How to add a travel eSIM on a Samsung Galaxy: step by step (Samsung India path)

1. Check that the Indian variant of your Galaxy is on Samsung’s eSIM list.
2. Add the eSIM in SIM manager on home Wi-Fi.
3. After landing, choose the eSIM as the mobile data SIM and keep data roaming on for the eSIM.

Each quoted step carries its Samsung page and date in the Sources list. Other makers: Android install hub.

Before you start: is your Galaxy’s Indian version eSIM-capable?

Samsung India lists the Galaxy A35 and A36 for eSIM “Only Europe, North America, Korea”, so an A35 or A36 sold in India has no eSIM. The same page warns: “Depending on the country of origin, eSIM may not be supported even if your device is listed above.” Check your exact Samsung model number against the list.

Samsung’s list covers the S20 to S26 series, the Z Fold and Z Flip phones, the S23 FE to S26 FE and the A55, A56, A57 and A37, with no region limit. On Samsung India’s spec pages, the M35 and M55 show “SIM 1 + Hybrid”, and neither is on the eSIM list. The Samsung eSIM page has the model rows, and the eSIM phone list covers other brands.

Step by step: add the travel eSIM with the QR code

Samsung India’s eSIM page (“Last Update date : Sep 19. 2026”, read 13 Oct 2026) names three ways to add an eSIM: eSIM Simple Setup, a QR code, or the information entered by hand. A travel eSIM uses the QR code or the manual route. Show the QR code from your order page on a laptop or a second phone.

1. Connect to home Wi-Fi.
2. “Go to Settings > Connections > SIM manager”
3. “Tap Add eSIM then tap Scan QR code”
4. “Scan the QR code from Network Carrier”
5. Samsung adds: “Your eSIM will be automatically downloaded and activated on your Samsung Galaxy device.”

Steps 2 to 5 are Samsung’s words, and “Network Carrier” here means us, the seller of the plan. Samsung’s “activated” means the profile is on your phone. For almost every destination we sell, the plan days start at the first connection to a network abroad, so installing in India uses none; the country page states the rule for each destination.

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 manual (English, 09/2026) prints the same route: “open Settings, tap Connections → SIM manager → Add eSIM → Scan QR code, and then scan the QR code.”

No camera scan? Enter the activation code

To activate an eSIM in Samsung without a camera, use the same menu with one more tap: Scan QR code, then Enter activation code. Samsung says: “Some network carrier that support eSIM provide a code to manually add an eSIM.” Copy the code from your order page before you start, so you can paste it.

1. “Go to Settings > Connections > SIM manager”
2. “Tap Add eSIM, tap Scan QR code > Tap Enter activation code”
3. “Enter the activation code provided by your network carrier”

On your order page, tap Copy activation code and paste the whole string into the field. Samsung India’s page mentions only the activation code. If a screen asks for the SM-DP+ address and the activation code separately, the order page lists both; type each exactly as written.

After landing: data line, data roaming and APN

Choose the travel eSIM as the SIM for mobile data when you land, and keep data roaming on for that line only. Samsung India’s troubleshooting page prints the data-SIM path, but no Samsung page we read prints a data-roaming path. Keep mobile data and data roaming off on your Jio, Airtel or Vi line.

Samsung’s troubleshooting page (last updated 11 Sep 2024, read 13 Oct 2026) gives the data-SIM route as one line, “Path: Settings > Connections> SIM card manager> Mobile data > Choose SIM 1/ SIM 2”:

1. Open Settings > Connections > SIM card manager.
2. Tap Mobile data.
3. Choose the travel eSIM, not your Indian SIM.

That page writes “SIM card manager”, while the eSIM page and the S25 manual write “SIM manager”. Look for Mobile data in whichever of the two your phone shows.

Samsung’s pages we read print no path for data roaming, so we print none. Its checklist says only: “Data Roaming is enabled if you are in roaming”. Samsung’s page does not say whether a dual SIM Samsung can run two eSIMs at once.

If the order page lists an APN and data does not flow, Samsung India’s “Reset the APN” line is “Path: Settings > Connections> Mobile networks >Access point names > More icon > Reset to default”. The APN settings guide says which plans need one typed.

Our eSIM carries data only, so it cannot receive bank OTPs. Keep the Indian SIM in the phone for calls and SMS, and ask your operator whether SMS works abroad on your plan. No page can promise that every OTP will reach you. The guide to keeping your Indian SIM for OTPs explains the dual-SIM settings.

No ‘Add eSIM’ option, or the eSIM is not working

If Add eSIM is missing in SIM manager, the phone is probably an Indian version without eSIM. Samsung says eSIM “may not be supported even if your device is listed above”, so the menu is the final test. If the option is there but the code fails, find the cause first; never delete the profile to retry.

Check these causes in order: no Wi-Fi during the download, a QR code scanned from the same phone, a code that was already used, and a model without eSIM. A deleted profile usually cannot be installed again from the same code, so write to us with your order number instead. Samsung’s Convert to eSIM route turns a physical SIM into an eSIM; it does not install a travel plan.

Full refund within 30 days of purchase, as long as the eSIM has not connected to any network. If the eSIM doesn’t work and it isn’t your phone’s fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.

If the eSIM is installed but not working abroad, the checklist for an eSIM that has no signal lists the next checks. To remove it after the trip, see how to delete an eSIM. Pick your destination on the country list.

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