When deleting your HelloRoam eSIM is safe, and when it is not
Removing your HelloRoam eSIM is safe in two windows. One is before it first connects to a supported network in your destination. The other is after its plan expires, is refunded or is cancelled. In between, its code is spent, so removing it cannot be undone. Deleting is never a fix, so leave it installed and email help@helloroam.com.
Your reason for removing decides the answer
- The HelloRoam line shows no service, or it connects and nothing loads.
- Leave the eSIM where it is. Removing it will not fix this, so correct the settings, restart the phone, then ask us.
- The HelloRoam line is no longer in your phone's list of lines.
- Open the full list again. A line you switched off still shows there, so it may not be gone.
- The card in the app sits under Expired, or carries an EXPIRED badge.
- That plan has ended, so the eSIM is no longer in use. Removing it is safe once you know which line it is.
- Two lines look alike, or carry names like Primary, Travel or eSIM 2.
- Names are only labels. Match the ICCID on the phone with the one in your order details before you touch either line.
- The eSIM is installed for a trip you have not taken yet.
- Leave it on the phone and keep the line switched off until you land.
In use means the code will not come back
Your eSIM counts as in use from its first connection to a supported network in your destination. Before that it is not in use yet, even though it is already installed on the phone. A connection at home, or on a layover network your plan does not cover, does not count. That one event decides this whole page. Once the eSIM has connected, its QR code cannot be used again, so removing it means it is gone for good. Before it connects, you can remove it and install it again with the same QR code or activation code. Switching the line off does not undo a connection the eSIM has already made. The window has an end as well as a start: your eSIM stops being in use when the plan expires, or when it is refunded or cancelled. To check where yours sits, 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 Purchase Date are not proof it has never connected, so never decide to remove it on the strength of them. The HelloRoam app does not tell you either way, because no screen in it carries that label. If your plan is still running and you cannot show that the eSIM has never connected, treat it as in use. Leave it on the phone and write to help@helloroam.com before you remove anything.
Check these before you remove it
- Work out whether the eSIM has ever connected to a supported network in your destination. If it has, and the plan is still running, removing it ends it for good.
- If it has never connected, you can remove it and install it again with the same QR code or activation code. That is the only way back.
- If the plan is still running and you cannot show that the eSIM has never connected, treat it as in use and leave it on the phone.
- After a trip, an eSIM whose plan has expired, been refunded or been cancelled is no longer in use, so taking it off the phone is safe. In the HelloRoam app, finished eSIMs move to the Expired tab, and a plan that has run out shows an EXPIRED badge.
- Phones hold only so many eSIM profiles, so clearing out the ones you have finished with after a trip is worth doing.
- Match the ICCID on the phone with the one in your order details. Names such as Primary, Secondary, Travel or eSIM 2 are only labels.
- If you bought more than one eSIM, they can show the same name on your phone. Match them by ICCID, not by the order you installed them.
- Never remove the eSIM you are using now, or the one you have asked us about. If you are not sure which profile a line belongs to, leave it alone, because there is no way to undo a removal.
- An eSIM with time or data left is still a live plan. Removing it does not move it to another phone, and it does not save what is left on it.
Switch the line off, or remove it
iPhone
Switching the line off keeps the eSIM on the phone, ready to switch on again. Remove it only when it never connected, or its plan has ended.
- Open Settings > Cellular and tap the HelloRoam line.
- To stop the line being used, turn off Turn On This Line.
- Only on a finished plan, or one that never connected, choose Delete eSIM.
- With several plans on the phone, that control reads Delete Plan instead.
Samsung
Samsung menu names vary by model, so this tab names the screen and describes the switch. Remove only a finished plan, or one that never connected.
- Open Settings > Connections > SIM manager.
- Find the HelloRoam eSIM. It has its own switch on that screen.
- Turn that switch off to stop the line being used.
- On a finished plan, or one that never connected, open the HelloRoam eSIM there.
- Look for the remove option there. If there is none, write to help@helloroam.com.
Pixel
Pixel labels both halves. Switching the line off keeps the eSIM on the phone, ready to switch on again.
- Open Settings > Network & internet > SIMs and tap the HelloRoam line.
- To stop the line being used, turn off Use SIM.
- Only on a finished plan, or one that never connected, choose Erase eSIM.
Other Android
Menu names change with the brand and the Android version, so look for the screen rather than the exact words.
- Open your SIM or mobile network settings and find the HelloRoam line.
- Open the line's own page. The switch that turns it off sits there.
- Turn that switch off to stop the line being used.
- On a finished plan, or one that never connected, look for a remove option there.
- If you cannot find one, write to help@helloroam.com.
If the eSIM is already gone
- Open your phone's full list of lines first. A line you switched off still shows there, so it may not be gone.
- If you cannot see a line's details, switch it on for a moment to read them, then switch it back off.
- If the eSIM really has gone and it had already connected, the same code will not work again.
- Write to help@helloroam.com with the details below instead of scanning that code again.
Contact us with the line you mean
Write to help@helloroam.com and tell us which line you mean. Send a screenshot of your phone's list of lines rather than describing it, because a picture of the screen tells us more.
- Your order number.
- Your phone brand and model, plus the exact model number if you can find it.
- Which line is HelloRoam. The ICCID helps if you have more than one eSIM.
- 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.
- Whether you have already removed it, and roughly when.
- The country and city you are in now, if you are traveling.
- Crop any QR code out of your screenshots before you send them.
Removal questions people ask first
I deleted my eSIM, how do I get it back?
If it had already connected to a network your plan covers, you cannot get it back. A QR code usually works only once, so the code that installed it will not install it again. Write to help@helloroam.com with your order number, your phone model, and a screenshot of your phone's list of lines, rather than scanning the old code. If it had never connected, that same code still works.
What happens if I delete my eSIM?
If your HelloRoam eSIM had already connected to a network your plan covers, deleting it ends it for good. The QR code will not install it again. If it had never connected, you can install it again with the same QR code or activation code. Either way, deleting does not move the plan to another phone, and it does not save the days or data left on it.
How to reactivate eSIM?
It depends on whether your HelloRoam eSIM ever connected to a network your plan covers. If it never did, install it again with the same QR code or activation code. If it had connected once, that code is finished and nothing will bring the eSIM back. If you cannot tell, treat it as in use, leave it on the phone, and write to help@helloroam.com.
Why did my eSIM disappear?
It may not have gone anywhere. A line you switched off still shows in your phone's full list of lines, so open that list and look again. If you cannot see its details there, switch the line on for a moment to read them, then switch it back off. If the e SIM really has gone and it had already connected, the same code will not install it again.
When is it safe to remove an eSIM?
In two windows. Before your HelloRoam e-sim has connected to a network your plan covers, removing it is safe, and the same QR code or activation code installs it again. After its plan expires, is refunded or is cancelled, it is finished and safe to take off the phone. In between, its code is spent, so removing it loses it for good.