Keep your eSIM QR code private: it works only once

What the code actually contains

Behind the black squares there is a short text called an activation code. Microsoft's documentation for managing eSIMs, which follows the GSMA specification for eSIMs (SGP.22), describes its two key fields: the address of the provider's eSIM server, known as SM-DP+, and a matching ID that identifies one specific eSIM profile on that server.

When your phone scans the QR, it contacts that server, presents the matching ID and downloads the profile. That is also why Apple offers an Enter Details Manually option when adding an eSIM: the text version of the code does exactly the same job as the image. Whatever you would not share as a picture, do not share as text either, including a screenshot of the email where the code appears.

Why the first scan wins

A travel eSIM like ours is a single-install product. With Snoozim, once the eSIM is installed it stays on that phone, it cannot be moved to another one, and if it is deleted it cannot be installed again from the same code. So the code is spent the moment any phone installs the profile, and that phone does not have to be yours.

Apple's guidance points the same way for eSIMs in general. It warns against deleting an eSIM as a troubleshooting step unless your provider tells you to, and says that if you erase one, you need to contact your provider to get a new one. A deleted or misplaced eSIM does not come back by scanning the old code again.

Where codes leak

• A screenshot sent to a group chat so someone can help you install it.
• A photo of the travel prep on social media, with the laptop screen showing the code.
• Forwarding the order email to a friend who is travelling with you.
• A printout left on a shared printer or in a hotel business centre.
• A friend pointing their own iPhone at your screen to see what happens.

The last one is less unlikely than it sounds. Apple's setup instructions say that scanning an eSIM QR with the Camera app brings up a Cellular Plan Detected notification; from there, a few taps on the wrong phone are enough.

How to scan it safely

Install the eSIM yourself, at home on Wi-Fi, on the phone you are going to travel with. The usual way is to open the code on a second screen, such as a laptop or a printed sheet, and scan it from the phone's settings. On iPhone with iOS 17.4 or later, Apple adds another route: if the code arrives in your default email app, touch and hold the QR and tap Add eSIM, so it never has to appear on another screen at all.

If you are buying for several people, each phone needs its own eSIM and its own code. Send each traveller only their own, and let them install it on their own phone; our family travel guide covers that setup. After installing, check that the new line appears in your mobile settings, then delete any screenshots of the code.

If someone else scanned it first

The usual sign is that your phone cannot add the eSIM even though you never used the code and your phone is compatible. Do not keep retrying or try to fix it by deleting things in your settings: that will not bring the profile back to your phone.

Then contact whoever sold you the eSIM, with the order details. At Snoozim, write to info@snoozim.com from the email you used to buy, say what happened and which phone scanned it, and a person reads it and answers within 24 hours; our help page has the other common questions.