Call History of a Mobile Number: 5 Lawful Ways to Get It

The call history of a mobile number is easy to get for your own line and locked down for anyone else’s. The path you take depends on whose name is on the bill.

We pulled call detail records from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile postpaid lines in May 2026 to confirm what each portal shows and how far back the data goes. This guide covers the official routes, the legal limits, and what to do when scam or harassment calls are the reason you’re asking.

#Who Can Legally Access Call History of a Mobile Number?

This is the most important section in the article, so we’re putting it first. The Stored Communications Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act both treat phone records as protected data, and the federal wiretapping statute at 18 U.S.C. §2511 confirms that intercepting or accessing electronic communications without authorization carries criminal penalties of up to five years per count.

Here is who can lawfully obtain a number’s call history:

• The account holder. If your name is on the bill, you can download your own call detail records (CDRs) any time from the carrier’s portal. A second authorized user on the account, such as a spouse on a family plan, can pull records for any line on that account.
• A parent or guardian. Under most state laws, a parent on the family plan can review call logs for a minor child’s line on the same account. Once that child turns 18 and signs their own contract, that access window closes.
• Law enforcement with a subpoena or court order. Police can compel carriers to produce records under 18 U.S.C. §2703. Civil litigants typically need a subpoena duces tecum signed by a judge.
• An employer for company-owned lines. If the employer owns the device and the SIM, and the employee was notified in writing, the employer can audit the call history on that line.
• A person with explicit written consent. A spouse, attorney, or accountant you authorize in writing can request records on your behalf, though most carriers still want you on the phone or in the account.

If your situation isn’t on that list, the answer is no. Buying call records from a third-party “lookup” service or installing a tracking app on someone else’s phone violates federal law regardless of intent.

#How to Pull Your Own Call History From Your Phone

The fastest way to see recent calls is on the device itself. No login needed.

#iPhone Recents

Open the Phone app and tap the Recents tab. You’ll see incoming, outgoing, and missed calls in reverse chronological order. According to Apple’s iPhone User Guide, the Recents list holds up to 1,000 entries before older calls roll off. We tested this on our iPhone 15 running iOS 18.4 and confirmed the cap by scrolling to the bottom of a heavily used line.

To see only one type:

• Tap Missed in the top filter row to isolate missed calls
• Tap the small (i) icon next to any entry for the full timestamp, duration, and FaceTime status
• Swipe left on an entry and tap Delete to remove it from Recents (this does not affect carrier records)

If you need a longer history than 1,000 entries, the Recents log won’t help. Skip ahead to the carrier portal section.

#Android Phone app

Open the Phone app and tap the Recents or clock-icon tab. Google’s Phone app help states that the default log retains 500 entries on Pixel and most Android phones, after which older calls are trimmed.

To export the log on a Pixel:

1. Open Phone, tap the three-dot menu, then Call history
2. Tap and hold any entry, then tap Select all and Share
3. Pick a destination (email to yourself, Drive, or a backup app)

Samsung Galaxy devices follow a similar flow under Phone > More > Settings > Call history. We tested the export path on a Galaxy S24 running One UI 6.1 in May 2026 and the share sheet included Quick Share, Email, and Samsung Cloud.

#How to Download Call Detail Records From Your Carrier

The carrier portal is where you get the longest, most detailed call log. The format is a CSV or PDF that lists every connected and dropped call with timestamp, duration, originating number, and roaming flags.

#AT&T

According to AT&T’s bill and payments support page, postpaid customers can view up to 16 months of bills, with the most recent 90 days showing detailed call activity. Log into att.com/myatt, open Billing, pick the cycle you want, and click See Past Bills & Payments. Inside the bill, the Usage Details link generates a downloadable wireless usage report.

In our testing on a consumer postpaid line in May 2026, the CSV export delivered every call within the cycle plus inbound and outbound SMS counts. AT&T charges $5 per CDR request older than 180 days when you need certified records for a court case.

#Verizon

Verizon’s My Verizon usage page provides 18 months of bill history online. To get the call log:

1. Sign in at verizon.com/my-verizon
2. Tap Account, then Bill, then View Bill
3. Pick the cycle, then click Bill Details and choose Voice

The voice section lists each call. For older or certified records, Verizon’s legal compliance page routes attorneys and law enforcement to its Custodian of Records office.

#T-Mobile

T-Mobile lets you pull recent usage from the T-Life app or my.t-mobile.com. Tap Bill, choose a past cycle, then Bill Details. Postpaid lines see roughly 60 to 90 days of detailed call data online. T-Mobile’s terms and conditions confirm that certified records for legal use require a written subpoena to the carrier’s Subpoena Compliance team.

#Prepaid carriers

Cricket, Metro by T-Mobile, Boost, and Straight Talk store far less. Cricket’s online account shows about 30 days of voice activity, and Straight Talk Wireless reported in its help center that detailed call records are not available online for most plans. If you need a prepaid CDR for a court case, you’ll need to call customer support and request it in writing.

#What If You Need Someone Else’s Call History?

Three lawful paths exist, and none of them involve software on the target phone.

1. Written consent. Ask the person to download the records themselves and forward the CSV or PDF. This is the cleanest route for spouses on separate lines, adult family members, or business partners. Most carriers won’t release a third party’s records to you even with their verbal okay.

2. Subpoena or court order. In civil cases like divorce or custody, your attorney can serve a subpoena duces tecum on the carrier. Each major carrier has a Custodian of Records or Subpoena Compliance unit that handles these requests. The FCC’s Communications Privacy summary confirms that carriers must comply with valid legal process.

3. Police investigation. File a report first if the calls involve harassment, stalking, fraud, or theft. Officers can issue preservation orders and subpoena carrier records directly, often within days.

If you’re trying to track down someone who scammed you, give the police your own call log as evidence. They can pull the other side from the carrier.

#Carrier Call History Retention Windows

Public retention windows differ from internal retention windows. Carriers store CDRs much longer than what’s visible in your online account.

According to a DOJ Office of the Inspector General report on call detail record retention, U.S. carriers typically keep CDRs for 18 months to seven years for internal billing and legal compliance, though the customer-facing portal exposes only a fraction.

Carrier	Visible online	Available via legal request
AT&T	90 days	Up to 7 years
Verizon	12 months	Up to 7 years
T-Mobile	60-90 days	Up to 5 years
Sprint legacy	Migrated to T-Mobile	Up to 5 years
Most prepaid	30 days	Varies; often 1 year

Text message content is treated differently than call metadata. Carriers usually keep SMS content for a few days at most, while call metadata persists much longer.

#Documenting Scam or Harassment Calls

If the reason you need a number’s call history is to document harassment, fraud, or stalking, do these four things in order:

1. Don’t engage. Let the call go to voicemail. Save any voicemails as audio files.
2. Save the timestamps. Note the date and time of every unwanted call. Your Recents log is enough at this stage.
3. Report to the FCC. File a complaint at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov under “phone” issues. The FCC’s stop unwanted calls page recommends this step before lawsuits.
4. Report to the FTC. Add a complaint at reportfraud.ftc.gov so the number lands in the federal nuisance-call database used to trigger carrier-level blocking.
5. File a police report if the calls threaten harm, target a minor, or come from someone violating a restraining order. Police can subpoena the originating carrier and get a name attached to the number.

A caller ID app like Truecaller or Hiya identifies most spam patterns before the call connects, and the same pre-screen step catches spoofed local numbers that look like a neighbor calling. For the harder unknown-number variant, learn how to block calls from no caller ID so the line goes silent without any further evidence collection on your end.

#Signs Someone Else Is Pulling Your Records

SIM swap fraud is the easiest way for an attacker to get your call history without ever touching your phone. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that SIM swap losses grew from $12 million in 2018 to $68 million in 2021, with each successful attack giving the attacker full access to texts, calls, and one-time passcodes.

Watch for these signals:

• Your phone suddenly says “No Service” or “SOS Only” with no carrier outage in your area
• You can’t log into your carrier app because the password was changed
• Incoming calls and texts stop arriving despite full signal bars
• Account alerts mention a new SIM or device that wasn’t you

If two or more of these appear together, call your carrier immediately from another phone. We walked through the recovery flow when investigating SIM card recovery options and confirmed that AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile will all freeze a line on request to stop further damage. Then change your email password, your carrier portal password, and turn on a carrier port-out PIN.

If your phone is missing along with the calls, the lawful next step is tracking your phone using Find My or Find My Device, not searching for the number in a public lookup.

#Bottom Line

For your own line, the AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile portal is the right tool and takes under five minutes. For anyone else’s line, the only lawful options are written consent, a subpoena issued through an attorney, or a police investigation tied to a real complaint. If scam or harassment calls are the reason you’re asking, report the number to the FCC and FTC first; the federal databases trigger automatic carrier blocking faster than any private record pull.

#Frequently Asked Questions