How do I install an eSIM without scanning a QR code?

Every order page carries the same details as text. Most Android phones give you one field and want the whole activation key: copy it from the order page and paste it in.

Some phones ask for two separate lines instead. Those are on the page too, as the SM-DP+ address and the activation code.

On an iPhone: Settings → Mobile Service → Add eSIM → Use QR Code → Enter Details Manually, then paste the two values.

Copy and paste rather than retyping. The key is long and one wrong character fails without saying why.

Related questions

What are the SM-DP+ address and the activation code?

They are the two halves of what a QR code contains. The SM-DP+ address is the server your phone fetches the profile from; the activation code identifies your particular eSIM on it.

Phones that ask for two fields want them separately. Phones that ask for one want the whole activation key, which is both of them joined together.

All three forms are on your order page, each with a copy button. Treat them as private: anyone who has them can install your plan.

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My QR code will not scan. What do I do?

Use the manual details on the same order page instead. They install exactly the same eSIM and do not need a camera.

If you are scanning from the phone that is displaying the code, that is the problem: screenshot the code and pick the picture from your photos when asked to scan.

A code that was already scanned once cannot be scanned again. If the eSIM is already on a phone, it is installed and there is nothing more to do.

Brightness helps too — turn the screen showing the code up, and hold the phones a little further apart.

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How do I install an eSIM on an Android phone?

Settings → Network & internet → SIMs → Add eSIM, then scan the QR code on your order page. The wording differs a little between makers, but the path is close on all of them.

Most Android phones also offer to type the details in. They give one field and want the whole activation key, which you can copy from the order page.

Install on wifi, before you travel, and leave the eSIM in place once it is there.

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Back to Installing your eSIM

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