How to Install an eSIM on iPhone and Android (Step by Step)

Installing an eSIM takes about two minutes. Almost every problem people hit comes from doing it in the wrong order — so the order is what this guide is really about.

Before you start

Three things, all of which are easier at home than at an airport:

• A phone that supports eSIM and is carrier-unlocked. Check your model
• Wi-Fi. You need a connection to download the profile, and the eSIM itself is not that connection yet.
• The QR code from your confirmation email.

Install at home. Activate on arrival. Those are two separate steps and keeping them separate is what makes this painless.

Installing on iPhone

1. Open Settings → Mobile Service (called Cellular or Mobile Data on older iOS versions).
2. Tap Add eSIM, then Use QR Code.
3. Point the camera at the QR code in your email. If you are reading the email on the same phone, tap Enter Details Manually and paste the activation code instead.
4. Label the line something you will recognise — "Travel" works.
5. When iOS asks which line to use for what, set Default Voice Line to your home number and Mobile Data to the travel line.
6. Turn the travel line off until you land: Settings → Mobile Service → tap the line → Turn On This Line (off).

On arrival: turn the line back on, then switch on Data Roaming for that line only.

Installing on Android

The menu names vary by manufacturer, but the path is the same.

Samsung: Settings → Connections → SIM manager → Add eSIM → Scan QR code from service provider.

Google Pixel: Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → Add SIM → Download a SIM instead? → Next → scan.

Most other Android phones: Settings → Network & internet → Mobile network → Advanced → Carrier / Add carrier → scan.

Then, on all of them:

1. Name the downloaded profile.
2. Leave it disabled until you arrive.
3. On landing, enable it and set it as the mobile data SIM.
4. Turn on roaming for that profile.

After you land: the 60-second checklist

1. Turn the travel line on.
2. Set mobile data to the travel line.
3. Turn data roaming on for the travel line.
4. Turn mobile data off on your home line. This is the step that prevents a surprise bill.
5. Toggle Airplane Mode on and off once. This forces a fresh network search.

Give it a minute. The first connection after landing is often the slowest one you will have all trip.

When it doesn't work

"No service" or no network name. Airplane mode on, wait ten seconds, off. If nothing, restart the phone. A cold start after landing fixes this more often than anything else.

The QR code will not scan. Use the manual option. Every QR code is just an activation string — SM-DP+ address plus an activation code — and both are in your email.

It connected, but there is no data. Almost always data roaming being off for the travel line, or mobile data still assigned to the home line. Check both.

"Cannot add eSIM" / "Unable to complete". Either the phone is carrier-locked, or the profile has already been installed once. An eSIM profile can normally only be installed a single time.

It worked yesterday and stopped today. Check whether the plan's data or validity has run out before assuming a fault.

The one thing not to do

Do not delete the eSIM to "start fresh". Unlike a physical SIM you cannot pop back in, a deleted profile usually cannot be reinstalled, and the plan goes with it. If something is wrong, toggle the line off and on, restart, and ask us — deleting is the one action nobody can undo.

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