How to install an eSIM step by step (iPhone and Android)

Installing an eSIM takes two minutes and a QR code. What usually goes wrong is not the install itself but the three settings afterwards: which line uses data, which one takes calls, and where data roaming lives. This guide covers both parts, with the real menu paths.

One rule before anything else, and it prevents most of the grief: do it at home, on wifi, unhurried, days before you travel. Downloading the profile needs internet, and at your destination airport you may not have any yet. Installing the eSIM does not use your plan’s data and does not start the clock: validity begins with the first connection at your destination, not with installation.

Before you start: two checks

That the phone supports eSIM. Dial *#06# in the phone app, as if calling. If an EID line appears among the numbers (32 digits), it has eSIM. If only the IMEI shows, it does not. This test beats any list, because the same model can have eSIM in its European version and not in its Asian one. The full list by brand is on the compatibility page.

That it is carrier-unlocked. A phone bought on contract may still be locked, and then it will not accept someone else’s eSIM. Unlocking is usually free once the contract ends, but ask in good time: it is not something that gets sorted the night before a flight.

Installing on iPhone

The quick way: the direct-install button

If you open your eSIM email on the iPhone you are going to use it on, there is normally a direct-install button. Tap it: iOS opens the assistant with everything filled in and there is nothing to scan. It is the path with fewest steps and the one that fails least.

With the QR code

You need to see the QR on another screen — a computer, a tablet, someone else’s phone — because an iPhone cannot scan a code on its own display.

1. Settings → Mobile Data (on some iPhones it is called “Cellular”).
2. Tap Add eSIM. Depending on your iOS version it shows as “Set Up eSIM” or “Add Data Plan”.
3. Choose Use QR Code and point the camera at it.
4. Give it a name you will recognise: “Trip”, “Japan”, whatever. In two months you will be glad you did.
5. When it asks for your default line, keep your usual line: that way you keep getting calls and texts on your number, including bank codes.
6. When it asks about mobile data, choose the eSIM.
7. Important: untick “Allow Mobile Data Switching”. Left on, the iPhone can jump back to your home line on its own and charge you roaming without warning.

And the step most people skip: go to Settings → Mobile Data → [your eSIM] → Data Roaming and turn it on. Without it the eSIM registers on the network, you will see the signal bars… and you will not browse.

Installing on Android

Menus differ by brand, but the path is always the same: network settings → SIM manager → add eSIM → scan the QR. These are the paths for the most common brands; if yours is not here, search “eSIM” in the settings search box.

Brand	Path
Samsung Galaxy	Settings → Connections → SIM manager → Add eSIM → Scan carrier QR code
Google Pixel	Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → + (or “Add SIM”) → “Don’t have a SIM?” → Download a SIM
Xiaomi · Redmi · Poco	Settings → SIM cards & mobile networks → Add eSIM → scan the QR
Motorola · Oppo · Sony · Honor	Settings → Network & internet (or Connections) → SIMs / SIM card & mobile data → Add eSIM

With the profile downloaded, three things remain — and they are exactly the ones people forget:

1. Turn on the new line if it asks whether you want to use it now.
2. Set the eSIM as the mobile data line. Usually in the same SIM manager, as “Preferred SIM for mobile data”.
3. Turn on data roaming inside the eSIM, not on your home SIM. On the eSIM.

Manual installation, when the QR will not scan

It happens: the camera will not focus, the screen is too dim, or you only have one device. That is what the SM-DP+ address and the activation code are for, both in your email and on your order page. You type them in and the result is exactly the same as scanning.

On iPhone: Settings → Mobile Data → Add eSIM → Use QR Code → on the camera screen, tap “Enter Details Manually” at the bottom. Copy the SM-DP+ address and the activation code. Leave the “ID” field empty.

On Android: start the same way as for scanning and look for “Enter code manually” or “Need help?” on the camera screen. Some Androids ask for a single field: that takes the whole string, exactly as it is, in the form LPA:1$SM-DP+-ADDRESS$CODE.

Both values are long and full of letters and numbers. Copy and paste them from your order page — it has a “Copy” button on each — rather than typing them: one wrong character and the profile will not download.

When you land

Installation is done; this is what is left to get online:

1. Turn off airplane mode.
2. Turn off mobile data on your home SIM. Not the whole line — you keep receiving calls and texts — just its data. This is the only thing standing between a normal trip and a roaming bill when you get back.
3. Check the eSIM is the data line and that its data roaming is on.
4. Wait a couple of minutes. Registering on a foreign network is not instant; one to three minutes is normal.

You will know it is working when a local carrier you do not recognise appears at the top — that is the good one — and any web page loads with wifi off.

If there is still nothing after a few minutes, the ordered checklist is in what to check when your eSIM will not connect. One warning worth repeating here: do not delete the eSIM to reinstall it. The QR installs once; delete the profile and it is gone.

A couple of things worth being clear about

A travel eSIM is a data plan, not a phone line: no traditional calls or texts, although you can call over WhatsApp or FaceTime without trouble. And your bank’s texts will still go to your usual number, so keep that line active (with its data off).

And the honest part: the eSIM connects to the local carrier’s masts, the same ones locals use. Where there is no mast, no eSIM will work — not ours, not anyone’s.

If you are still deciding how much data to buy, the real figures by app are in how much data do I need for a trip. Plans by country are on the destination pages.