When deleting your HelloRoam eSIM is safe, and when it is not
Removing your HelloRoam eSIM is safe in 2 windows. The first is before it first connects in your destination, if you reinstall it within a limited time after purchase. The second is after its plan expires or is refunded or cancelled. In between, removing it cannot be undone. Deleting never fixes a connection problem, so email help@helloroam.com.
Your reason for removing decides the answer
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The HelloRoam line shows no service, or it connects and nothing loads. | Leave the eSIM where it is: removing it will not fix this. Apple's own help also warns against erasing an eSIM to fix a problem. Correct the settings, restart, 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 the HelloRoam app 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 HelloRoam 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 on the same phone with the same QR code or activation code. That works only for a limited time after purchase, so put it back straight away. Switching the line off does not undo a connection the eSIM has already made. The window also has an end: 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 remove it because of them. The HelloRoam app cannot tell you either, because no screen in it shows that state. 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
- Check whether your HelloRoam 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 on the same phone with the same QR code or activation code. Put it back straight away, because an unused HelloRoam eSIM left off your phone does not stay available forever.
- 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, a HelloRoam eSIM is no longer in use once its plan has expired, been refunded or been cancelled. Taking it off the phone is then 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 the HelloRoam app, under My eSIM > More Detail > About Your eSIM. Names such as Primary, Secondary, Travel or eSIM 2 are only labels.
- If you bought more than one HelloRoam 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 removing the wrong line can lose it for good.
- A HelloRoam 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.
On some iPhones with several plans, that control reads Delete Plan.
Illustration
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.
Illustration
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 this SIM.
Only on a finished plan, or one that never connected, choose Erase eSIM.
Illustration
Other Android
These steps use the stock Android names. Menus change with the brand and Android version, so look for the same screen if yours differs.
Open Settings > Network & internet > SIMs, or Mobile network on older phones.
Tap the HelloRoam line to open its own page.
Turn off Use this SIM to stop the line being used.
Only on a finished plan, or one that never connected, tap Erase eSIM.
If your phone shows no remove option, write to help@helloroam.com.
Illustration
If the eSIM is already gone
- 1
Open your phone's full list of lines first. A line you switched off still shows there, so it may not be gone.
- 2
If you cannot see a line's details, switch it on for a moment to read them, then switch it back off.
- 3
If the eSIM really has gone and it had already connected, the same code will not work again.
- 4
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. Its ICCID from the HelloRoam app 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.
help@helloroam.comDeleted eSIM and cleanup questions
I deleted my eSIM by accident. How do I get it back?
You can get it back only if your HelloRoam eSIM never connected to a supported network in your destination. Then scan the same QR code on the same phone now, because that works only for a limited time after purchase. If it had connected, it cannot come back. Email help@helloroam.com with your order number instead of scanning again. If the code now says no longer valid, our guide to that QR code error explains why.
How do I remove a second eSIM plan from my iPhone?
Open Settings > Cellular, tap the plan you want to remove, then tap its delete button. Depending on the iPhone, that button reads Delete eSIM or Delete Plan. Apple's help uses Delete Plan when the phone holds several plans. Line names are only labels, so match the line by its ICCID first. If it is a HelloRoam plan that has connected and still has days left, keep it, because deleting it cannot be undone.
Can I recover a deleted eSIM on a Samsung?
Only if your HelloRoam eSIM never connected to a supported network in your destination. Samsung's own eSIM help lists steps to remove a plan, but none to restore one. So look in Settings > Connections > SIM manager first, where a switched-off eSIM still shows. If it is gone, scan the same QR code on the same Galaxy, within the limited time after purchase. If it had connected, email help@helloroam.com instead.
Why did my eSIM disappear?
It may only be switched off, not gone. A switched-off line still shows in your phone's full list of lines, so look there first. Apple's help says recent versions of iOS can switch a travel eSIM off by themselves when you get home, depending on your country or region. If the e SIM is gone from that list and it had already connected, the same code will not install it again.
Is it safe to delete my eSIM after my trip?
Yes, once your HelloRoam plan has expired, been refunded or been cancelled. The e-sim is then finished, and deleting it makes room for your next eSIM. While the plan still has days left, keep it, because a HelloRoam eSIM that has connected cannot come back. To stop a live plan being erased by mistake, Google's Pixel help describes a Confirm SIM deletion setting under Settings > Security > Advanced. It asks for your password before an eSIM is erased.
Sources for this guide
The steps and menu names for your phone's settings follow these pages. Each entry shows the date we read it.
- How to erase an eSIM on your iPhone or iPad, Apple. Retrieved
- Use eSIM while traveling internationally with your iPhone, Apple. Retrieved
- Use cellular data on your iPhone or iPad, Apple. Retrieved
- Use Dual SIM on iPhone, Apple. Retrieved
- Set up eSIM on iPhone, Apple. Retrieved
- Using Dual SIM with an eSIM, Apple. Retrieved
- If you see SOS, No Service, or Searching on your iPhone or iPad, Apple. Retrieved
- Using your Galaxy smartphones with eSIM, Samsung. Retrieved
- Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+, S25 Edge and S25 Ultra User Guide, Samsung. Retrieved
- SIM cards for your Galaxy phone or tablet, Samsung. Retrieved
- Connection options for your Galaxy phone or tablet, Samsung. Retrieved
- How to use dual SIMs on your Google Pixel phone, Google. Retrieved
- Connect to mobile networks on a Pixel phone, Google. Retrieved
- Android Settings app strings, res/values/strings.xml (android16-release), Android Open Source Project. Retrieved
- Android Settings app strings, res/values/strings.xml (android-16.0.0_r4), Android Open Source Project. Retrieved
About this guide
- Covers
- This guide covers deleting a HelloRoam eSIM safely and recovering from an accidental delete, and nothing else. Steps cover iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel and other Android phones. Changing phones has its own guide.
- Written by
- HelloRoam Editorial Team
The HelloRoam team that writes every help guide, working from the HelloRoam app and the phone makers' own help pages.
- Last updated
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- Spot a mistake?
- Email help@helloroam.com and we will fix it