Install a Bali eSIM on Any Android Phone
Every Android skin hides the eSIM screen somewhere new. One walkthrough that works on all of them, starting with the *#06# check before you spend anything.
Updated August 24, 2026
Three things to know before you start
It connects only at your destination
Install at home, but expect “No Service” or “Activating…” until you land — that is normal. The plan wakes up when the line first finds a network at your destination.
Your QR code works exactly once
Seeing “invalid QR” after a scan almost always means the eSIM is already on your phone. Don’t rescan — open your SIM list and just switch the line on.
No internet after landing? Check Data Roaming
Turn the travel line on, set it as your mobile data line, and switch Data Roaming ON for it. This one toggle causes most “it doesn’t work” messages.
Installation steps
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Step 1
Dial *#06# and look for an EID
Open the dialler and type *#06#. A panel of identifiers appears; IMEI is always there. What you want is a longer 32-digit EID. If it is listed, the handset has an eSIM chip. If not, no update will add one.
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Step 2
Buy your plan in the Bali eSIM app
Choose a plan that fits the length of your stay — one plan covers all of Indonesia, so island-hopping needs no second SIM. After payment, the QR code and manual activation details sit under your order and stay retrievable if you ever reset the phone.
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Step 3
Connect to Wi-Fi before you fly
The profile download needs internet. Handling it at home turns arrival at Denpasar into a single switch instead of a hunt for airport Wi-Fi followed by a queue at a SIM counter — the least pleasant hour a holiday can open with.
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Step 4
Find the SIM screen using the Settings search box
Settings Search eSIM
Skins disagree about where this lives, so stop guessing and search. Open Settings, tap the magnifying glass and type eSIM or SIM. Whatever your manufacturer named the screen, the result takes you there.
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Step 5
Or follow the pattern manually
Settings Network SIM
If you would rather navigate: Settings, then Network & internet or Connections, then SIMs, SIM manager or Mobile network. One UI uses Connections then SIM manager; near-stock builds use Network & internet then SIMs.
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Step 6
Choose the option to add or download a SIM, then scan
The wording varies by skin — Add eSIM, Download a SIM instead, Add mobile plan, Add carrier — but they do the same job; decline any offer to find operator plans. Point the camera at the code on a second screen, or use manual entry, often behind a Need help link, and copy the SM-DP+ address and activation code from the app.
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Step 7
Label the line, then leave it disabled
Android downloads the profile and asks you to confirm. Name it Bali or Travel, keep your existing SIM as the default for calls, and switch the new line off. Your plan starts counting from its first connection to a network in Indonesia, not from the moment you paid.
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Step 8
On landing: enable it, select it for data, turn Roaming on for it
SIM settings Data roaming
Enable the Bali eSIM line, set it as the mobile data SIM, and switch Roaming on for that line only — that toggle is how Android permits a line to use a visited network and adds no charge to a prepaid local plan. Leave roaming off on your home SIM. If nothing registers, disable automatic network selection and try Telkomsel, Indosat — often shown as IOH or IM3 — or XL Axiata.
“Android” is really a dozen different manufacturer skins, each of which buried the eSIM screen in its own spot — that is the one genuine snag here, and searching Settings instead of hunting menus clears it in under a minute. Past that point every phone behaves the same way: pull the profile down over home Wi-Fi, leave the new line switched off, then flip it on once you’re through immigration at Denpasar.
The reason to bother is not coverage. The big Indonesian networks blanket the parts of Bali that visitors actually stay in, and no SIM of any kind reaches a cove the towers do not. What a visitor loses without an eSIM is money to their home operator’s roaming rate over weeks of maps and messages, and an hour to an airport SIM counter — passport out, registration form in hand — at exactly the point in the trip when patience is shortest. The plan here is prepaid, priced before you fly, and covers the whole country: Bali, Lombok, the Gilis and Jakarta on one eSIM. Pricing shows the current plans, and what is an eSIM explains the idea in a couple of minutes.
Run the *#06# check below before you spend anything on a plan. Five seconds, and it settles the eSIM question for good — a spec sheet can’t, given how many regional variants ship under the same model name. Got an iPhone in your pocket instead? The iPhone guide is the one you want.
Last, a word on expectations. An eSIM is a better way to buy data, not a better network: signal is strong through the south and around Ubud, softer on remote coasts, and intermittent on the boats between islands, for every SIM equally. Install early, keep the line off until you land, and the whole subject takes care of itself. The rest of the common questions are on the FAQ.
Troubleshooting
How do I know whether my phone supports eSIM at all?
Dial *#06#. If a 32-digit EID appears alongside the IMEI, the hardware is there. No EID means no eSIM, whatever the model page says — manufacturers routinely ship different variants of the same model in different markets, and eSIM is one of the things that varies. Check the handset you are actually taking.
My phone has an EID but I cannot find any add-eSIM option.
That combination almost always means a carrier lock, or operator firmware with the feature removed. Ask your home operator to unlock the handset before you travel — it is a slow conversation to have from a beach in Bali. A few budget models also hide the option until a physical SIM is inserted.
The menu names in this guide do not match my phone.
Expected — every manufacturer skin words this differently and renames things between versions. Use the search box in Settings and type eSIM or SIM; it indexes whatever your manufacturer called the screen. Our Samsung and Pixel guides give the exact taps for those two.
I have arrived in Bali and the eSIM shows no service.
Check the line is enabled, selected for mobile data, and has Roaming switched on for it specifically. Then toggle Airplane mode to force a fresh search. Still nothing? Turn off automatic network selection and choose manually. Indonesia's big three are Telkomsel, Indosat — many phones list it as IOH or IM3 — and XL Axiata; the eSIM registers on its partner network and refuses the rest.
Will enabling Roaming trigger charges?
Not on this line. Your Bali eSIM plan is prepaid for use on Indonesian networks, so no home operator is metering it — the toggle only grants permission to register on a network the line does not belong to. Keep roaming off on your regular SIM, which is the one your usual carrier bills.
Is this really a Bali plan, or an Indonesia plan?
An Indonesia plan, and we would rather say so than let you find out: the eSIM works in Jakarta, on Lombok, on the Gilis and across the rest of the country exactly as it does in Bali. The name reflects where most of our travelers land, not a boundary in the coverage. Other countries need their own plan from the app.
The QR code says invalid, already used, or the install fails on a second try.
An activation code is single-use, so this error almost always means the first scan already worked and the eSIM is on the phone. Do not keep rescanning. Open the phone's SIM list (the cellular or SIM manager screen) or My eSIMs in the Bali eSIM app: if the line is listed, the install is done — turn the line on, give it mobile data and enable Data Roaming instead of installing again.
Do I have to scan the QR code at all?
No. In the Bali eSIM app, open My eSIMs, tap your plan and tap Install — the profile installs on the same phone with no camera involved. The QR route exists for installing from a second screen; both end in the identical profile, and the steps after the install are the same either way.