How to install your eSIM on iPhone

Before you start

• Connect your iPhone to Wi-Fi. Installing needs an internet connection.
• Open your QR code on another screen. It is in your eSIM email and on your order page.
• Check when your plan starts. If it starts when installed, wait until you are ready to use it.

The quick way: the install button

If you are reading your eSIM email or order page on the iPhone itself, tap Install on iPhone and follow the prompts. This needs iOS 17.4 or later.

Install with the QR code

1. Open Settings > Cellular. In some regions it is called Mobile Service or Mobile Data.
2. Tap Add eSIM (or Add Cellular Plan). If your iPhone offers a transfer from another iPhone, choose Use QR Code instead.
3. Scan the QR code. If you cannot scan it, tap Enter Details Manually and type the SM-DP+ address and activation code exactly as shown.
4. Tap Continue when the new plan appears.
5. Give the line a label, such as "Travel", so you can tell your lines apart.
6. For your default line, choose your own line if you want calls and texts on your usual number.
7. For Cellular Data, keep your own line for now if you are installing before your trip.

When you arrive

1. Open Settings > Cellular, tap the travel line and make sure Turn On This Line is on.
2. Turn on Data Roaming for the travel line.
3. Go back, tap Cellular Data and choose the travel line.
4. Turn off Allow Cellular Data Switching, so your iPhone does not use your own line for data.

If your plan starts on first connection and you installed early, keep the travel line turned off until you land.

If something goes wrong

• "Cannot add eSIM": usually the connection. Switch to stable Wi-Fi, restart the iPhone and try again.
• The QR code will not scan: make the screen brighter and the QR code bigger, or enter the details manually.
• Installed but no data: check Data Roaming is on for the travel line, Cellular Data is set to it and you are in a covered country. Then switch airplane mode on and off.

Many QR codes work only once, so do not delete the eSIM to start again.

For screenshots, see our installation guide.

Still stuck? Contact support.