How to Activate an eSIM Abroad: Step-by-Step for iPhone and Android

You can and should install an eSIM ahead of time, before you fly, and switch it on only after landing. The profile does not activate until you turn the line on in settings, so installing the QR code at home over Wi-Fi uses neither data nor validity days. Below is a step-by-step guide for iPhone and Android separately, an explanation of why Data Roaming is needed, and a breakdown of every typical problem from "the QR code will not scan" to "the profile is there but there is no internet".

When to install: at home or on arrival

The right answer: install at home, switch on at the destination. Three reasons:

1. At home you have stable Wi-Fi; at the arrival airport there may be none, or it may require an SMS confirmation to a local number.
2. If something goes wrong during installation (a carrier-locked phone, a regional version without eSIM), you find out in advance and have time to contact support or bring another device.
3. The package's validity starts at the first connection to the destination network, not at installation, so installing early costs nothing.

The one thing not to do at home is switch the eSIM line and its mobile data on. On your home network the profile either will not connect at all or will connect and start the validity clock too early.

Step 1: Install the profile from the QR code

After payment the QR code appears on the confirmation page and arrives by email. Keep the order number: with it and your email you can find the order again on the "Find order" page.

iPhone (iOS 16 and newer):

1. Open Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM.
2. Choose "Use QR Code" and point the camera at the code. If the code is on the same phone, save the image and choose "Open Photos", or enter the details manually. On iOS 17.4 and newer, the button in the email installs the eSIM in one tap without scanning.
3. Tap "Continue" and wait for "Done".
4. When asked which line to use by default, keep the home SIM for everything for now. You will set up data after landing.
5. Name the line, for example "Turkey", so it is not confused with the home one.

Android (Samsung, Pixel, Xiaomi):

1. Open Settings → Connections (or "Network & internet") → SIM manager (or "SIM cards").
2. Tap "Add eSIM" or "Add mobile plan" → "Scan QR code".
3. Point the camera, confirm the download and wait for the installation message.
4. On Samsung the line may switch on automatically after installation. Switch it off until you land using the toggle in SIM manager.

If the QR code will not scan, enter the details manually: the email and the order page contain an activation code that goes into "Enter Details Manually" (iPhone) or "Enter activation code" (Android).

Step 2: Do not switch the eSIM on too early

After installation the profile appears in the list of lines, but switch it on only after landing. If the plan counts validity from the first connection (as eSIM SOS plans do), switching on early on your home network achieves nothing, and on a layover in a third country it may start the clock if the package is regional and covers that country.

Step 3: Switch the eSIM on after landing

iPhone: Settings → Cellular → choose the eSIM line → "Turn On This Line". Then, higher up under "Cellular Data", select the eSIM line. In the home line's settings switch off Data Roaming so it does not pull traffic at roaming rates.

Android: Settings → Connections → SIM manager → switch the eSIM on. Below, under "Mobile data", choose the eSIM; under "Calls" and "SMS" keep the home SIM.

The home SIM stays on: incoming calls and bank codes keep arriving.

Step 4: Turn on Data Roaming for the eSIM line

This is the most common reason people contact support. A travel eSIM works as a foreign carrier's profile with roaming agreements in the destination country. To the phone this is roaming, even though you pay a fixed price for a package. Without the Data Roaming toggle the phone blocks internet on that line.

• iPhone: Settings → Cellular → eSIM line → Data Roaming on.
• Android: Settings → Connections → Mobile networks → select the eSIM → Data roaming on.

For the home SIM this toggle should be off.

Step 5: Check the connection

Switch off Wi-Fi and open any website or a map. If the page loads, everything works. The status bar should show the local network name: in Turkey Turkcell, Vodafone TR or Türk Telekom, in Thailand AIS, TrueMove H or dtac, in Egypt Vodafone, Orange or WE, in the UAE e& or du. Reset the data statistics for the eSIM line so you can watch the package being used.

Step 6: If there is no network, pick it manually

Sometimes the phone latches onto a network the profile has no agreement with and sits there without internet. The sequence:

1. Airplane Mode on for 10 seconds, then off.
2. Open the eSIM line's settings → "Network Selection" → disable automatic selection.
3. Wait for the list of networks and choose the carrier named in the plan description or any major local one.
4. If the network will not register, try the next carrier on the list.
5. Check that the eSIM line's network mode is "Auto" or "4G/LTE", not 5G only.

What to do if the profile will not install

What not to do on the trip

• Do not delete the profile "to reinstall it": single-use eSIMs cannot be installed again.
• Do not factory-reset the phone: profiles are deleted along with the data.
• Do not switch on mobile data for the home SIM if you want to avoid a roaming bill.
• Do not tether unless you need to: sharing drains the package and the battery fast. For two people, two profiles are cheaper.

How to see how much data is left

The phone does not show the exact package balance, only its own per-line statistics. Reset them on arrival day: on iPhone at the bottom of "Cellular" via "Reset Statistics", on Android under "Data usage" for the relevant SIM. The package size minus the usage is your balance. If in doubt, contact the service's support with your order number.

After the trip

The profile can be switched off and left on the phone, or deleted. If you plan another trip to the same country, there is no need to delete it, but remember that the package's data and validity have already run out and you will need a new one. You can buy it in advance on the country page, for example eSIM for Turkey or eSIM for Egypt: the QR code arrives two minutes after payment. How the technology itself works is explained in how eSIM works.