No longer valid usually means the eSIM is already installed
Your eSIM is probably already installed, not invalid. Check your phone's list of mobile lines first, before you scan again: Settings > Cellular on iPhone, SIM manager on Samsung, SIMs on Pixel. If the HelloRoam line is there, stop scanning and fix its settings instead. Never delete it to try again.
Each scan error points somewhere different
- Your phone says the code is no longer valid, or that the QR code expired.
- Open your phone's list of mobile lines before you scan anything again.
- A HelloRoam line is already in your phone's list of lines.
- The eSIM is installed. Leave the code alone and check the line's settings.
- The HelloRoam line is in the list but switched off.
- Turn that line on so you can read its details, then check its settings.
- Your phone says the eSIM could not be added, or that it is already added.
- Read the list of lines first. An install error and an installed eSIM look alike.
- No HelloRoam line shows anywhere in the list.
- Stop scanning. Email help@helloroam.com with your order number and a screenshot of the list.
A used code cannot install the same eSIM twice
Your eSIM is in use from its first connection to a supported network in your destination. Installing it does not count, and neither does a connection at home or on a layover network your plan does not cover. Before that connection you can remove the eSIM and install it again with the same QR code or activation code. After it, the code is finished and cannot install that eSIM again. Never delete an eSIM that is in use. To check, open My eSIMs on the HelloRoam website. Active on the card, or Activated with an Activated On date in the details, means treat the eSIM as in use. Ready, Not Activated and the purchase date are not proof it has never connected, so never use them to decide to remove it. The app cannot tell you either: an eSIM that is still running sits in the Current tab, used or not. On iPhone the app can show an Install eSIM on this device button even when the eSIM is already installed. That button is not proof, and Android phones never show it. Deleting is never the fix. The settings checks come first.
Find the HelloRoam line on each phone
iPhone
The list of lines settles it. Read it before you scan the code again.
- Open Settings and tap Cellular.
- Read the whole list of lines on that screen.
- Look for a HelloRoam line. If it is there, the eSIM is installed.
- Tap that line. If it is off, tap Turn On This Line.
- Match the ICCID on the line against the one in your order details.
- Ignore the app's Install eSIM on this device button. It tells you nothing.
Samsung
Samsung keeps every eSIM on one screen. Read it before you scan anything.
- Open Settings and tap Connections.
- Tap SIM manager.
- Read the list of eSIMs already on the phone.
- Look for a HelloRoam line. If it is there, the eSIM is installed.
- If that line is switched off, turn it on to see its details.
Pixel
Pixel keeps your lines in the network settings. Start there.
- Open Settings and tap Network & internet.
- Tap SIMs.
- Look through the lines for HelloRoam.
- Tap that line. Turn on Use SIM if it is off.
- A line you can see here is installed, whatever its name says.
Other Android
Menu names change by brand and Android version. Look for the closest match.
- Open Settings and tap Network & internet.
- Tap Mobile network.
- Read the list of lines or eSIMs there.
- Find the HelloRoam line before you scan the QR code again.
When the line is nowhere in the list
- Look again with every line turned on. A switched-off line still shows, and names mislead.
- If you bought more than one eSIM, match them by ICCID, not by the order you installed them.
- Rename the HelloRoam line once the ICCID matches, so you do not lose track of it again.
- If the line is there but you have no internet, that is a settings problem. Our no-internet guide walks through it.
- If the phone never installed the eSIM and shows a compatibility or activation error, our install-failed guide covers that.
- If no HelloRoam line shows at all, stop scanning and email us the details below.
Confirm these before a second attempt
- Check whether the eSIM has ever connected to a supported network in your destination. That is what decides everything below.
- Open My eSIMs on the HelloRoam website. Active, or Activated with an Activated On date, means it is in use.
- Ready, Not Activated and the purchase date tell you nothing. They are not permission to remove the eSIM.
- If it has never connected, the same QR code or activation code installs it again.
- If it has connected once, the code is finished. Email us instead of removing the eSIM.
Email us the error and the line list
Email help@helloroam.com. A screenshot of the screen you are looking at tells us more than a description does.
- Your order number.
- Your phone make and model.
- The exact words on the screen, or a photo of the message.
- A screenshot of your phone's list of lines: Cellular on iPhone, SIM manager on Samsung, SIMs on Pixel.
- Whether your eSIM has ever connected, as far as you know. If My eSIMs shows Activated On, treat it as in use. Ready, Not Activated and Purchase Date tell you nothing either way, so a best guess is all we ask for.
- If the line is missing: whether it was ever on the phone, and roughly when it vanished.
- If you have more than one eSIM: the ICCID shown for the HelloRoam line.
- The country and city you are in now.
- Crop any QR code out of your screenshots before you send them.
QR code questions we hear most
I'm experiencing the 'This code is no longer valid' error on my iPhone eSIM when scanning the QR code. What should I do?
Stop scanning. That message usually means the eSIM is already on your iPhone, so another scan changes nothing. Open your list of lines under Cellular and look for the HelloRoam line. If it is there, the install is done and the rest is settings: the line has to be on, picked for data, with roaming allowed. Don't delete it.
Why can't I find my eSIM when the app says it's already installed?
Because the name on a line tells you nothing. Travel, Secondary and eSIM 2 are labels people set themselves, and a line that is switched off still sits in the list. Match the ICCID shown on the phone against the one in your order details, then rename the line so you know it next time. The Current tab in the app is not a test either.
Can my eSIM QR code be reused?
Usually not. A HelloRoam QR code covers one install, and your eSIM's first connection to a supported network in your destination uses it up for good. Until that connection the same code still installs the same e-sim, so a second scan on the same phone changes nothing. After it, the code is finished. It was never meant for a second phone.
My Android phone says the eSIM couldn't be added, or that it's already added. What do I do?
Both messages send you to the same place: your phone's own list of lines. On Samsung it sits under Connections, in SIM manager. On Pixel it is under Network & internet, in SIMs. Other brands keep it in the mobile network settings. A HelloRoam line in that list means the eSIM went on and the error is stale. No line means the install really failed.
How do I reactivate a QR code?
You can't. A used code cannot be reopened, and nothing in your phone's settings brings one back. What decides it is the eSIM's first connection to a supported network in your destination. The same code still installs an e SIM that has never connected. Once it has connected, the code is done, and scanning it again does nothing at all.