# DUNS to UEI On 4 April 2022 the federal government stopped using the DUNS number and switched to the SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI). Entities registered at the time were assigned a UEI automatically; it is in their SAM.gov record and in public lookups. Before April 2022, entities got a DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet before they could register in SAM.gov.Checked on 2026-11-12.Official source: [SAM.gov UEI transition](https://sam.gov/content/duns-uei) | Switch date | 4 April 2022 | | --- | --- | | Old ID | DUNS, 9 digits | | New ID | UEI, 12 characters | ## How do I find a company's UEI? Search its legal name on the [UEI lookup](https://samgovapi.io/uei-lookup). Federal systems no longer accept a DUNS number. ## What changed with the switch? Before April 2022, entities got a DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet before they could register in SAM.gov. Since the switch, SAM.gov issues the UEI itself, for free, during registration or as a UEI-only request. Award records in USAspending, exclusion records and SAM.gov registrations now carry the UEI, and older records show the UEI that was assigned at the transition. ## Do I need to do anything if I had a DUNS? No action was needed to get a UEI: SAM.gov assigned one to every registered entity. Keep your registration current and use the UEI on proposals, invoices and subaward reports. ## Related - [UEI lookup](https://samgovapi.io/uei-lookup) - [UEI number](https://samgovapi.io/glossary/uei-number)Updated 2026-11-12. Sources checked 2026-11-12.Independent. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by GSA, SAM.gov or any U.S. government agency. Registering in SAM.gov is free at sam.gov.

---

HTML version: https://samgovapi.io/guides/duns-to-uei . Markdown: https://samgovapi.io/guides/duns-to-uei.md

Independent. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by GSA, SAM.gov or any U.S. government agency. Registering in SAM.gov is free at sam.gov.

Get a free API key: https://samgovapi.io/sign-up?ref=ai-claudebot