eSIM Not Working? Fix It Step by Step

Before anything else: do not delete the eSIM. An eSIM profile can be downloaded exactly once. Deleting or erasing it destroys it permanently — it cannot be reinstalled, transferred or replaced, and no support team can recover it. Every problem on this page is fixable with the profile still on your phone.

eSIM problems look dramatic and are almost always mundane. In our experience the overwhelming majority come down to a setting, and they sort into three symptoms. Identify yours and skip to it.

Symptom 1: the profile will not install

You scan the code and get an error, or the download stalls.

Are you on Wi-Fi? The profile comes down over the internet. Without a connection there is nothing to download from. A weak or captive-portal Wi-Fi network — the kind that wants you to accept terms in a browser — will fail in the same way as no Wi-Fi at all.

Has the code already been used? Each activation code works once. If you scanned it earlier, even on a different phone, it is spent. Check whether the profile is already sitting in your SIM list under a name you did not recognise.

Is the phone carrier-locked? On iPhone, Settings → General → About → Carrier Lock must read "No SIM restrictions". A locked phone often refuses at this stage with a generic error.

Is the software current? Old iOS and Android builds carry eSIM bugs that were fixed years ago. Install pending updates and retry.

Typing it by hand? Check the split. For LPA:1$rsp.example.com$K2-4RT-9QW, the SM-DP+ address is rsp.example.com and the activation code is K2-4RT-9QW. Watch for a space picked up when copying from an email.

If a download genuinely failed part-way, stop retrying and contact us with your order number. Repeated attempts on a half-installed profile can make things worse.

Symptom 2: installed, but "No Service"

The plan is in your settings, but there is no signal on it.

Toggle airplane mode. On for thirty seconds, then off. This forces a complete re-registration with the network and resolves more cases than everything else combined. Do this before anything more elaborate.

Restart the phone. Genuinely. A full power cycle clears modem state that a soft reset does not.

Is the line switched on? A downloaded profile is not necessarily an active one. On iPhone: Settings → Cellular → tap the plan → Turn On This Line. On Android: Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → the eSIM → Use SIM.

Select the network manually. Find Network Selection (iPhone) or Automatically select network (Android), turn automatic off, and choose the operator named on your delivery page. Give it thirty seconds to attach. If it connects, switch automatic back on.

Are you inside the coverage area? A USA plan does not work in Canada or Mexico. A Europe plan works only in the countries listed on its product page. Cruise ships and aircraft use satellite networks that no travel eSIM covers.

Is the phone actually unlocked? This is where a carrier lock usually reveals itself: the profile installed perfectly and will not attach to anything.

Symptom 3: signal, but nothing loads

This is the most common complaint and it has three causes, in order of likelihood.

Data roaming is off. Travel eSIMs attach to partner networks, which your phone calls roaming. With it off you get full bars and zero data. Turn it on for the travel line — iPhone: Settings → Cellular → the plan → Data Roaming. Android: the eSIM's settings → Roaming. It costs nothing; the plan is prepaid.

Mobile data is still assigned to your other line. On iPhone: Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data — it must name the travel plan. On Android, the SIMs screen has a mobile data chooser that must point at the eSIM.

The APN did not populate. Enter it manually using the value on your delivery page. iPhone: Settings → Cellular → the plan → Cellular Data Network. Android: the eSIM's settings → Access Point Names → add a new one, put the APN in both the Name and APN fields, save, and select it. Toggle airplane mode afterwards.

One more possibility: the plan is exhausted. Check your data usage and how many days have passed since first connection. A finished plan behaves exactly like a broken one.

The iPhone setting that causes mystery charges

If your data works but you receive a roaming bill from your home carrier, the culprit is Allow Cellular Data Switching — on by default, and it lets iOS fall back to your home line whenever the travel plan hesitates. Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data → turn it off.

When to contact us

If you have worked through the section matching your symptom and you are still offline, get in touch with:

your order number;
your exact phone model and OS version;
what the screen shows — "No Service", signal with no data, or an error message word for word;
which of the steps above you have already tried.

That last point is not politeness — it halves the time to a fix. And it bears repeating one final time: whatever you do, leave the profile on the phone. Deleting it is the only step on this page that cannot be undone.