different entry in the same menu — see how to check your own mobile number in the UAE.
- On du rather than Etisalat? Our du guide covers what du actually publishes.
- Wondering which network a number belongs to? The prefix only shows which block was allocated — see the UAE prefix lookup.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the etisalat balance check code?
*101#. It opens the e& self-service menu rather than printing a figure; choose Credit enquiry for your remaining credit. Etisalat publishes this menu on its own Dial *101# page.
How do I check my etisalat data balance?
Dial *101# and choose Allowances enquiry. That entry lists what remains of the minutes, SMS and data in your bundle, which is separate from your money balance.
Does checking the balance cost anything?
No. The menu runs over the network’s signalling channel, so it needs neither credit nor a data connection — only network coverage.
Why does *121# not work on my Etisalat line?
Because it is tied to particular products rather than to every Etisalat line. Etisalat lists *121# (and the voice line 121) for the Visitor Line, and the Five brand uses the same code. On a standard Wasel prepaid or postpaid line, use *101# and choose Credit enquiry.
How do I check the balance on a postpaid line?
Postpaid lines carry no credit. The same *101# menu shows your current amount for the cycle so far, together with billing and payment information.
Can I check the balance without a dialer, for a data SIM?
Yes. A data-only SIM in a router or tablet has no dialer, so use the etisalat UAE app or the web account for that line instead.
The app and the code show different numbers. Which is right?
Both read the same account, so they should agree. A mismatch almost always means the app is signed in to a different line than the SIM you dialled from.
Sources
- Etisalat (e&) — the Dial *101# page lists Credit enquiry and Allowances enquiry under Prepaid, and current amount plus billing and payment information under Postpaid. Checked 24 October 2026.
- Etisalat Visitor Line — the Visitor Line page lists
*121#,*101#and the voice line 121 for checking balance. Checked 26 October 2026. - Five — Five’s home page gives
*121#as its own balance code. Checked 24 October 2026.
Operator menus change. Where a step here differs from what you see on your handset, the operator’s own page is the authority, not this guide.