My eSIM is connected but the internet does not work. What now?

Two settings cause almost every case. First, set mobile data to the travel eSIM rather than your home SIM. Second, turn Data Roaming on for that line — travel eSIMs work by roaming, so with it off the phone registers on the network but passes no data. If both are correct, check the APN listed in your order email and disable any VPN or Low Data Mode.

Can I scan my eSIM QR code twice?

No. A QR code installs the profile once. After that it is spent, and re-scanning returns an error even though the plan itself is fine. This is why deleting a working profile to start fresh is risky — if you need it reinstalled, contact support and ask for the activation details to be re-issued.

Do I need to keep my home SIM active?

It is usually worth it. Travel eSIM plans are data-only, so they carry no voice calls or SMS. Keeping your home line enabled for calls and texts — with its own data roaming switched off — lets you receive one-time passcodes while the travel eSIM handles all data.

Should I reset network settings to fix an eSIM?

Only as a last resort. A network reset clears saved Wi-Fi passwords and, on some devices, removes installed eSIM profiles, which you cannot reinstall from an already-used QR code. Work through the ordered checks first, and record your ICCID before resetting anything.

My data stopped working partway through the trip.

Check the plan balance and validity. Data allowances run out, and validity starts at first connection rather than at purchase, so a plan can lapse mid-trip. If there is data left, crossing a border out of the plan's coverage area produces the same symptom — a local plan stops at the country line, a regional plan at the edge of its listed countries.

Does a locked phone work with a travel eSIM?

No. The device must be carrier-unlocked as well as eSIM-capable. A locked phone either rejects the profile or installs it and never connects, and no combination of settings will fix that — unlock the device with your home carrier first, then install the eSIM.

Traveler checking a smartphone's mobile data settings to fix a travel eSIM that shows no service after landing

SetupUpdated August 20269 min read

eSIM Not Working? A Step-by-Step Fix for No Service, No Data and QR Errors

Landed, switched the phone on, and the travel eSIM is dead. Almost always it is a setting rather than a broken plan — here are the same checks support runs, in order, from the 60-second fix to the things worth trying last.

Fastest fixes first
iPhone & Android
No Service / no data
What to send support

Key takeaways

Most broken eSIMs are not broken — the profile installed fine, but the phone is still routing data through the wrong line.
Four toggles fix the majority of cases: data line set to the travel eSIM, Data Roaming on, airplane mode cycled, and automatic network selection.
A travel eSIM only connects after you land: it needs a partner network in the destination country, so No Service at home is normal, not a fault.
A QR code is single-use — if it was already installed once, re-scanning it will fail even though nothing is wrong with the plan.

The worst possible moment to debug a phone is the arrivals hall: tired, no Wi-Fi, and a travel eSIM that stubbornly reads No Service.

The good news is that a genuinely faulty eSIM profile is rare. In the overwhelming majority of cases the profile installed perfectly and the phone is simply routing data somewhere else, waiting on a toggle, or looking for a network it was never meant to find yet. Each of those looks identical from the outside — and each has a different fix.

Work through this guide in order. The checks are arranged from the fastest and most likely to the slowest and most disruptive, so the further down you go, the rarer the cause.

Wrong data line

Signal shows, nothing loads. The phone is still trying to use the home SIM for data.

Roaming disabled

Registered on a network, but no traffic passes. Travel eSIMs need roaming on.

Spent QR code

The install failed because the profile was already downloaded once, elsewhere.

The 60-second checks

Before changing anything, rule out the five things that account for most reports. Each takes seconds, and none of them can make your situation worse.

60 sec

Most common fix

Toggles to check

QR code installs

On arrival

When it connects

Are you actually in the destination country?
A travel eSIM roams onto partner networks in the country the plan covers. Before you land it has nothing to attach to, so “No Service” at home is expected. Install it early, but judge it only after arrival.
Is the eSIM turned on?
Installing a profile does not always enable it. On iPhone, check Settings › Cellular; on Android, Settings › Network & internet › SIMs. The travel line needs its own switch flipped on.
Is mobile data pointed at the travel line?
This is the most common cause of “it says connected but nothing loads”. The phone still has your home SIM selected for data, and roaming on that line is (rightly) blocked.
Is Data Roaming on for the travel eSIM?
A travel eSIM works by roaming. With Data Roaming off it will register on a network and then refuse to pass any traffic. Turn it on for the travel line only — your home line can stay off.
Have you cycled airplane mode?
Thirty seconds of airplane mode forces a fresh network scan. After a long flight this alone resolves a surprising share of cases — do it before changing any settings.

If one of those fixed it, stop here. There is no benefit to continuing down the list — the later steps trade convenience for reach, and a couple of them are hard to undo.

The eSIM will not install

If you never got as far as a profile appearing in your settings, the problem is the download, not the network. These are the errors people actually see.

“Unable to Add Cellular Plan” or “Invalid QR code”

Usually the code has already been used. A QR code installs once; after that the profile lives on the device and the code is spent. If the plan is not in your settings, check whether it went onto another phone — and if it did not, ask support to re-issue it.

The camera scans nothing at all

Do not scan from the same phone’s own screen. Display the code on a laptop or a second device, or use manual entry with the SM-DP+ address and activation code from your order email.

“Cellular Plan Not Available”, or the install stalls at 0%

The device needs a live internet connection to download the profile. Join stable Wi-Fi — hotel Wi-Fi with a captive login page often blocks it — and retry.

The phone refuses to add another plan

Devices hold a limited number of stored profiles. Delete an old, expired travel eSIM you no longer need, then install the new one. Never delete a profile you still intend to use: it cannot be re-added with a spent QR code.

It only works on Wi-Fi

That is the classic wrong-data-line symptom, not an installation failure. Jump to connected, but no internet.

Install on Wi-Fi, before you fly. Downloading a profile needs a working internet connection, which is exactly what you do not have when the eSIM is your only planned connection. Add it at home the day before.

Installed, but showing “No Service”

The profile is there and the line is on, but the phone will not attach to a network. Go through these in sequence — the order matters, because each step rules out the one before it.

1
Toggle airplane mode
On for 30 seconds, then off. Give the phone a full minute to find and register on a partner network before deciding it failed.
2
Confirm the line is enabled
Open your cellular or SIM settings and make sure the travel eSIM shows as on. A freshly installed profile is sometimes left switched off.
3
Restart the phone
A full power cycle re-runs network attachment from scratch and clears a stuck radio state left over from the flight.
4
Select the network manually
Turn off automatic selection and pick a partner network from the list by hand. If one refuses to register, try the next — a plan usually covers several.
5
Check the coverage you bought
A local plan works only in its country; a regional plan only inside its listed countries. Crossing a border can silently drop you outside the plan.
6
Verify the plan is active and in date
Validity starts on first connection, not at purchase. An older eSIM may simply have expired, and a depleted data balance can look identical to no service.

Manual network selection is the underrated one. Automatic selection sometimes latches onto a network your plan has no agreement with and then stops looking. Choosing a partner network by hand gets people online more often than any other single step in this section.

Connected, but no internet

Signal bars, a carrier name at the top of the screen, and every page timing out. This is the most common complaint of all, and it is nearly always one of two toggles.

Signal bars, but nothing loads

Mobile data is still assigned to your home SIM. Set the travel eSIM as the data line — on iPhone, Settings › Cellular › Cellular Data; on Android, SIMs › Mobile data.

Data line is right, still nothing

Turn on Data Roaming for that line. Travel eSIMs are roaming profiles; with it off, the connection registers but carries no traffic.

Everything looks correct, pages still time out

Check the APN. Most profiles configure it automatically, but if your order email lists one, enter it exactly as written and leave username and password blank unless told otherwise.

Low Data Mode or a data saver is on

Both throttle background traffic and can make an otherwise healthy connection feel dead. Switch them off while you test.

A VPN or private relay is intercepting traffic

Disable the VPN and iCloud Private Relay, then retest. Re-enable them once the eSIM is confirmed working.

One app fails, everything else works

That is not an eSIM fault. Data-only plans carry no voice or SMS, so an app waiting on a text message code will stall — keep your home line active for one-time passcodes.

The two-toggle rule

If you remember nothing else from this guide, remember this pair: mobile data set to the travel eSIM, and Data Roaming on for that same line. Between them they explain most of the “my eSIM does not work” messages support receives — and both are two taps away in your phone’s settings.

Where the settings live: iPhone vs Android

The logic is identical on both platforms; only the menu names differ. Android paths vary slightly by manufacturer — Samsung’s One UI labels the section SIM manager — but the sequence is the same.

What you are changing	iPhone (iOS)	Android
Turn the line on	Settings › Cellular › select the plan › Turn On This Line	Settings › Network & internet › SIMs › toggle the eSIM on
Set the data line	Settings › Cellular › Cellular Data › travel eSIM	SIMs › Mobile data › travel eSIM
Data roaming	Cellular › the plan › Data Roaming on	SIMs › the eSIM › Roaming on
Manual network	Cellular › Network Selection › Automatic off	SIMs › Preferred network › choose manually
Edit the APN	Cellular › the plan › Cellular Data Network	SIMs › the eSIM › Access Point Names
Voice and SMS on a data plan	Not included	Not included
Keep home line for OTPs	Supported	Supported

Exact wording varies by OS version and manufacturer skin; the order of the menus does not.

Still stuck after all of that?

Before you reach for a network reset, capture the details below. A reset wipes context that support would otherwise have used to diagnose the problem in a single message.

Note the ICCID of the travel eSIM from your cellular settings and keep it — support needs it.
Take a screenshot of the plan’s settings page showing the line enabled, the data line, and the roaming toggle.
Record which networks appear in the manual network list, and which ones refused to register.
Only then reset network settings. It clears saved Wi-Fi passwords and can remove a working profile, so treat it as a last step, not a first one.

Mistakes that make it worse

Every item here is something travelers do in the first frustrated ten minutes. Each one either destroys information or removes an option you will want back.

Six things not to do

Deleting the eSIM profile to start fresh — a used QR code cannot reinstall it.
Judging the eSIM before landing, then assuming it is faulty because it shows No Service at home.
Leaving mobile data on the home SIM, so every byte either fails or bills as expensive roaming.
Turning Data Roaming off for the travel line because roaming sounds like something to avoid.
Expecting calls and SMS from a data-only plan, then blaming the eSIM when a login code never arrives.
Running a network reset first, which wipes settings and can remove the profile entirely.

When to contact support — and what to send

If you have worked through the checks above and are still offline, the problem is likely on the provisioning side, and that is ours to fix. Sending these five things up front turns a multi-day back-and-forth into a single reply.

Your order number and plan slug
Straight from the confirmation email — it identifies the exact profile that was issued to you.
The eSIM's ICCID
Found in your phone's cellular settings under the travel line. This is how the network side of the plan is looked up.
Device model and OS version
An iPhone 13 and a recent Pixel fail in different ways; naming the device skips a round of questions.
Where you are, and when it started
The country and city, plus whether it ever worked. Never connected and worked for two days then stopped have entirely different causes.
What you already tried
The steps above, in order. It saves you repeating them and gets you to the real fix faster.

Talk to a human

We can re-check the profile on the network side and re-issue activation details when a QR code has been spent.

Contact support

Making sure it does not happen again

Nearly every failure in this guide is preventable with four habits, all of which cost you nothing on the evening before a flight.

1
Install before you fly, activate on arrival
Add the profile at home on stable Wi-Fi, but leave the line off. It attaches to a partner network the moment you land.
2
Label the profile
Rename it to the destination as you install it. Two unnamed lines are the reason people switch off the wrong one at the airport.
3
Keep the QR code and order email
Save them offline. If you ever reinstall on a new device, that email is the only copy of the activation details.
4
Check compatibility before you buy
The device must be eSIM-capable and carrier-unlocked — a locked phone rejects the profile no matter how many toggles you flip. Run the compatibility checker.

New to eSIM entirely? Start with what an eSIM is and how activation actually works.
Setting one up for the first time? Follow the setup guide for your device.
Juggling a home number and a travel line? Dual eSIM explains which line should carry data and which should carry your passcodes.

Frequently asked questions

Most often because you are not yet in the country the plan covers — a travel eSIM connects to partner networks in the destination, so it shows No Service until you land. If you have already arrived, cycle airplane mode, confirm the line is switched on, restart the phone, and then select a partner network manually instead of automatically.

Start the next trip already connected

Install the profile at home, land with data, and keep this page bookmarked for the rare day something needs a toggle. Plans for 200+ destinations, activated in minutes.

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