How to Set Up an eSIM for Europe on Android and iPhone

If you are flying to Europe with a phone bought in the US, the UK, or anywhere outside the EU, your carrier will almost certainly bill you a daily roaming fee the moment you switch your phone on. It’s a digital SIM profile you download on Wi-Fi before you depart, and which auto-connects to local networks when you arrive.

The install takes about 5 minutes. The mistake that people make is the sequence, and two or three easy-to-overlook settings. The entire procedure on both platforms.

Step 1: Confirm your phone actually supports eSIM

Not every recent phone does, and carrier-locked handsets sometimes have the feature disabled.

The fastest check is to open your dialer and type *#06#. If the panel that appears includes an EID (a 32-digit number) alongside the IMEI, your phone has an eSIM chip.

As a rough guide:

• iPhone: XS, XR and everything newer. US models from the iPhone 14 onward have no SIM tray at all and are eSIM-only.
• Samsung: Galaxy S20 and newer, plus the Z Fold and Z Flip lines.
• Google Pixel: Pixel 4 and newer.

If your handset came from a carrier on a contract, check that it is unlocked. A locked phone will accept the eSIM profile but refuse to connect.

Step 2: Buy the plan before you fly

This is much more significant than it sounds. You need an internet connection to install an eSIM and won’t have one when you arrive and are going through customs. Purchase and set up in your home on your own WIFI.

Choose the type of data allowance that you will use for your travel. Maps, messaging and a bit of browsing is about 300 to 500MB per day. With video calls or streaming, you’re just around the corner from 1.5GB. The average person gets between 5GB and 10GB for 2 weeks.

Coverage is the other thing to check. Europe is not one network, so a plan sold as a single-country SIM will stop working the moment you cross a border. Regional plans solve this: a multi-country eSIM for Europe covers 30-plus countries across the EU and the UK on one profile, which is what you want if your itinerary includes more than one stop. If you are still weighing options, this comparison of the best SIM card for Europe breaks down the main providers side by side.

Step 3: Install the profile

A QR code will be sent to you via e-mail once you’ve made a purchase. It can be used in two ways – either scan it with the phone’s camera on another screen or enter the activation data manually, if you’re installing on the same phone that you got the email from.

On iPhone (iOS 16 and later):

1. Settings > Cellular
2. Add eSIM
3. Use QR Code
4. Scan the code, then follow the prompts

On older iOS versions the menu reads Add Cellular Plan instead.

On Samsung Galaxy:

1. Settings > Connections > SIM manager
2. Add eSIM
3. Scan QR code from service provider

On Google Pixel:

1. Settings > Network & internet > SIMs
2. Tap the + next to your existing SIM
3. Choose “Download a SIM instead?” and scan

Step 4: Label it and leave it switched off

Your cell phone will prompt you to give it a name when the profile is downloaded. It might be something obvious such as “Europe” so you can easily distinguish it from your home line.

Then turn the eSIM line off until you land. Leaving it active at home does nothing useful, and on some prepaid plans the validity window starts counting from first network connection rather than from purchase.

Step 5: The three settings people get wrong

When you arrive, switch the eSIM line on and check these:

Data roaming must be enabled on the eSIM line. This is the single most common failure. A travel eSIM works by roaming onto local partner networks, so with roaming off it will show signal bars and pass no data at all. Find it under Settings > Cellular > [your eSIM] > Data Roaming on iPhone, or in SIM manager on Android.

Set the eSIM as your mobile data line, not your default voice line. Your home number should stay active for calls and SMS (bank codes, airline notifications) but should never be the line carrying data. On iPhone: Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data > select the eSIM. Also switch Allow Cellular Data Switching off, or the phone will quietly fall back to your home carrier and roam at full price.

Turn data roaming off on your home line. Same menu, opposite setting. This is what stops the surprise bill.

What an eSIM will not do

Before purchasing, there are two limits to be known: The majority of travel eSIMs are data only, meaning that you will not have a local phone number and will not be able to place frequent voice calls or receive SMS on that number. All these apps run well over data: WhatsApp, Signal and FaceTime.

An eSIM profile is typically associated with the phone on which it was added. You typically can’t relocate a phone from one trip to another. Please attach to the handset you are carrying!

Apart from that, it’s such a five-minute task that you only need to perform once in the comfort of home, while still in your pyjamas. Not paying twelve dollars a day to check a map is a fair exchange for which of the following?