How to Fix Mobile Data That Has Stopped Working

Work through these in order. The order matters: the first four are reversible, take under a minute each, and between them account for most cases. Everything after that costs you something, so there is no sense reaching for it early.

If you would rather understand what is actually wrong before changing anything, the diagnosis by symptom is the companion to this page.

None of these can break anything, and each takes seconds:

1. 1Turn data roaming on for the travel line. Settings → Cellular or SIMs → the line → Data Roaming. This is the single most common cause and the fix is one toggle.
2. 2Set that same line as the one carrying cellular data. Two lines share one data setting, and the phone does not infer which you meant.
3. 3Toggle airplane mode on, wait ten seconds, and off. This forces a fresh attach and clears a surprising share of stuck registrations.
4. 4Restart the phone. Profile activation sometimes only completes on a cold start.

If data comes back at any point, stop. There is nothing to be gained from continuing down the list.

These are still safe but less trivially reversible, so take them one at a time and check after each. On Android the equivalents sit under Network & internet rather than Cellular, and Google’s Pixel guide to fixing mobile connectivity walks the same ground in Android’s wording.

1. 1Select the network manually. Settings → Cellular → Network Selection, turn Automatic off, and pick a major local operator. Automatic selection can settle on a network your plan has no agreement with.
2. 2Turn off low data mode, data saver and any VPN. Each can produce a connection that looks fine and moves nothing.
3. 3Check the allowance in the provider’s app. A spent plan usually throttles rather than announcing itself, which feels like a fault.
4. 4Reset network settings, as the last on-device step. It clears carrier configuration and usually fixes what nothing else does.

Both are common instincts and both cost more than the problem:

• Deleting the eSIM and reinstalling it. The code installs once, so unless the provider agrees in advance to reissue, you may delete a working plan and have nothing to put back. This is close to irreversible.
• Factory-resetting the phone. It removes eSIM profiles as part of the wipe, so you lose the plan and keep the problem — which was a per-line setting almost every time.

Pick the right party or you will be sent back and forth:

• The eSIM provider, if the travel plan has never connected once, or the allowance looks wrong. They can see whether the profile ever registered — which settles it immediately. Apple’s page on Dual SIM with eSIM not working points the same way: plan eligibility, local outages and billing blocks are all things only they can see.
• Your carrier, if the problem is on your home line, or if the phone might be locked. Only they can change either.
• Nobody yet, if you have not checked roaming and the data-line setting. Support will ask first, and it is faster to have the answer.

Tell them what the phone shows rather than "it does not work": "no service" and "full bars, nothing loads" point support in completely different directions.

Most of this disappears if the plan is installed at home, named clearly, and tested before departure. Install before you fly and a failure becomes an email to support rather than an hour in an arrivals hall. Plans by destination, ranked on price per GB.