Install an eSIM on Any Android Phone
The install pattern that survives every Android skin: check the phone has an EID, find the menu through search, scan the code, then set roaming per line.
Updated August 24, 2026
Three things to know before you start
It connects only at your destination
Install at home, but expect “No Service” or “Activating…” until you land — that is normal. The plan wakes up when the line first finds a network at your destination.
Your QR code works exactly once
Seeing “invalid QR” after a scan almost always means the eSIM is already on your phone. Don’t rescan — open your SIM list and just switch the line on.
No internet after landing? Check Data Roaming
Turn the travel line on, set it as your mobile data line, and switch Data Roaming ON for it. This one toggle causes most “it doesn’t work” messages.
Installation steps
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Step 1
Dial *#06# and look for an EID
The dialler code shows the phone's identifiers. An EID beside the IMEI means eSIM hardware is present; nothing labelled EID means it is not, whatever the model's spec page says. Manufacturers ship regional variants of the same model with and without eSIM, so spend the thirty seconds before you buy a plan.
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Step 2
Buy the plan for your destination in the app
Plans are per destination. Paying does not start anything — validity runs from the first connection to a network where you are going, so there is no penalty for installing days ahead and every reason to.
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Step 3
Install while you have Wi-Fi
The profile downloads over the internet, which is precisely what you will not have on arrival. Do it at home. The line stays inactive until you switch it on, so an early install changes nothing except where you are standing if it goes wrong.
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Step 4
Use the Settings search box to find the menu
Settings Search eSIM
Skins disagree about where eSIM lives. The reliable route on any of them is to open Settings, type eSIM or SIM into the search field at the top, and take the result. That beats navigating from memory, because manufacturers move the entry between major versions.
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Step 5
Or follow the pattern by hand
Settings Network SIM
Navigating manually, the shape is consistent even when the words are not: Settings, then Network and internet or Connections, then SIMs, SIM manager or Mobile network. That screen holds an option to add or download a SIM — worded as Add eSIM, Download a SIM instead, or a plus icon beside the existing SIM.
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Step 6
Scan the QR code, or type the details in
Point the camera at the code displayed on a laptop or second phone. With only one screen, choose the manual option on the scanner screen and copy the SM-DP+ address and activation code from your order. Both paths produce the same profile.
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Step 7
Name the profile now, not later
Replace whatever default name the phone offers with the destination and the month. Android keeps several profiles installed at once, and a year from now a list of entries all called Travel or Mobile data tells you nothing about which is spent and which still has data.
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Step 8
Enable the line, assign data to it, set roaming per line
SIM settings Data roaming
After landing, switch the travel line on, set it as the SIM used for mobile data, and turn roaming on for that line only. Roaming here is a permission to use a visited network, not a charge. Then open your home SIM and make sure its roaming switch is off, because that one is metered by your own operator.
Android is not one platform for this purpose. The tap sequence for adding an eSIM sits in a different menu on almost every manufacturer’s skin, and the labels move between versions of the same skin. What does not move is the shape of the task: prove the phone has an EID, download the profile while you still have Wi-Fi, name it, then set two per-line switches after you land. This page gives the pattern rather than one brand’s screenshots. If your phone is one of the two most common, the Samsung and Pixel guides are more specific; the full set is on guides.
Almost everything that varies between one trip and the next is on the catalogue side, not the phone side. Which network your phone attaches to on arrival, whether the destination has an unlimited option at all, and how long a plan stays valid are per-destination facts that change, so they live on the destinations pages where they can be kept current. Be sceptical of any page promising a named network in a named country — that claim quietly stops being true.
Two properties of the line hold everywhere. It is data-only: no phone number is issued for any destination, so calls and texts continue on the SIM you already carry and messaging apps run over the data. And a plan covering several countries installs exactly like a single-destination one, with the phone re-registering at each border by itself. Where a plan supports top-ups, data is added to the profile already installed; where it does not, buying again means installing again, and the app tells you which before payment.
The habit worth forming is housekeeping. Android holds several profiles at once — how many depends on hardware and version, so treat any specific figure with suspicion — and every trip leaves one behind. Named properly at install time, the list stays readable for years. Left as defaults, it becomes a stack of anonymous entries you enable one by one to identify. Erase the ones whose plans are spent, remembering that erasing is permanent and a used code will not come back. Anything else is on the FAQ.
Troubleshooting
My phone has no eSIM option anywhere in Settings.
Check *#06# for an EID first. No EID means no eSIM hardware, and no update will add it. If the EID is there but the menu is not, the two usual causes are a carrier lock, which only the selling operator can remove, and an old Android build — some manufacturers added the eSIM entry point after launch.
Which menu names should I expect on my phone?
It depends on the manufacturer and the version, which is why the search box is the recommended route. Samsung puts it under Connections and SIM manager, Pixel under Network and internet and SIMs, and other makers sit somewhere between. On either of those brands, use the dedicated guide instead.
The QR code will not scan.
Increase the brightness of the screen showing the code, hold the phone back until the whole square fits the frame, and keep glare off it. If that fails, use manual entry with the SM-DP+ address and activation code from your order. A code already redeemed once will not install again on most plans — a different problem, worth ruling out.
No service after landing. What is the order of checks?
Line switched on, mobile data assigned to it, roaming enabled for it. Then Airplane mode on for thirty seconds and off, forcing a fresh network search. If it is still blank, open network selection, turn automatic off, pick an available network from the scan, let it register, then switch back to automatic. Which networks appear depends on where you are and cannot be predicted here.
Can I tether a laptop to it?
Yes. Hotspot and tethering are included and work exactly as they do on your normal line. Keep an eye on what the laptop does with the connection, though — background updates and cloud sync spend an allowance far faster than phone use does.
How do I get rid of an old profile?
In the same SIM screen where you added it, open the profile and choose erase, delete or remove, depending on the skin. Do it only when the plan is finished. The action does not reverse, and a redeemed activation code will not reinstall, so a profile erased with data on it takes the data with it.
The QR code says invalid, already used, or the install fails on a second try.
An activation code is single-use, so this error almost always means the first scan already worked and the eSIM is on the phone. Do not keep rescanning. Open the phone's SIM list (the cellular or SIM manager screen) or My eSIMs in the Simtegre app: if the line is listed, the install is done — turn the line on, give it mobile data and enable Data Roaming instead of installing again.
Do I have to scan the QR code at all?
No. In the Simtegre app, open My eSIMs, tap your plan and tap Install — the profile installs on the same phone with no camera involved. The QR route exists for installing from a second screen; both end in the identical profile, and the steps after the install are the same either way.