How to install a travel eSIM on iPhone and Android

Installing an eSIM takes about two minutes. Getting it to behave correctly when you land takes two more settings that most guides skip. Both are below.

Do this at home, on Wi-Fi, a day or two before you fly. The profile downloads over the internet, and airport Wi-Fi is exactly the wrong place to discover that. Installing early costs nothing: the plan’s validity starts when the eSIM first connects to a network in your destination, not when you install it.

iPhone

1. Settings, then Cellular (Mobile Service in some regions).
2. Tap Add eSIM, then Use QR Code.
3. Point the camera at the QR code from your order e-mail. If you’re reading the e-mail on the same phone, tap Enter Details Manually and paste the activation code instead.
4. Tap Continue, then Add Cellular Plan.
5. Label it something you’ll recognise — “Travel” or the country name. This label appears everywhere afterwards.
6. When asked for a default line, choose your home number. This keeps calls, texts and bank verification codes arriving as usual.
7. When asked which line to use for cellular data, choose the travel eSIM.
8. Turn Allow Cellular Data Switching OFF. This is the important one — left on, your iPhone will quietly fall back to your home line when the travel data struggles, and roaming charges start accruing.

Android

Menu names vary by manufacturer; these are the two common paths.

Stock Android / Pixel

1. Settings, Network and internet.
2. Next to SIMs, tap the + or Add SIM.
3. Choose Download a SIM instead?, then Next.
4. Scan the QR code and confirm.

Samsung

1. Settings, Connections, SIM manager.
2. Tap Add eSIM, then Scan QR code from service provider.
3. Scan and confirm.

Then, on either:

• Set mobile data to the travel eSIM.
• Leave calls and SMS on your home line.
• Turn data roaming ON for the travel eSIM only, and OFF for your home line.

The arrival checklist

When you land:

1. Turn airplane mode off, or restart the phone.
2. Check data roaming is ON for the travel line. A travel eSIM is technically roaming onto a partner network, so with roaming off it will show bars and refuse to pass data. This is the number one cause of “my eSIM isn’t working”.
3. Wait sixty to ninety seconds for the phone to register on the local network. It is normal for nothing to happen for the first minute.
4. If it still hasn’t connected, toggle airplane mode on and off once.

If it doesn’t connect

Bars but no data — data roaming is off for the travel line, or your default data line is still the home SIM. Both are in the same settings screen.

“Cellular plan not available” — the phone is carrier-locked. A locked handset downloads the profile happily and then refuses to activate it. Your carrier has to unlock it; nobody else can. Check before you travel: on iPhone it’s Settings, General, About, Carrier Lock.

“Unable to complete cellular plan change” — usually a weak or captive Wi-Fi network during install. Move to a stable connection and retry.

QR code already used — an eSIM profile can only be installed once. If you delete it, it’s gone; the same QR code will not reinstall it. Contact us for a replacement rather than trying again.

Nothing at all after ten minutes on the ground — restart the phone. Then check that the network selection is set to automatic, not a manually chosen operator from a previous trip.

Two habits that prevent most problems

Don’t delete the profile until you’re home. Deleting is permanent. If you have a connecting flight back through the same country, keep it.

Manually select the network only as a last resort. Automatic selection lets the phone pick the strongest partner network. A manual choice from a previous trip is a common cause of a phone sitting on one bar next to a working tower.

Ready to pick one? Start with the destinations list, or go straight to Japan, Italy, Thailand or Kenya. Not sure your phone supports eSIM? Check in sixty seconds.