Every Way to Install an eSIM on an iPhone

An iPhone accepts an eSIM by six different routes, and they are not interchangeable — which one is available depends on who issued the profile and how. Knowing that in advance saves hunting for a QR code that was never going to exist.

All six end in the same place: a profile in Settings → Cellular — Apple’s own setup page covers the routes it supports. For the platform-agnostic version of what to do and when, how to install an eSIM covers the timing and the settings that matter afterwards.

In rough order of how often you will meet them:

• Scanning a QR code — the default for most travel providers.
• Entering the SM-DP+ address and activation code by hand.
• Installing from the provider’s own app, with nothing to scan.
• Quick Transfer, moving a line from another iPhone over Bluetooth.
• Transfer from an Android phone, which iOS 26 added and which needs a carrier that supports it.
• Carrier activation during initial iPhone setup, for your main line.

Both start from the same screen, and both take about two minutes on wifi.

Scanning the code

1. 1Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → Use QR Code.
2. 2Point the camera at the code. The Camera app also recognises eSIM codes and offers to hand them to Settings, which is quicker if the code is on paper.
3. 3On iOS 17.4 and later there is a third way in: touch and hold the code image in Mail or Safari and tap Add eSIM, with no camera involved at all.
4. 4Follow the prompts, then label the line — "Japan" rather than "Secondary".

Typing the details

Settings → Cellular → Add Cellular Plan → Enter Details Manually, at the bottom of the screen, then paste the SM-DP+ address and activation code. This installs exactly the same profile — the full walkthrough is here — and it is the fix when the code your provider sent is on the only phone you own.

Each of these is the only option in the case it applies to, and unavailable otherwise.

From the provider’s app

An increasing number of providers install directly, with no code shown at any point. iOS presents a confirmation sheet and the profile appears. Nothing is missing when this happens — it is the newer and more reliable path.

Quick Transfer from another iPhone

Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → Transfer From Nearby iPhone. Apple’s current requirements are both phones on iOS 18.4 or later, signed in to the same Apple Account, unlocked and near each other with Bluetooth on. This works for carrier lines, not usually for travel plans — most third-party providers do not permit transfer at all.

Transfer from an Android phone

New in iOS 26, and the route to know about if you are switching platforms. On the iPhone, Settings → Cellular → Add eSIM → Transfer from Android produces a QR code that you scan with the Android phone’s camera, then pick the number to move — Apple documents the pairing-code fallback too for when the scan will not work. The Android line deactivates as the iPhone one comes up, and carrier support for it is still patchy.

During initial setup

Setting up a new iPhone offers to bring your carrier line across. Convenient for your main number, and irrelevant to travel plans, which are added afterwards.

Four causes account for nearly all failures, in the order worth checking:

• No internet. The install downloads the profile, so it needs a working connection — wifi, before you travel. Apple lists this first among the reasons an eSIM will not set up.
• "Cannot Add Cellular Plan" — usually a code already used. Ask the provider to reissue; retrying the same code will not help.
• The iPhone is carrier-locked, in which case it may install and then never register. Ten seconds to check.
• Too many profiles stored. Rare — Apple puts the ceiling at eight or more eSIMs on a current iPhone — but deleting an expired one frees the slot.

Whichever route your provider uses, do it at home with wifi and time. Then landing is one toggle rather than a support conversation. Plans by destination, ranked on price per GB.