How to Activate eSIM on iPhone: Set Up a Travel eSIM (2026)

Your travel eSIM is paid for, and the flight is a few days away. Then you open the iPhone's settings. There's a QR code from the provider to scan, a second line next to your home number and switches you have never touched. One wrong switch can leave your data on the home plan abroad, where roaming fees may apply.

How to activate eSIM on iPhone is mostly a question of order, and the right order gives you a working line from your first hour abroad. First check that your iPhone supports eSIM and isn't locked to your carrier. Then install the eSIM in one of four ways, with Apple's own setup video for help, and set it up for the trip.

The last parts cover what to do when the iPhone shows No Service and how to delete the eSIM once you're home. If this is your first eSIM, our guide what is an eSIM explains how the technology works.

In this article

• Which iPhones support eSIM: iPhone XR, XS and later, unlocked
• How to add an eSIM to iPhone: four ways to install it
  • Install from the provider's app in one tap
  • Add an eSIM with a QR code
  • Add an eSIM without a QR code: SM-DP+ address and activation code
  • Activation link and carrier activation
  • eSIM Quick Transfer is for your home number
• Install at home, activate on arrival: when to set up a travel eSIM
• How to turn on the eSIM on iPhone: settings for your trip
• eSIM not working on iPhone: No Service and stuck activation
• How to delete an eSIM from iPhone after your trip

Which iPhones support eSIM: iPhone XR, XS and later, unlocked

Every iPhone from the XR and XS on supports eSIM: Apple names the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR "or later". That covers the 11 to 17 series and the 16e, plus the 17e, the iPhone Air, the 18 Pro and the 18 Pro Max. Those last four are the only ones with eSIM among models sold in China mainland. The iPhone X, the iPhone 8 and older models take a nano-SIM card only.

iPhone 14 and later bought in the US have no SIM tray and run on eSIM only. Models with a tray take an eSIM and a physical SIM, and eSIM vs physical SIM explains which one suits your trip.

A travel eSIM card from another company also needs an iPhone that isn't locked to your carrier. Open Settings > General > About and look next to Carrier Lock: "No SIM restrictions" means the phone is unlocked. Apple can't remove a lock. Only your carrier can, and that might take a few days.

On a Samsung, Pixel or Xiaomi the menus are different, so follow how to install an eSIM on Android instead.

How to add an eSIM to iPhone: four ways to install it

There are four ways to install an eSIM on iPhone: the provider's app, a QR code, entering the details by hand, or a link. Which one you use depends on what your provider sends after you buy.

Depending on your iPhone's language and region, Cellular may show as Mobile Data, and older iOS versions say Add Cellular Plan where newer ones say Add eSIM.

If your iPhone shows View Travel Options under Settings > Cellular > Add eSIM, Apple's iPhone User Guide lists it as a path for a travel eSIM.

Apple Support's own video shows how to set up eSIM on iPhone.

Install from the provider's app in one tap

A travel eSIM app can install the eSIM for you, with no QR code to scan and no codes to enter. In the Airalo app, the button that does it is Start installation.

Proof: Airalo confirms you can install the eSIM from its app with Start installation

1. In the Airalo app, open My eSIMs.
2. Select your eSIM.
3. Tap View details.
4. Tap Install or share.
5. Tap Start installation.
6. Tap Continue until the activation starts.
7. Allow the eSIM to activate if your iPhone asks.
8. Tap Done when it finishes, which may take a few minutes.
9. Tap Connect Later if Airalo asks whether you're at your destination and you haven't arrived yet.

Airalo calls this direct method its fastest. Its prices, plans and what buyers say are in my Airalo eSIM review.

With Nomad, the button has a different name:

1. Open the Nomad app.
2. Select your eSIM.
3. Tap Add eSIM to Your Phone.
4. Follow the in-app instructions.

For Nomad's plans and prices, read my Nomad eSIM review.

Add an eSIM with a QR code

Your provider's QR code goes in through the Settings app, where the iPhone camera reads it:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Cellular.
3. Tap Add eSIM. You may need to tap Other Options first.
4. Tap Use QR Code.
5. Point the camera at the code.
6. Enter the confirmation code if your provider gave you one.
7. Tap Continue.

The Camera app works too. Scan the code, then tap the Cellular Plan Detected notification.

What if the QR code is on the same iPhone? On iOS 17.4 or later, tap and hold the code in your default email app or the browser, then tap Add eSIM. Nomad's help page gives one more way: save a screenshot of the code to Photos, then tap Use QR Code > Open Photos.

Add an eSIM without a QR code: SM-DP+ address and activation code

No camera is needed for the manual way, only two lines from your provider's email or app.

1. Open Settings > Cellular.
2. Tap Add eSIM.
3. Tap Use QR Code.
4. Tap Enter Details Manually at the bottom of the screen.
5. Paste the SM-DP+ Address.
6. Paste the Activation Code.
7. Leave Confirmation Code empty unless your provider gave you one.
8. Tap Next.

Copy and paste both lines if you can.

Activation link and carrier activation

Some providers send a link instead of a QR code. It works on iOS 17.4 or later:

1. Open the message on the iPhone itself.
2. Tap the link.
3. Tap Allow on Activate New eSIM.

A home carrier can also send the eSIM straight to your phone: tap Carrier Cellular Plan Ready to Be Installed, then Continue. Some carriers use their own app instead.

eSIM Quick Transfer is for your home number

eSIM Quick Transfer moves the phone number from your previous iPhone to a new one without a call to your carrier, if the carrier supports it. Both phones need:

• the same Apple Account
• Bluetooth on
• iOS 18.4 or later

Once the plan on the new iPhone activates, the old SIM stops working.

Install at home, activate on arrival: when to set up a travel eSIM

Set up a travel eSIM at home before the flight, and turn it on when you land. I recommend that order because the download needs a working connection, and you may have none on landing. At Airalo, most plans start only when the eSIM connects to a mobile network in its coverage area, so installing early usually costs you no plan days.

Proof: Airalo confirms most plans start when the eSIM connects to a network in its coverage area

In rare cases an Airalo plan starts at installation. At Nomad, a plan typically starts when it connects to a network. Other providers set their own rules, so check your plan's validity rule; in the Airalo app it sits under Package details.

A regional or global plan that includes your home country may start counting days at home, as soon as it connects to a local network, Holafly warns, and advises installing such a plan only one day before the trip.

Installing and activating an iPhone eSIM are two different steps. Airalo marks an eSIM as Installed once the profile is on your phone, and as In Use once it has connected to a mobile network and started a data session.

When the install finishes, Apple has you label both lines, and names like Home and Travel keep them apart. You then pick a default number for calls and messages and the lines for iMessage and FaceTime. Keep your home number as the default. The travel eSIM takes over cellular data only when you turn it on abroad.

Apple's guide to using eSIM while traveling covers one more screen for iOS 26 and later. If you buy a travel eSIM before you leave, the iPhone might ask whether you plan to use it at home or while you travel.

How to turn on the eSIM on iPhone: settings for your trip

To turn on the eSIM on iPhone, switch on its line and make it your Cellular Data line. The full trip setup takes nine steps:

1. In Settings > Cellular, tap your travel eSIM.
2. Switch on Turn On This Line.
3. Tap Cellular Data Options.
4. Turn on Data Roaming if your provider tells you to.
5. Go back to Cellular and tap your home line.
6. In its Cellular Data Options, turn off Data Roaming.
7. Go back to Cellular and tap Cellular Data.
8. Select the travel eSIM.
9. Turn off Allow Cellular Data Switching.

Apple's user guide warns that with Allow Cellular Data Switching on, the iPhone uses either line depending on coverage, and you may pay roaming charges if Data Roaming is on. Airalo's setup steps turn it off. My recommendation is off too, because then data stays on the travel eSIM.

On the travel line, Nomad says to turn Data Roaming on after installation, and Airalo shows the right setting in its app.

On iOS 26 and later, the iPhone may show Turn On Travel eSIM when you arrive. Tap it and choose Travel eSIM Only or Travel eSIM and Current eSIM. With both lines on, data goes over the travel eSIM. A Low Data Mode prompt follows, and Not Now skips it.

Your home eSIM can still run up roaming fees while the travel eSIM carries your data, Apple notes. Keep the home line on, and calls and texts to your number still reach you. At AT&T, for example, taking a call on your home number abroad starts a $12.00 Day Pass for that day. Turn the home line off, and FaceTime and iMessage still work on your home number.

Sharing my phone's data to my laptop is part of every trip for me. Personal Hotspot uses whichever line carries cellular data, so with the travel eSIM as the data line, a laptop on the hotspot runs on the travel plan, not on the home one. Each provider sets its own hotspot rule. Your plan's details show it.

Back home, iOS 26 and later can turn off the travel eSIM and turn your home SIM back on by itself, depending on your country or region. If that doesn't happen, check that Turn On This Line is on for your home line and turn the travel line off.

eSIM not working on iPhone: No Service and stuck activation

When an eSIM is not working on iPhone, first check three settings from the trip setup: the line, Cellular Data and Data Roaming. With No Service or Searching still at the top of the screen, try Apple's five fixes:

1. Turn on Airplane Mode for 15 to 30 seconds, then turn it off.
2. In Settings > Cellular, turn the line off and back on.
3. In Settings > General > Date & Time, make sure Set Automatically is on after you land.
4. Restart the iPhone.
5. In Settings > General > About, tap the version next to Carrier to check for a carrier settings update.

Next, open your provider's app. Airalo, for example, may show an APN (a network setting) to type in exactly, or a network to pick under Network Selection with Automatic turned off.

The message "eSIM cannot be added" or "This code is no longer valid" almost always means the eSIM was already installed with the first scan, Holafly's setup help says. Don't scan the code again yet. Look for the new line in Settings > Cellular first. At Nomad, a QR code works only once.

Don't delete the eSIM to fix it. Apple's page on erasing an eSIM advises against that as a troubleshooting step unless your carrier tells you to.

If activation is stuck or the line still won't connect, write to your provider's support. Give them the error message on your screen and your IMEI or EID, the ID numbers of your iPhone under Settings > General > About. On iOS 18 or later, the Apple Support app can run extra diagnostics.

How to delete an eSIM from iPhone after your trip

Before you delete an eSIM from iPhone after your trip, look at what's left on it. If data is left on the plan or you may top it up for the next trip, don't delete the travel eSIM yet. Turn its line off instead. The eSIM then waits in Settings > Cellular next to your home number.

Once you're done with the plan, Apple's steps take a few taps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Cellular.
3. If it's your only plan, tap Delete eSIM.
4. If you have more than one plan, tap the travel eSIM plan, then tap Delete Plan.

Before you sell, trade in or give away the iPhone, Apple's advice is to erase the eSIM.

When the next trip comes up, compare plans and find a cheap eSIM for your destination.