How to install a travel eSIM on iPhone and Android

A travel eSIM installs in a few minutes, and the best place to do it is at home. The plan does not start counting until the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination, so installing early costs you nothing. Leaving it for the airport can cost you a lot: the download needs an internet connection, and the airport you land at is the worst place to find you don't have one.

Before you start: check your phone

Most phones from 2019 onward take an eSIM: iPhone XS and newer, Pixel 3 and newer, and recent Samsung Galaxy S and Z models. Two things to confirm before you buy:

• It supports eSIM. Open the phone app and dial *#06#. If an EID number shows up, your phone supports eSIM. You can also look your model up in our compatibility checker.
• It is network-unlocked. Phones bought on a contract or payment plan are sometimes locked to one carrier, and a locked phone can't use a travel eSIM even if the model supports it. On iPhone, Settings › General › About › Carrier Lock should say “No SIM restrictions”. If yours is locked, ask your carrier to unlock it before you travel.

Install at home, over Wi-Fi

Your QR code is on screen as soon as payment clears, and a copy arrives by email within minutes. It is also on your order page, which you can open any time with your order reference.

The camera needs something to point at, so open the email on a laptop or a second phone. If the email is on the phone you are installing to, skip to installing manually below.

On iPhone

1. Add the eSIM: Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → Use QR Code. On some versions the menu reads Mobile Service or Mobile Data.
2. Scan the code. The phone downloads the profile over Wi-Fi in a few seconds.
3. Label the line: call it something you will recognise later, like “Travel”. You can rename it any time.
4. Keep your own number for calls: when asked, choose your usual number for calls and iMessage, and the travel line for Mobile Data only.
5. Turn Data Roaming on for the travel line: Settings → Cellular → your travel line → Data Roaming. A travel eSIM is roaming by definition, so with this off you will have no data at all.

On Android

1. Add the eSIM: Settings → Network & internet → SIMs. On Samsung it is Connections → SIM manager. Tap “Add eSIM”, “Download a SIM instead?” or the + next to SIMs, depending on your version.
2. Scan the code over Wi-Fi, at home. The profile downloads in a few seconds.
3. Set the travel line for mobile data: SIM manager → Mobile data → choose the travel eSIM. Leave calls and SMS on your own number.
4. Turn Roaming on for the travel line: SIMs → your travel eSIM → Roaming. As on iPhone, without it you will have no data abroad.

Menus differ by brand. On most Android phones, searching Settings for “eSIM” or “SIM” jumps straight to the right screen.

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No camera to hand? Type it in

Every order page shows the details to type instead of scanning: the SM-DP+ address, the server the profile comes from, and the activation code, the one-time code for your eSIM. Where a plan needs an APN, the order page shows that too; most need nothing there.

On iPhone choose Enter Details Manually; on Android, Enter it manually. Copy both values exactly as they appear, over Wi-Fi as with the QR code. Find your order by reference.

When you land: four switches

1. Turn Data Roaming on for the eSIM line. Without it, the eSIM gets no data.
2. Set the eSIM as your line for mobile data.
3. Keep your home SIM on for calls, SMS and bank OTPs, with its Data Roaming off so it never uses data abroad.
4. On iPhone, turn off Allow Cellular Data Switching, so the phone doesn't fall back to your home SIM's roaming data.

Give it a minute or two to find the local network. If nothing connects, turn Airplane Mode on and off once, or restart the phone; that starts a fresh connection.

If something's not working

• “Unable to add cellular plan” almost always means Wi-Fi: the download needs a working connection. It can also mean the profile was already installed once, since a QR code can only be used a single time.
• No signal after landing: turn Airplane Mode on for ten seconds and off again. Then check Data Roaming is on for the travel line, and choose the network manually.
• The QR won't scan: use the manual details from your order page instead.
• Data works but websites don't load: check the APN, if your order page shows one.

Still stuck? Write to us with your order reference and a real person will help you get connected. The full list of fixes is in our install guide.