How to Install Your eSIM on iPhone — The Complete Guide

First, the thing everyone worries about: you keep your own number

You are not replacing anything. A travel eSIM is added alongside the SIM you already have.

1. Your own phone number does not change.
2. Your existing SIM is not removed, wiped or overwritten.
3. Calls and texts to your normal number keep arriving, as long as your home SIM stays switched on.
4. WhatsApp, iMessage, Telegram and Signal stay registered to your own number. You do not re-register anything.
5. The travel eSIM carries data only. It is not a new number you have to give people.

iPhones from the XR and XS generation onward can hold several SIMs at once and use two at the same time. That is the whole trick: your home line stays on for identity, calls and texts; the travel eSIM does the internet.

Before you buy or install: two quick checks

1. Does your iPhone support eSIM?

Open the Phone app and dial *#06#. A panel of codes appears. If one of them is labelled EID, your phone has eSIM hardware.

If there is no EID, the phone cannot take an eSIM and no amount of setup will change that.

2. Is your iPhone carrier-unlocked?

A phone still locked to the operator that sold it will refuse a second carrier's eSIM. Check under Settings → General → About and look for Carrier Lock. "No SIM restrictions" means you are fine. If it names a carrier, ask that carrier to unlock the phone before you travel.

Install it before you fly

Do the installation while you still have Wi-Fi or your normal mobile data at home. Installing an eSIM needs an internet connection — the phone downloads the profile from a server.

Installing early does not start your plan. Nothing counts down until the eSIM connects to a network at your destination.

Method 1: One-tap install (iOS 17.4 or newer)

This route needs the fewest steps, and it is already in your delivery email.

1. Open the eSIM email on the iPhone itself — not on a laptop.
2. Tap the install link. It opens your install page.
3. Tap Install on iPhone.
4. iOS takes over and shows its own "Add eSIM" screen. Tap Continue, then follow the prompts.
5. When asked to label your lines, give them names you will recognise — for example "My number" and "Travel data".

This requires iOS 17.4 or newer. Check under Settings → General → About → Software Version. If your iPhone is on an older version, the button will do nothing at all. That is not a fault — skip to Method 2.

If nothing happens when you tap, go to Method 2 or 3. Do not tap repeatedly.

Method 2: Scan the QR code

This works on every eSIM-capable iPhone, whatever the iOS version.

You need the QR code on a second screen — a laptop, a tablet, or a printout — because the iPhone has to photograph it.

1. Open your eSIM email on a computer so the QR code is on screen.
2. On the iPhone: Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → Use QR Code.

Wording varies by region and iOS version. "Cellular" may read "Mobile Service" or "Mobile Data". "Add eSIM" may read "Set Up Cellular".

1. Point the camera at the QR code.
2. Tap Continue, then Add eSIM. Wait — activation takes up to a minute.
3. Label the lines when prompted.

Method 3: Enter the details manually

Use this when you have no second screen and one-tap is not available. Your install page shows two values under Manual entry:

1. SM-DP+ address — a server address, something like smdp.example-provider.com
2. Activation code — a long code in blocks, something like K2XVM-4TQ81-...

Those two values are simply the two halves of the long LPA: string in your email, split at the $ signs. The iPhone asks for them separately.

1. Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → Use QR Code.
2. On the scanner screen, tap Enter Details Manually at the bottom.
3. Type the SM-DP+ address into the first field and the activation code into the second. Leave any "confirmation code" field empty unless you were given one.
4. Tap Next, then Add eSIM.

Copy and paste rather than retype if you can. These codes are long and a single wrong character fails.

Set up your two lines — the part that matters

Installing is only half the job. Now tell the iPhone which line does what. Go to Settings → Cellular.

Your home line — keep it on, keep roaming off.

Tap your home number. Leave the line turned on so calls and texts still reach you. Then set Data Roaming to OFF. This is the important one: bank verification codes and two-factor SMS still arrive, but your home carrier cannot sell you expensive roaming data.

Your travel eSIM — make it the data line.

Tap the travel eSIM. Turn Data Roaming ON for this line. A travel eSIM connects to the local networks available at your destination, and the phone treats that as roaming, so this switch has to be on or you will get no data at all.

Then, still under Settings → Cellular:

1. Set Cellular Data to your travel eSIM.
2. Turn Allow Cellular Data Switching OFF, so the phone cannot quietly fall back to your home line.
3. Under Default Voice Line, choose your own number, so calls still go out as you.

After you land

Turn Airplane Mode on for ten seconds, then off — this forces the phone to search for local networks. Give it a minute or two; the first connection abroad is slower than usual. Then open a website to confirm data is flowing. If you installed before flying, there is nothing else to do — the eSIM connects on its own.

Troubleshooting the things that actually go wrong

No data after landing. In nine cases out of ten, Data Roaming is off on the travel eSIM. Go to Settings → Cellular, tap the travel eSIM, and switch Data Roaming ON. Then check that Cellular Data is set to that same line.

The one-tap button does nothing. Your iPhone is on an iOS version older than 17.4, or you opened the email on a computer. Use the QR code instead.

"Unable to add cellular plan" or the code is rejected. Usually the eSIM has already been installed once — each activation code works a single time. If you deleted the eSIM from your phone, it cannot be reinstalled with the same code. Contact support before deleting anything. It can also mean the phone is carrier-locked, or there is no working internet connection at that moment.

Calls stopped arriving on your own number. Your home line was switched off during setup. Settings → Cellular, tap your home number, and turn the line back on.

FAQ

Will I lose my phone number?
No. The travel eSIM is added next to your existing SIM. Your number stays on the phone, stays active, and stays attached to your WhatsApp and iMessage.

Can I still get my bank's SMS codes?
Yes, as long as your home line stays switched on. SMS arrives over the normal signal, not over data, so keeping Data Roaming off on that line does not block it.

Can I install the eSIM before I travel?
Yes, and we recommend it. Install at home on Wi-Fi. The plan starts counting when the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination, not when you install it.

Do I need to remove my physical SIM?
No. Leave it in. It is what keeps your number working.

What if my iPhone is older than iOS 17.4?
Everything still works — you just scan the QR code or enter the details manually instead of using the one-tap button.

Can I move the eSIM to another phone later?
Assume not. An eSIM profile is normally tied to the device it was installed on, and the activation code is single-use. Install it on the phone you are actually travelling with.