You bought a travel eSIM and your flight is coming up. This guide walks you through installing it on your iPhone, choosing the right settings before departure, and recovering if something goes wrong at the gate or after you land.
Run through this list first so the install goes smoothly the first time:
- Open Settings > Cellular (or Mobile Service, depending on your region).
- Tap Add eSIM.
- Select Use QR Code.
- Hold the QR code from your Roamiya confirmation email in front of the camera, or tap Open Photos at the bottom to select a saved screenshot.
- Tap Continue to start the profile download. This normally takes 30 seconds to two minutes.
- Tap Done when the profile finishes installing.
If the camera does not register the code, make sure the screen showing the QR is at full brightness and free of glare. If it still will not scan, skip ahead to the manual entry method below.
Use this path if your camera is damaged, the screen is cracked, or the QR code image is too blurry to scan:
- Open Settings > Cellular > Add eSIM > Use QR Code.
- Tap Enter Details Manually at the bottom of the scanning screen.
- Open your Roamiya confirmation email and copy the SM-DP+ Address. Paste it into the first field.
- Copy the Activation Code from the same email section. Paste it into the second field.
- Leave "Confirmation Code" blank unless your email specifically includes one.
- Tap Next and follow the prompts.
The manual method works every time as long as the codes are correct. Copy and paste rather than typing by hand to avoid transposition errors.
After the eSIM installs, you need three configuration changes. Do these before you leave home so you are not fumbling with settings in the airport.
Rename the eSIM to something recognizable like "Travel" or "Roamiya." Keep your physical SIM labeled "Primary." This matters later when you set default lines.
- Go to Settings > Cellular.
- Under Mobile Data, select your new Travel eSIM (not Primary).
- Turn Allow Cellular Data Switching to OFF. This prevents the iPhone from silently routing data back through your home carrier, which would trigger roaming charges on your home bill.
- Still in Settings > Cellular, tap into your Travel eSIM.
- Toggle Data Roaming to ON.
This is the setting most travelers miss. Your travel eSIM connects through partner networks in your destination country (for example, SoftBank in Japan or Orange in France). Without data roaming enabled, the iPhone refuses to connect to those networks and you will see "No Service" after landing.
You are ready to travel when all of these are true:
"Unable to Activate eSIM" during installation
Check that your WiFi is stable and try again. If it fails a second time, your phone might be carrier-locked. Confirm in Settings > General > About > Carrier Lock. See our
locked vs. unlocked phones guide for what to do.
"No Service" after you land
This usually means data roaming is still off or the phone has not refreshed its network search. Toggle Airplane Mode on for ten seconds and back off, then wait a full minute. If that does not help, see our
No Service troubleshooting guide.
QR code says "already used"
eSIM codes are single-use. If you already scanned it once (even on an old phone), it cannot be scanned again. Check Settings > Cellular to see if the profile is already installed. If you deleted it, see
what to do if your eSIM was deleted.
