Short answer: install the eSIM at home, on Wi-Fi, a day or two before you fly. Scan the QR code from the order email, give the new line a name, and leave it switched off until you land. In Tunisia, turn the line on, select it for mobile data and turn on data roaming for that line only. On our plans, the days start counting at the first connection in Tunisia, not when you install.
Before you start
- A compatible, unlocked phone. iPhone XS or XR and newer, Samsung Galaxy S22 and newer, Google Pixel 4 and newer are listed as compatible; some older or regional models are not. Check your model. A phone locked to your home operator refuses any other eSIM.
- An internet connection. The phone downloads the eSIM profile when you scan the code. Use your home Wi-Fi.
- The QR code on another screen. A laptop, a tablet, a printed page or someone else's phone. If you only have the one phone, see the last section.
Step 1: install on iPhone
- Open Settings, then Mobile Data (or Cellular).
- Tap “Add eSIM”, then “Use QR Code”, and scan the code from the email.
- When asked, label the new line, for example “Tunisia”.
- Keep your usual line as the default for calls and messages.
Step 1: install on Samsung or Pixel
- Samsung: Settings, Connections, SIM manager, “Add eSIM”, then scan the QR code.
- Pixel: Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, “Add eSIM” (or the plus sign), then scan.
- Give the line a name you will recognise.
Menu names change a little between models and software versions. If you cannot find the option at all, the phone may not support eSIM: see Tunisia eSIM on Samsung and Pixel: the models to check.
Step 2: leave it off until you land
Once installed, the eSIM sits in the phone next to your usual SIM. Switch the new line off, or simply do not select it for data. Nothing is consumed: on our plans the validity starts at the first connection to the network in Tunisia.
Step 3: on arrival
- Turn the eSIM line on.
- Set mobile data to the eSIM line, not to your home SIM.
- Turn on data roaming for the eSIM line. A travel eSIM is a roaming SIM: without this setting it shows signal bars and no internet.
- Keep data roaming off on your home line, so your own operator cannot bill you for data in Tunisia.
- On iPhone, switch off “Allow Mobile Data Switching”.
Our eSIM connects to Orange Tunisie. If nothing happens after a minute or two, toggle airplane mode, then go through the checks for an eSIM that is not working in Tunisia.
Step 4: the access point, only if needed
The access point name (APN) normally sets itself. If the field is empty on the eSIM line of one of our plans, enter data.esim and leave the other fields blank: that is the value given in our supplier's documentation. Do not copy an APN from a forum.
Step 5: keep the email
Do not delete the order email or the eSIM itself during the trip. If you lose the QR code, ask for it again here. Our FAQ also describes manual installation with the activation details from the email, for the rare phone that will not scan.
If you only have one screen
You cannot point a phone's camera at its own screen. Three ways round it: open the email on a second device; print the QR code; or, on recent iPhones, press and hold the QR code in the email and choose “Add eSIM”. On Android, the manual entry of the activation details from the email does the same job.
Not bought yet?
Our plans run from €6.50 for 1 day to €84.90 for 30 days, with unlimited data on Orange Tunisie: 1 GB a day at full 4G speed, then 512 kbps. The QR code arrives by email after payment. See the plans, or read which eSIM for Tunisia: seven checks to make first.
iPhone owners: the models, the carrier-lock check and the settings to use are in Tunisia eSIM on iPhone.
Before: is my phone eSIM compatible? After: activate an eSIM in Tunisia on arrival. An error message when scanning: what it means.