eSIM Not Working? How to Fix the Most Common Problems

I once spent twenty minutes convinced my eSIM was broken, standing outside baggage claim with no signal, before realizing I'd never actually turned on data roaming for the new line. It was fine the whole time — I just hadn't finished setup. Most eSIM problems are exactly this kind of thing: small, fixable, and rarely the provider's fault. Here's the troubleshooting list I actually run through myself.

"My QR code won't scan"

Make sure you're scanning it with your phone's own cellular/eSIM setup screen (Settings > Cellular > Add eSIM on iPhone, or the equivalent Add eSIM screen on Android), not with a generic camera or QR scanner app — those won't trigger the carrier profile installation.

If it still won't scan, check the code isn't blurry, cropped, or displayed at a very small size — try opening it full-screen on the device you received it on, or printing it out. Most providers also offer a manual entry option (an activation code you type in instead of scanning) as a fallback in the same settings screen.

If you've already scanned the same QR code once — even if the first attempt failed partway through — it may now show as redeemed. Most eSIM QR codes are single-use. Go back to your provider's app or confirmation email for a fresh one rather than rescanning.

"It says installed, but I have no signal"

This is almost always one of two things.

Data roaming is off for that line. Go into your cellular settings, select the new eSIM specifically (not your home SIM), and make sure Data Roaming is switched on. This is the single most common cause — the eSIM profile is genuinely installed correctly, but the phone won't use it internationally until roaming is enabled for that specific line.

The eSIM hasn't activated yet. Many providers only start your plan's validity once you actually connect to a network at your destination, and that connection can take a minute or two after landing — sometimes longer if you're somewhere with weaker signal, like a train just leaving a station or a rural area. Try toggling airplane mode on and off once you're clearly under open sky with decent signal, which forces your phone to re-search for a network.

If neither fixes it after a few minutes, double check you actually selected the new eSIM as your active data line — on both iPhone and Android, it's possible to have an eSIM installed but still have your phone routing data through your home SIM (or through nothing at all if your home SIM has no plan for that country).

"It worked when I landed, but stopped after a while"

Check you haven't run out of data — most providers will send a notification or show remaining balance in their app, but it's worth checking directly if things suddenly stop working mid-trip. If you have run out, buying a top-up or fresh plan through the provider's app usually restores service within minutes.

If you still have data remaining, try the airplane-mode toggle again — occasionally a phone stays registered to a weak or distant tower rather than switching to a stronger nearby one, and forcing a re-search fixes it.

"My phone won't let me add an eSIM at all"

This usually means one of two things: your specific device doesn't support eSIM (not all phones do, and some regional or carrier-locked variants of otherwise-compatible models don't either), or your phone is carrier-locked in a way that prevents adding a second network. Our compatibility guide shows the exact settings check to confirm which one you're dealing with — it takes under a minute and settles the question definitively rather than guessing.

"I can get data but can't make calls or send texts"

This is expected, not a bug, for almost every travel eSIM. The vast majority of these plans are data-only by design — you're meant to keep your home SIM active (or use wifi calling / a messaging app) for calls and texts, while the eSIM handles data. A small number of providers sell combined data-plus-calls-plus-SMS plans for specific destinations, but if you bought a standard data plan, no calling or texting is expected to work on it.

"I installed a second eSIM and now nothing works right"

Most phones can store several eSIM profiles but can only run a limited number simultaneously (commonly one physical SIM plus one eSIM active at a time, though newer phones increasingly support two active eSIMs). If you've installed multiple and things have gone strange, go into your SIM management settings and check exactly which lines are currently active versus just stored, and make sure only the ones you actually want running are turned on.

Still stuck?

If none of this resolves it, contact your specific provider's support directly — most have live chat built into their app, and they can see your account status and troubleshoot from their end in a way a general guide can't. It's also worth checking their specific coverage page for your destination; a small number of areas genuinely do have gaps in a given provider's network, which no amount of settings-fiddling will fix.

For the setup steps from scratch, see our full install guide for iPhone and Android — most issues trace back to one step in that process being skipped rather than anything actually being broken. Our beginner's guide to how eSIMs work is a good place to start if you're not sure what an eSIM actually is yet.