Codes & PINs
eSIM PIN code, explained
Most NomadSIM eSIMs need no code at all — you scan the QR and you’re connected. If your phone does ask for a confirmation code, it’s in your delivery email. That is a different thing from a SIM PIN, and if your phone asks for one of those, don’t guess.
Start here
Which code is your phone asking for?
Three unrelated things all get called “the PIN”. Find the one that matches what’s on your screen — the wrong answer to the wrong prompt is how people lock themselves out.
“Enter confirmation code”
- When:
- While the eSIM is installing, right after you scan the QR.
- What it is:
- An extra code that has to be checked before this one eSIM will install.
- What to enter:
- The confirmation code from your NomadSIM delivery email. Most plans don’t have one — if yours didn’t come with a code, your phone won’t ask.
“Enter SIM PIN” or “SIM card locked”
- When:
- When your phone starts up, or right after you switch a line on.
- What it is:
- A lock on the SIM itself. Separate from your eSIM data plan, and older than eSIM by decades.
- What to enter:
- Nothing from us — NomadSIM never sets a SIM PIN. Don’t guess: wrong guesses can permanently kill the SIM.
“Enter your PIN” on your normal lock screen
- When:
- When moving an eSIM to a new phone, or any time your phone locks.
- What it is:
- Your phone’s own unlock code — the one you use dozens of times a day.
- What to enter:
- The passcode you unlock your phone with. Nothing to do with your eSIM.
The one that might be yours
The eSIM confirmation code
Some data plans are issued with an extra code that has to be checked before the eSIM will download to your phone. Most aren’t. You don’t have to work out which kind you bought: if your plan has one, we put it in your delivery email — in an orange box that reads “When your phone asks for a confirmation code, enter …”. It’s also shown on your install page, alongside the QR code, and again in the manual-entry fields if you install by hand.
If there’s no code in your email, your plan doesn’t use one and your phone won’t ask. There is no default, and there is nothing to guess — a blank confirmation code field on a plan that doesn’t need one should simply be left empty.
Codes aren’t a fixed length. We’ve issued four-digit and six-digit ones, so don’t worry if yours looks shorter or longer than you expected.
Why isn’t it just built into the QR code?
Because it would defeat the point. The QR code is the delivery address for your eSIM; the confirmation code is the proof that you’re the one collecting it. The industry standard that every eSIM-capable phone follows (GSMA SGP.22) deliberately keeps the two apart: the QR carries a flag saying “a code is required”, and your phone then asks you for it. The code itself travels separately — for you, by email.
Not ours — be careful
The SIM PIN
A SIM PIN is a lock on the SIM itself, and it predates eSIM by decades. It applies to eSIM profiles just like it did to plastic SIM cards. NomadSIM never sets one.If your phone is asking for a SIM PIN, it’s a lock that was already turned on — on that phone, or by another carrier whose SIM is still in it.
Don’t guess. Seriously.
Wrong SIM PIN attempts lock the SIM, and then you need a PUK code from the carrier that issued it. Enough wrong PUK entries and the SIM is dead for good — no reset, no support call, no recovery. The number of attempts is limited, and it’s set by the carrier that issued the SIM, not by your phone. Apple puts it bluntly:
“Never try to guess a SIM PIN or Personal Unlocking Key (PUK) code. The wrong guess can permanently lock your SIM card or eSIM, and then you would need a new SIM card or eSIM.”
If you don’t know it, stop and ask whoever issued that SIM. If it’s a NomadSIM eSIM asking, message us before you try anything.
Where the setting lives, if you want to check whether a SIM lock is on. Menu names shift between phone models and software versions, so treat these as a starting point rather than an exact route:
iPhone
Settings › Cellular › SIM PIN (dual SIM: Settings › Cellular › tap the line › SIM PIN)
iPad
Settings › Cellular Data › SIM PIN
Android (Pixel)
Settings › Security & privacy › More security settings › SIM card lock
Samsung
Settings › Security and privacy › More security settings › SIM card security
The everyday one
Your phone’s unlock PIN
Sometimes the thing asking for a “PIN” is just your phone. The clearest case is moving an eSIM from an old phone to a new one — both Apple and Google require you to unlock the old device to prove it’s yours before the transfer goes ahead.
That’s your normal lock-screen passcode. It isn’t a carrier code, we can’t look it up, and it has nothing to do with your data plan.
This mostly comes up when transferring or switching phones. On a first-time install of a fresh NomadSIM eSIM, you shouldn’t be asked for it at all.
If it still won’t go
The code didn’t work
If you entered the confirmation code from your email and the install still failed, don’t keep retrying — some profiles allow only a limited number of download attempts, and burning through them makes the eSIM harder to rescue.
Message us instead. We can see the state of your eSIM from our side, and if the profile is genuinely broken we’ll issue you a replacement.