- Written by ApplianceWorth Editorial Team
- Technically reviewed by Victor — appliance technician
- Applies to Samsung appliances
- Date formats covered 2
- Sources Manufacturer service documentation, field-repair experience and owner-confirmed serial numbers · Methodology · Report a correction
How Samsung serial numbers encode the date
Samsung does not print the manufacture date in plain text on most units — it is encoded into the serial number. The decoder recognises 2 formats for this brand:
Format 1: Repeating letter date code
The 8th character of the serial number is the year code. The 9th character is the month.
Applies to serial numbers of at least 9 characters.
| Year code | Means |
|---|---|
| R | 2001 · 2021 |
| T | 2002 · 2022 |
| W | 2003 · 2023 |
| X | 2004 · 2024 |
| Y | 2005 · 2025 |
| A | 2006 |
| L | 2006 |
| P | 2007 |
| Q | 2008 |
| S | 2009 |
| Z | 2010 |
| B | 2011 |
| C | 2012 |
| D | 2013 |
| F | 2014 |
| G | 2015 |
| H | 2016 |
| J | 2017 |
| K | 2018 |
| M | 2019 |
| N | 2020 |
Month codes for this format
| Code | Month |
|---|---|
| 1 | January |
| 2 | February |
| 3 | March |
| 4 | April |
| 5 | May |
| 6 | June |
| 7 | July |
| 8 | August |
| 9 | September |
| A | October |
| B | November |
| C | December |
Format 2: Repeating letter date code
The 4th character of the serial number is the year code. The 5th character is the month.
Applies to serial numbers 5–12 characters long.
| Year code | Means |
|---|---|
| R | 2001 · 2021 |
| T | 2002 · 2022 |
| W | 2003 · 2023 |
| X | 2004 · 2024 |
| Y | 2005 · 2025 |
| A | 2006 |
| L | 2006 |
| P | 2007 |
| Q | 2008 |
| S | 2009 |
| Z | 2010 |
| B | 2011 |
| C | 2012 |
| D | 2013 |
| F | 2014 |
| G | 2015 |
| H | 2016 |
| J | 2017 |
| K | 2018 |
| M | 2019 |
| N | 2020 |
Month codes for this format
| Code | Month |
|---|---|
| 1 | January |
| 2 | February |
| 3 | March |
| 4 | April |
| 5 | May |
| 6 | June |
| 7 | July |
| 8 | August |
| 9 | September |
| A | October |
| B | November |
| C | December |
Worked examples
Each example below is decoded by the same engine that powers the tool on this page, so what you see here is exactly what you would get by typing it in.
This tool returns November 2015 · high confidence
Sent in by a visitor whose lookup was returning nothing; the decoder now reads it correctly.
Why the year can be ambiguous
Samsung reuses the same year character across repeating cycles, so one character on its own cannot pin down an absolute year. When that happens the tool picks the most recent year that has already occurred, marks the result medium confidence, and lists the other years the same code could mean.
Where to find the Samsung serial number
The serial number is printed on the rating label, usually alongside the model number. Depending on the appliance it may be inside the door frame, under the lid, behind a drawer or on the rear panel. Our label location guide shows where to look for each appliance type.
Samsung is a trademark of its respective owner. ApplianceWorth is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by any manufacturer.