Install an eSIM on a Samsung Galaxy Phone
Add a travel eSIM through SIM manager on a Galaxy, confirm eSIM support with *#06# first, and manage the profiles that pile up after a few trips.
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
Check the phone before you buy anything
Dial *#06# on the keypad. An EID alongside the IMEI means the handset has eSIM hardware; no EID means it does not, whatever the spec sheet says. Support depends on model, region and carrier variant, and some regional versions of otherwise-supporting Galaxies shipped without it.
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Step 2
Buy the plan for where you are going
Plans are sold per destination in the Simtegre app. Buying starts nothing: validity runs from the first time the line connects to a network at the destination, not from checkout. Installing a week ahead costs nothing and gets the job off your arrival day.
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Step 3
Install while you are still on Wi-Fi
Downloading a profile needs a working internet connection, the one thing you will not have stepping off the plane. Do it at home; the profile stays dormant until you switch the line on.
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Step 4
Open Settings, Connections, SIM manager
Settings Connections SIM manager
One UI puts eSIM under Settings, Connections, SIM manager. Older releases call the same screen SIM card manager. If you cannot find it, type SIM into the search box at the top of Settings and take the result — Samsung has moved this menu between versions.
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Step 5
Tap Add eSIM and scan the code
SIM manager Add eSIM
SIM manager offers Add eSIM, then a scan option. Point the camera at the QR code on a laptop or second phone. With only one device, choose manual entry and copy the SM-DP+ address and activation code from your order; the resulting profile is identical.
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Step 6
Rename the profile immediately
SIM manager eSIM 1
Samsung gives every new profile a generic name. Open it in SIM manager and rename it for the destination and the month. After three or four trips this is the difference between a readable list and four identical entries you have to switch on one at a time to identify.
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Step 7
On arrival, enable the line and point mobile data at it
Open SIM manager, switch the travel line on, and set it as the preferred SIM for mobile data. Leave your usual SIM enabled for calls and messages — the travel plan is data-only and issues no number, so calls stay where they are.
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Step 8
Data roaming on for the travel line, off for the home SIM
Mobile networks Data roaming
Open the travel line's settings and turn data roaming on. On a Galaxy this lives either inside the profile or under Connections, then Mobile networks, depending on the One UI version. It is a permission to use a visited network, not a charge. Then check the same setting is off on your home SIM, where it would genuinely cost you.
This page is written for someone who will install an eSIM again in a few months for a different destination, which is the normal case if you travel for work. The sequence on a Galaxy does not change: SIM manager, add, scan, name it, two toggles when you land. What changes between trips is on the other side — which network the phone attaches to on arrival, whether an unlimited option exists there, how long validity runs. Those are catalogue facts that move, so they live on the destinations pages and in the app. No install guide can honestly promise a particular network in a particular country.
Samsung is the one brand where the first step is a real check rather than a formality. eSIM support varies by model, region and carrier variant, and there are regional versions of models that support eSIM everywhere else and simply do not here. The spec sheet you find online describes a different variant from the one in your hand often enough to matter. Dialling *#06# settles it in five seconds, and it is worth doing before you buy a plan. If the concept is new, what is an eSIM covers the background.
Assume the profiles accumulate. A Galaxy holds several at once, and every trip adds one that then sits dormant under a generic name. Renaming at install time is the cheap fix; the alternative is a SIM manager list where nothing is identifiable and you toggle lines on to find out which is which. Removal happens in the same screen, and deserves care: deletion does not come back, and a redeemed activation code will not reinstall.
Multi-country plans install exactly like single-destination ones — one profile, one scan, and the line keeps working as you cross a border while the phone re-registers on the far side by itself. Some plans can be topped up, which adds data to the profile already installed; others cannot, so buying again means installing again. The app says which applies before you pay. If you carry an iPhone too, the iPhone guide covers the same ground in Apple’s menu names, and the rest is on the FAQ.
Troubleshooting
SIM manager has no Add eSIM option.
Dial *#06# and look for an EID. No EID means no eSIM hardware on that variant, and no software update will add it. If the EID is there but the option is missing or greyed out, the phone is almost certainly carrier-locked, which only the operator that sold it can undo. Update One UI first, though — Samsung has added eSIM entry points in point releases.
The QR code will not scan.
Raise the brightness on the screen displaying the code, hold the phone back far enough that the whole square is in frame, and avoid glare. Failing that, use manual entry with the SM-DP+ address and activation code from your order. It is not a lower-quality fallback; it produces the same profile.
The eSIM says no service after landing.
Work through it in order: line enabled in SIM manager, mobile data pointed at it, data roaming on for that line. Then switch Airplane mode on for half a minute and off again. If it is still empty, go to Mobile networks, turn off automatic network selection, choose any available network from the scan, let it register, then set selection back to automatic. Which networks appear depends entirely on where you are, so we cannot name one in advance.
Can I use the connection for a laptop?
Yes. Hotspot and tethering work on the travel line exactly as on your normal one. Turn Mobile Hotspot on from Connections or the quick settings panel. Bear in mind that a laptop syncing in the background chews through an allowance far faster than a phone does.
How do I remove a profile I have finished with?
In SIM manager, open the profile and choose remove or delete. Do this only when you are sure the plan is spent. Deletion is effectively permanent, and a redeemed activation code will not install a second time, so a plan with data still on it goes with the profile.
How many eSIM profiles can a Galaxy hold?
Several, with the exact limit depending on model and One UI version — a number quoted here would be wrong for half the range. Only one or two can be active at once regardless. When the phone refuses a new profile for lack of space, delete one from a trip that has ended.
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.