Install an eSIM in 2 minutes (iPhone and Android)
Your eSIM arrives as a QR code in your email. Here is how to scan it, label the line, and turn on data, step by step.
An eSIM is a digital SIM already built into your phone. You do not swap a plastic card. You add a plan by scanning a QR code, and most flagship phones since around 2022 support it.
Simzora sends your QR code by email within minutes of purchase. The whole install takes about two minutes. Follow the steps below for iPhone or Android.
What you need before you start
You need three things: a phone that supports eSIM, a stable Wi-Fi or existing data connection, and the QR code email from Simzora. Do the install while you still have internet, because scanning the code needs a connection.
Keep the email open on a second screen, a laptop or another phone, so you can scan the QR code with your phone camera. If you only have the one phone, most devices also offer a manual entry option that uses a code from the same email.
iPhone vs Android: where the eSIM menu lives
On iPhone, go to Settings, then Cellular or Mobile Data, then tap Add eSIM or Add Cellular Plan, and scan the QR code. On most Android phones such as Samsung and Google Pixel, go to Settings, then Connections or Network and internet, then SIM manager or SIMs, then Add eSIM or Download a SIM instead, and scan. Menu names vary slightly by brand and version, but you are always looking for the SIM or Cellular section, then an add or download option.
Install in four steps
Step 1. Open the email from Simzora and find the QR code. Step 2. On your phone, open the eSIM setup screen. The exact menu path is in the box below. Choose to add a plan and scan the QR code.
Step 3. When the phone asks, label the new line with a clear name like Simzora Travel, so you can tell it apart from your main number. Step 4. Turn on data roaming for the eSIM line. This is required, because a travel eSIM connects as a visitor on local networks, and roaming is how it reaches them.
That is the full install. Your data plan is now active on the eSIM. Your main SIM or number stays in place and untouched.
Turn on data roaming, and why it is safe here
Data roaming sounds expensive, but here it is not. Your Simzora plan already includes the data you paid for, so turning on roaming for the eSIM line simply lets that plan connect. You are not buying your home carrier's roaming.
Set the Simzora eSIM as your active data line, and leave your main line for calls and texts if you want. To avoid any charge on your home number, keep data roaming switched off for that line.
If you have a non-PTA or imported phone in Pakistan
Pakistan's DIRBS system gives an imported, non-PTA phone roughly a 60 day grace window on a local SIM. After that, the phone is blocked from local cellular until the IMEI is PTA registered, and the import tax on premium phones can be a large share of the phone's value.
A travel eSIM works differently. It roams onto local networks like Zong, Jazz, Telenor and Ufone as an inbound visitor line, so it keeps you connected with data without PTA registration. To be clear, it does not unblock or register your phone. It provides data, and it is focused on data, not local calls.
If it does not connect
First, confirm data roaming is on for the eSIM line and that the eSIM is set as your active data line. Then toggle Airplane mode on and off, or restart the phone, so it can search for a network again.
If you still see no data, check that you are within the plan's coverage and validity. Simzora Pakistan plans start at 1GB for 7 days at $2.99 and go up to 20GB for 30 days at $19.99, with unlimited daily options as well. Keep the QR code, because you can often reinstall the same eSIM if you remove it by mistake.
Key takeaways
- Your eSIM arrives as a QR code by email within minutes of purchase.
- Install takes about two minutes: open the email, scan the QR code, label the line, and turn on data roaming.
- Turn on data roaming for the eSIM line only. Your plan already includes the data, so there is no extra roaming charge.
- On iPhone the option is under Settings, Cellular, Add eSIM. On Android it is under Settings, then SIM manager or SIMs, then Add eSIM.
- For a non-PTA phone in Pakistan, a travel eSIM gives you data without PTA registration. It does not unblock or register the phone.
- Keep the QR code and set the eSIM as your active data line if you see no connection.