Short answer: most eSIMs that “do not work” in Tunisia are installed correctly and blocked by one setting: the eSIM line is off, data roaming is off on that line, or mobile data is still pointed at your home SIM. Go through the seven checks below, in order. If none works, contact the seller of your eSIM, who is the only one able to see its status. If you need internet today, the last section explains the backup.
These steps apply to any travel eSIM, ours or another seller's.
Seven checks, in order
- Turn the eSIM line on. iPhone: Settings, Mobile Data (or Cellular), tap the eSIM, “Turn On This Line”. Android: Settings, then Connections or Network and internet, SIM manager or SIMs, and switch the eSIM on.
- Select the eSIM for mobile data. In the same menu, set “Mobile Data” to the travel eSIM, not to your home SIM. On iPhone, also switch off “Allow Mobile Data Switching”, so the phone cannot fall back to your home line and its roaming rates.
- Turn data roaming on, for the eSIM line only. A travel eSIM is a roaming SIM: without data roaming it shows signal bars and no internet. This is the most common cause. Keep data roaming off on your home line.
- Toggle airplane mode, then restart. Airplane mode on for ten seconds, then off. If nothing changes, restart the phone. This forces a new search for Tunisian networks.
- Choose the network by hand. In the eSIM's settings, switch off automatic network selection and wait for the list. Pick a network your eSIM is allowed to use: Airalo's Tunisia page names Ooredoo, Holafly's lists Orange and Ooredoo, and the eSIM Tunisie plans use Orange only. A network the eSIM is not allowed on will not give you data.
- Check the access point (APN). On most travel eSIMs it sets itself and needs no change. On an eSIM Tunisie plan, if the APN field of the eSIM line is empty, enter data.esim and leave the other fields blank: that is the value the supplier's documentation gives. For another seller's eSIM, use only the APN that seller gives you: a wrong one blocks data.
- Check that the plan is still valid. A plan counted in days ends even if you used little data. Check the date of your first connection against the length of the plan.
When it is not a fault
- It works, but slowly. You have probably used the day's full-speed amount. On an eSIM Tunisie plan that is 1 GB a day at full 4G speed, then 512 kbps until the next day; Airalo's unlimited Tunisia packages state a higher daily amount, then 1 Mbps. Messaging and maps keep working; video struggles. Full speed returns the next day. What the slower speed still allows.
- There is no signal where you are. Signal is usually strongest in towns and along the coast, and can be weak in places in the Sahara. An eSIM limited to one operator has no second option there. See the coverage page.
- You expected calls or SMS. Travel eSIMs for Tunisia are generally data only, with no Tunisian number. Calls go through apps over the data connection.
When the eSIM never installed
- The phone is locked to your home operator. A carrier-locked phone refuses any other eSIM. Only your operator can unlock it.
- The phone has no eSIM. Some models and regional versions have none. Check yours on the compatibility page.
- The eSIM was deleted, or the QR code refuses to install. Rules differ between sellers, so do not delete a travel eSIM to “start again” before asking yours. On an eSIM Tunisie plan, the supplier's documentation says an eSIM that has been removed from the phone can normally be installed again, on Wi-Fi, but it also lists reinstalling as a possible cause of an installation error, so treat deleting as a last resort. If you bought from us, ask for your QR code again or write to contact@esimtunisie.com.
- You have no internet to install it. Installing an eSIM needs a connection. Use the hotel or airport Wi-Fi.
If it cannot be fixed today: the backup
First, write to your seller with your order number and phone model, and ask what its refund terms are. Then, if you cannot wait for an answer, a second eSIM can sit on the same phone next to the first one:
- Connect to Wi-Fi.
- Buy a short plan. eSIM Tunisie costs €6.50 for one day and €14.90 for three, and the QR code arrives by email after payment. See the plans.
- Scan the QR code from a second screen: a travel companion's phone, a laptop, the hotel's computer. On recent iPhones you can also press and hold the QR code in the email and choose “Add eSIM”.
- Turn the new line on, select it for mobile data, turn on data roaming for it, and switch the old eSIM line off.
To be clear about what this does and does not solve: a second eSIM fixes a problem with the first eSIM or with its network. It will not fix a locked phone, a phone without eSIM, or a place with no signal. An eSIM Tunisie plan uses Orange Tunisie only: if your first eSIM is on Ooredoo and there is no Ooredoo signal where you are, a second eSIM on Orange can help; if your first eSIM is already on Orange, it will not.
Before your next trip
- Install the eSIM at home, on Wi-Fi, a day or two before you fly. On an eSIM Tunisie plan the days only start at the first connection in Tunisia.
- Check the phone is unlocked and compatible before you buy.
- Keep the seller's email and your order number where you can reach them offline.
- Compare what each seller's page states about networks and daily allowance: best Tunisia eSIM in 2026.
Sources
The networks named for other sellers come from Airalo's and Holafly's Tunisia pages, read on 1 October 2026; Airalo's fair usage line comes from its package details on the same page. The eSIM Tunisie network, daily allowance and reduced speed come from the supplier's catalogue, read the same day; the APN value and the reinstall rule come from the supplier's help centre. Menu names vary with the phone model and software version.
The installation itself, step by step: how to install a Tunisia eSIM. Sharing the connection: hotspot in Tunisia with a travel eSIM.
One guide per symptom: No Service or SOS, signal but no internet, eSIM cannot be added, slow eSIM and eSIM deleted by mistake.