Samsung appliance serial numbers place a single letter for the year and a following character for the month at the same fixed position, and the two independent references checked for this page actually agree on that position — the 8th and 9th characters of a 15-character serial — but they genuinely disagree with each other on which letter means which year, even for recent appliances. One reference's table and the other's starting point produce different years from the identical letter, and this page could not resolve that contradiction with confidence, so it does not publish a computed date.
Samsung's own support site offers a serial-number lookup tool that returns the manufacture date directly rather than publishing the underlying formula, and one of the two independent references itself recommends that tool over a manual reading — advice this page repeats rather than overriding with a guess. This page states where the code sits so a reader can at least locate it, without computing a specific date from it.
Try it
Decode your own serial number
What this covers
- Samsung major appliances with a 15-character serial number, whose 8th character carries the year and 9th character carries the month
- Locating the date code's confirmed position for reference
- Using Samsung's own official serial-number lookup tool for a confirmed date
What it does not cover
- ×A computed year or month from this page's own reading — the sources found for the exact letter table disagree with each other
- ×Any assumption that either contradicting source's table is more authoritative than the other absent Samsung's own confirmation
- ×A serial number shorter than the full 15-character structure both sources describe, which does not fit either source's position rule
Try in this order
0 of 4 completedLocate the full serial number
ReversibleBoth sources describe a 15-character structure; a shorter or partial serial does not fit either source's position rule.
Locate the 8th and 9th characters
ReversibleBoth independent sources checked here agree the year letter is the 8th character and the month character is the 9th, even though they disagree on what each letter means.
Use Samsung's own official lookup tool for a confirmed date
ReversibleEnter the full serial number at Samsung's own support site, which returns the manufacture date directly rather than requiring a manual formula.
Don't trust a single self-computed reading for anything important
ReversibleBecause the two sources for a manual formula disagree, treat any manually computed date as unconfirmed until checked against Samsung's own tool.
Evidence ledger
Sources behind this answer
Where the manufacturer's article stops. Both cited sources agree the date code sits at the 8th (year) and 9th (month) characters of a 15-character serial, but they disagree with each other on the letter-to-year mapping. Neither is Samsung's own published text. This page reports the disagreement rather than resolving it by choosing one.
One of two independent sources found for Samsung's date code. Agrees with the second source that the year and month sit at the 8th and 9th characters of a 15-character serial, but gives a different letter-to-year table. Verified Sept. 10, 2026.
The second of two independent sources; agrees on the same 8th/9th-character position but gives a different letter-to-year starting point, and itself recommends Samsung's own official serial lookup over a manual formula. Verified Sept. 10, 2026.
Exact questions
Questions about Decode a Samsung appliance serial number
Is there a formula to get the year from a Samsung serial number?+
Not a reliable one. Published letter-to-year tables for Samsung disagree with each other, even for recent appliances, so any single date could be wrong.
Is there a reliable way to get my Samsung appliance's exact date?+
Yes — Samsung's own support site offers a serial-number lookup tool that returns the manufacture date directly, which this page recommends over any manual formula.
Does a shortened Samsung serial number work with any decode method?+
No. Both sources checked here describe a full 15-character structure; a shorter or partial serial doesn't fit either source's position rule.
Where do I find the Samsung appliance serial number?+
Look for the rating plate or label on the unit, on the label inside the door or on the back. Photograph it before you start, since the label can be hard to read once the appliance is installed.