How to Transfer an eSIM to a New Phone: Every UK Network, and the Mistake That Locks You Out
Before you move an eSIM to a new phone, do not wipe, sell or factory reset the old one. Most UK networks either text a code to the old number or hand you a QR code that works once. Eight of the eleven UK networks let you start it yourself in an app or online account. iD Mobile, Tesco Mobile and Lebara do not: on those three you have to contact them, or walk into a shop.
Where are you in this?
- New phone arriving, planning aheadThe order that avoids losing service. Do it in this order
- Tell me what my network doesAll eleven, from their own pages. The network table
- What even is an eSIMPlain version, no jargon. How it works
- Does my phone take oneOne code tells you in seconds. Check compatibility
- I have an iPhoneQuick Transfer, and when it will not appear. iPhone steps
- I have an AndroidSamsung, Pixel and the rest. Android steps
- Already wiped the old phoneRecoverable, but not by you alone. If you are locked out
- Is eSIM worse than a real SIMFour honest downsides. The catch
We are a UK technology retailer and we do not sell eSIMs or mobile plans, so there is nothing for sale on this page. Every network rule below was read on that network's own support pages on 17 August 2026, and each one is linked at the bottom.
- Transfer an eSIM to a new phone in this order
- What each UK network makes you do
- How does an eSIM work
- Is my phone eSIM compatible?
- How to activate or set up an eSIM on iPhone
- How to set up an eSIM on Samsung and other Android phones
- If you already wiped the old phone
- The downsides of eSIM that networks do not mention
- eSIM vs physical SIM
- How to remove or delete an eSIM
- Travel eSIMs, and the speed penalty nobody quotes
- Quick answers
An eSIM is sold to you as the convenient option. No tray, no pin, no tiny plastic card to lose. That is true right up to the day you change phone, and then it depends entirely on which network you are with.
We read the support pages of eleven UK networks to find out what each one really requires. The differences are bigger than the marketing suggests. Three of them will not let you move your own eSIM at all.
Transfer an eSIM to a new phone in this order
Nearly every problem with moving an eSIM comes from doing the steps in the wrong order. Almost every UK network needs to reach your old phone during the transfer, either with a text message or with a one time code, or it gives you a QR code that works exactly once.
So the order matters more than the method:
- Keep the old phone switched on and on the network. Not wiped, not factory reset, not traded in, not sold.
- Set the new phone up first and get it onto Wi-Fi.
- Start the transfer from your network’s app or account, or from the iPhone setup screen if both phones are iPhones.
- Wait for service to appear on the new phone. Make a call. Send a text.
- Only then wipe or hand over the old one.
If you take one thing from this page, take that. Trading a phone in on the same morning your new one arrives is how people end up without a working number for a day.
What each UK network makes you do
Every cell in this table came from that network’s own support page or from an employee answering on its own forum. It is the part no single network will tell you, because each one only describes itself.
| Network | Can you move it yourself? | What catches people out |
|---|---|---|
| EE | Yes, in the EE app, or with a QR pack sent by post | A QR code can only be used once. If you have deleted the eSIM you replace it in the app, or you call EE or visit a store |
| O2 | Yes, sign in to My O2 and choose Install SIM | A new QR code works once and can expire if you do not activate it. If you need another one, O2 asks you to call or visit a store |
| Vodafone | Yes, an eSIM swap in My Vodafone | If you delete the eSIM they email a new QR code, and you have to open that email on a different device to scan it |
| Three | Yes. Quick Transfer on iPhone, or a SIM Swap for Android | The QR code and the confirmation code arrive in two separate emails, and each can only be used once |
| Sky Mobile | Yes, through My Sky, and it can be linked to the new phone at the point of sale | The eSIM is often issued before the phone is delivered, so keep the details somewhere safe |
| VOXI | Yes, online under Settings then Manage my SIM, or Apple Quick Transfer | If you request it online you must delete the old eSIM within 12 hours or the transfer is cancelled |
| giffgaff | Yes, in the app under Account, SIM, Replace my SIM | It needs a security code sent by text, which arrives on the old phone. giffgaff offers a physical SIM instead if you cannot receive it |
| Smarty | Yes, in the dashboard under Account settings, Manage plan, Replace my SIM | The QR arrives by email and the confirmation code comes from the dashboard. Smarty warns the process varies by device |
| iD Mobile | No. You request it in the app or online, or through Live Chat or email | iD Mobile says plainly: do not delete the eSIM from the old phone, because it needs to send a one time code to that number. Activation then takes about an hour |
| Tesco Mobile | No. Contact them or go into a Tesco Mobile shop | An eSIM can be activated up to three times on the same phone, but once activated it is tied to that phone and cannot be reused on another. A new phone needs a replacement eSIM |
| Lebara | No. Lebara tells you to contact customer services | The QR code is single use and expires once the profile has been downloaded. You get 40 days to use it before it dies |
What the table adds up to: on eight of these eleven networks you can do it yourself, but on seven of them something has to reach the old handset or a single use code has to survive. On iD Mobile, Tesco Mobile and Lebara there is no self service route at all. If you are on one of those three, start the process a few days before the new phone arrives rather than on the day.
Worth noting one contradiction we found. O2’s page busts the myth that you cannot move an eSIM, saying you can move it to another compatible device whenever you like. A few lines further down the same page says a new QR code can only be used once, may expire, and that you should call or visit a store if you need another. Both statements are true. Only one of them is on the marketing half of the page.
How does an eSIM work
A normal SIM is a small chip on a piece of plastic. It holds the credentials that tell a network which account you are, and you move it between phones by physically moving the card.
An eSIM is the same credentials, written into a chip that is already soldered inside the phone. Nothing is inserted. Your network sends you a profile, usually as a QR code or a link, and the phone downloads it into that chip.
That is the whole difference, and it explains everything else on this page. Because there is no card to hand over, moving your number becomes a transaction with your network rather than something you do with your fingers. The network has to authorise it, and it wants to be sure it is you asking, which is why the codes and the texts to the old phone exist.
If you want the wider picture of how phones connect when there is no mast at all, we covered that in our guide to phones with satellite connectivity.
One useful consequence, and O2 spells this out on its own eSIM page: a dual SIM with eSIM phone can hold more than one profile and run two active numbers at once. That means a work number and a personal number on the same handset, or a local plan added abroad without losing your UK number.
Is my phone eSIM compatible?
There is a quick test that works on nearly any phone. Open the dialler and type *#06#. If the screen shows an EID number alongside the IMEI, your phone has an eSIM chip. No EID, no eSIM. giffgaff recommends this same check on its own help pages.
Two things to know beyond the hardware:
- The phone must not be locked to another network. A locked handset will refuse the profile even though the chip is there.
- Your plan has to support it. Three, for example, offers eSIM on its Three Your Way plans, so being on the right tariff matters as much as having the right phone.
If the app your network gives you does not show an eSIM option at all, that is usually your answer. giffgaff says it only shows the eSIM option when the device supports it.
How to activate or set up an eSIM on iPhone
If you are moving from one iPhone to another, the easiest route is Apple’s eSIM Quick Transfer, which moves the line without involving a QR code at all. Three documents the steps on its support pages, and they are the same whichever network you are with:
- On the new iPhone, tap Set Up eSIM, then Transfer from Another iPhone.
- Choose the number to transfer. If no list appears, tap Transfer from Nearby iPhone. Both phones need iOS 18 or later for that.
- Check the old iPhone for a prompt and tap Transfer to confirm. If it asks for a verification code, type the one shown on the new iPhone.
- Follow the remaining prompts on the new iPhone to finish.
Three important limits. Quick Transfer is iPhone to iPhone only, it needs both phones to hand, and it needs the old one working. If any of those is missing you are back to your network’s QR code route, which is the table above.
Going the QR way instead: put the new iPhone on Wi-Fi, open Settings, then Mobile Data, then Add eSIM, and scan the code your network sent. Have the confirmation code ready, because several UK networks send it separately from the QR.
How to set up an eSIM on Samsung and other Android phones
Android has no universal equivalent of Quick Transfer that every network supports, which is why several UK networks describe an iPhone path and an Android path separately. Three, for instance, offers Quick Transfer for Apple devices and a SIM Swap for Android.
The general Android route is the QR code:
- Connect the new phone to Wi-Fi.
- Open Settings, then Connections or Network and internet depending on the make.
- Choose SIM manager or SIMs, then Add eSIM or Download SIM instead.
- Scan the QR code your network sent and enter the confirmation code if asked.
If you are moving between two Android phones on the same network, request the replacement eSIM from your network’s app before you start, because on most of the networks in the table above that request is what actually releases the profile.
If you already wiped the old phone
This is the situation the whole page is trying to help you avoid, and it is recoverable. It just stops being something you can do alone.
What tends to work, in order:
- Try your network’s app or online account first. EE, O2, Vodafone, Three, VOXI, giffgaff and Smarty can all issue a replacement eSIM from the account, and some of them will do it without a code to the old number.
- If the app insists on a text to the old number, ask for a physical SIM instead. giffgaff documents this as the fallback when you cannot receive the security text, and it gets your number working again while you sort the eSIM out.
- Contact them directly. On iD Mobile, Tesco Mobile and Lebara this is the only route anyway. Tesco Mobile will also do it in one of its shops.
Be prepared for it to take longer than the marketing suggests. iD Mobile tells customers to expect around an hour for activation once the eSIM has been emailed, and real customers report longer when something goes wrong. On the O2 community forum, one person whose phone had been stolen described losing a week to it: O2 could not connect the eSIM, then could not connect the physical SIM they tried instead, and it took hours on the phone and visits to several stores to fix.
The downsides of eSIM that networks do not mention
Google’s own results show people asking what the downside of an eSIM is on almost every eSIM search. It is a fair question, and the networks are the wrong people to ask, because they are selling it. Four real ones:
- You cannot move it without the network. A plastic SIM moves between phones in ten seconds and asks nobody’s permission. An eSIM needs an app, an account or a phone call.
- The recovery path usually runs through the old phone. Which is fine until the old phone is broken, stolen, wiped or already sold.
- Single use codes expire. O2, EE, Three and Lebara all say their QR codes work once, and Lebara puts a 40 day clock on it.
- Borrowing a phone is harder. If your handset dies and a friend hands you a spare, a plastic SIM is a straight swap. An eSIM is a support conversation.
None of that makes eSIM a bad idea. It is more secure against the specific problem of someone physically removing your SIM, and O2 makes that point fairly. But the convenience is front loaded, and the friction all arrives on the day you change phone.
eSIM vs physical SIM
| eSIM | Physical SIM | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting connected | Minutes, nothing in the post | Wait for delivery, or fetch one |
| Moving to a new phone | Needs your network, and often the old handset | Take it out, put it in |
| Phone dies or is lost | Support call to reissue | Move the card to any spare phone |
| Two numbers on one phone | Yes, several profiles at once | Only on dual SIM hardware |
| If it is stolen | Cannot be pulled out and used elsewhere | Can be removed by a thief |
| Abroad | Add a local plan without losing your number | Swap cards and keep the old one safe |
Our take: if you keep your phones for years and you are organised on upgrade day, eSIM is genuinely better. If you swap handsets often, hand phones down around the family, or want a spare working the moment your main one dies, a physical SIM still earns its place.
How to remove or delete an eSIM
Deleting the profile is easy, and that is exactly the problem. On an iPhone it is Settings, Mobile Data, pick the plan, Delete eSIM. On Android it is under SIM manager.
What the phone does not tell you is that on most UK networks the profile does not come back on its own. Lebara says removing it stops your service on that device and you have to request a replacement. Vodafone will email a new QR code, which you then have to open on another device to scan. EE will let you replace it in the app, or send you to a phone call or a store.
So delete it when you are finished with the phone, not before. If you are selling or returning a handset, do the transfer to the new phone first and let the old profile stop working by itself, which is what happens on most networks once the new eSIM activates.
Travel eSIMs, and the speed penalty nobody quotes
A travel eSIM is a second profile you add for a trip, from a company such as Airalo or Saily rather than from your usual network. Your UK number stays where it is and the data comes from the travel plan. It is genuinely useful, and it is usually cheaper than roaming outside the EU.
One thing the comparison articles rarely mention: these plans ride on a local network as a guest, and that shows up in the numbers. ISPreview UK published measurements this month tracking the mobile broadband speed and latency penalty of travel eSIMs against ordinary roaming. If you need a stable connection for calls or video rather than maps and messaging, that is worth knowing before you rely on one.
Two practical notes. Most travel eSIMs are data only, so your UK number still handles calls and texts and can still cost you if you use it. And the same single use rule applies, so keep the QR code until the profile is installed and working.
Quick answers
Start it from your network's app or online account, or use Apple's eSIM Quick Transfer if both phones are iPhones. Keep the old phone switched on and on the network until the new one has service, because most UK networks send a code to the old number or issue a QR code that only works once.
On EE, O2, Vodafone, Three, Sky Mobile, VOXI, giffgaff and Smarty, yes. On iD Mobile, Tesco Mobile and Lebara there is no self service route: you have to contact them, or in Tesco Mobile's case visit a shop.
The old profile stops working once the new one activates. That is normal and it is how the networks describe it. What varies is how you get the new profile, which is what the table on this page sets out.
Dial *#06#. If an EID number appears next to the IMEI, the phone has an eSIM chip. The handset also has to be unlocked, and your plan has to support eSIM.
You cannot move it without your network's help, and the recovery route usually runs through the old phone. If that phone is broken, stolen, wiped or sold, you are into a support conversation. QR codes are also single use and can expire.
Yes. The number belongs to the account, not to the chip. Moving to an eSIM, or moving an eSIM to a new phone, keeps the same number.
Yes. WhatsApp is tied to your phone number, and the number does not change. You may be asked to verify by text when you set the phone up, which is another reason to keep the old handset reachable until the transfer finishes.
Usually minutes. iD Mobile tells customers to allow about an hour after the eSIM is emailed. If it has been considerably longer than that, contact the network rather than deleting and reinstalling the profile.
How we know
We are a UK technology retailer. We do not sell eSIMs, mobile plans or airtime, and there is nothing for sale on this page. We built the network table by reading each network's own support pages on 17 August 2026, and by reading an iD Mobile employee's answer on iD Mobile's own community forum. Every one is linked below.
Where a network's pages contradict each other, as O2's do on whether moving an eSIM is simple, we have quoted both halves rather than picking the convenient one. Networks change these processes without announcing them, so if a step below does not match what your app shows, trust the app and tell us.
Sources
- EE, Download and use an EE eSIM: single use QR codes, and what to do if you delete the eSIM.
- O2, eSIM guide: My O2 Install SIM, the myth busting section, and the QR code expiry note.
- Vodafone, Get help with your eSIM: the emailed replacement QR code and the eSIM swap in My Vodafone.
- Three, eSIM support: Apple eSIM Quick Transfer steps, the Android SIM Swap, and the two separate emails.
- Sky, eSIM on Sky Mobile: transferring or converting an eSIM when you upgrade.
- VOXI, Transfer your eSIM to another device: the 12 hour deletion window.
- giffgaff, Continuing to use your eSIM if you switch phone: the app steps, the security text, the physical SIM fallback and the *#06# check.
- Smarty, eSIM: Replace my SIM in the dashboard, and the caveat that the process varies by device.
- iD Mobile community, New phone, how to transfer eSIM: an iD Mobile employee explaining the one time code to the old number and the hour to activate.
- Tesco Mobile, eSIM help: three activations per phone, and needing a replacement eSIM to change handset.
- Lebara, eSIM help: contacting customer services to transfer, single use QR codes and the 40 day window.
- ISPreview UK, Tracking the Mobile Broadband Speed and Latency Penalty of Travel eSIMs, August 2026.
