Install guide
Set it up at home.Switch it on there.
Installing takes about a minute. Check the Starts field in your order before doing it: each plan states whether its clock begins at purchase, installation, or first network connection.
Before you start
An eSIM-capable phone
Most phones since 2018. If Settings offers to add an eSIM or a second line, you are set — and it must not be carrier-locked.
The email we sent you
Your QR code and activation details arrive by email the moment the order completes. Keep it open on another screen, or print it.
Wi-Fi and the plan's start rule
Installing needs a connection. Check the Starts field in your order first: first-connection plans can be installed early, but immediate and installation-start plans are already counting.
Two ways in
Scan the QR code
The quickest route, and the one most people use. You need the code on a second screen — or on paper — because the phone doing the scanning cannot display it.
Enter the details by hand
Same plan, typed rather than scanned. Use this when you only have one screen, or when the camera will not cooperate. The address and activation code are in your email.
On iPhone
- 1
Open Settings, then Mobile Service (Cellular on some versions).
- 2
Tap Add eSIM, then Use QR Code.
- 3
Point the camera at the QR code in your email.
- 4
Give the line a name you will recognise — eSIM.gl, or the country you are going to.
- 5
Leave your usual line as the default for calls and texts.
- 6
Turn Data Roaming on for the new line. This is the step people miss, and the plan cannot work without it.
On Android
- 1
Open Settings, then Network & internet.
- 2
Tap SIMs, then the + or Add eSIM.
- 3
Choose to scan a QR code and point the camera at the one in your email.
- 4
Confirm when the phone asks to download the plan.
- 5
Name the new line so you can tell it apart from your usual one.
- 6
Turn Roaming on for the new line. Without it the plan will not connect.
When does the plan start?
It depends on the plan. Your order's Starts field states whether the validity clock begins at purchase, installation, or first network connection. Only first-connection plans are safe to install early without using validity time.
If something is not working
- The QR code will not scan
- Increase your screen brightness, or open the email on a laptop and scan from there. If the camera still refuses, use the manual details in the same email — they install exactly the same plan.
- It installed, but there is no signal
- Almost always Data Roaming. Find the eSIM.gl line in your settings and switch roaming on for that line specifically — it is a per-line setting, not a global one.
- It says the code has already been used
- An eSIM can only be installed once. If you removed it from your phone, it cannot be reinstalled from the same QR — contact us and we will sort it out.
- Do I take my normal SIM out?
- No. An eSIM sits alongside it. Keep your usual number for calls and texts, and let eSIM.gl carry the data.
Still stuck?
Tell us what your screen says and we will work it out with you.