This document provides instructions for cutting larger SIM cards like MiniSIM and MicroSIM cards down to the smaller NanoSIM card size. It cautions that cutting the SIM card may destroy it and should only be done at your own risk. The instructions include printing a template, taping the SIM card to the template, drawing cut lines, carefully cutting along the lines with scissors, and filing down the edges. Dimensions for the different SIM card sizes are also noted.

1. MiniSIM (2FF) to MicroSIM (3FF)
MiniSIM (2FF) to NanoSIM (4FF)
MicroSIM (3FF) to NanoSIM (4FF)
How To Cut SIM Cards
2 cm
1inch
released by Christian von der Ropp under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Follow these instructions at your
own risk. Cutting your SIM card
may destroy it!
1. Print this page at 100% scale on a
DIN A4 page.
2. Fix your SIM card with double-
sided tape to this template.
3. Use a ruler and a marker to draw
the cut lines onto your SIM card.
4. Cut your SIM card along the drawn
lines using scissors. Cutting
contacts usually does not impact
functionality as the actual chip below
is much smaller.
5. Round the edges by grinding them
with sandpaper or a file.
Including tolerance defined by ETSI specifications (+30µm/
-70µm) NanoSIMs (0.67mm) are just 60µm thinner than
previous SIMs (0.76mm), which corresponds to the
thickness of a human hair and thus does not make a
difference in practice, notably not on the iPhone 5.
release 1.11 (21 September 2012)
actual chip
unused contacts C4 & C8
(not present on many SIMs)
photo: © SecretDisc (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)