Guide

How to delete an eSIM from your phone and what happens next

Step by step for iPhone, Samsung, Pixel and Xiaomi: delete vs. turn off, what happens to your carrier number and your travel plan, and what to do before you sell your phone.

Published October 1, 2026 · 8 min read · MoreSim editorial team

You can delete an eSIM from your phone in its SIM settings: Cellular on iPhone, SIM manager on Samsung, and the mobile network section on Pixel and Xiaomi. Deleting wipes the profile from the phone for good. Your carrier number stays yours under your contract, but you’ll need a new eSIM to use it again, and a travel plan usually can’t be restored from the same QR code. If a line is just in the way, turning it off is enough.

Can you delete an eSIM, and how is that different from turning it off?

You can delete an eSIM at any time, but unlike turning it off, deleting is permanent: the profile is wiped from the phone’s chip. A line that’s turned off stays on the list and comes back with one switch. Apple is explicit: don’t erase an eSIM as a troubleshooting step unless your carrier tells you to.

How do you delete an eSIM on iPhone?

On iPhone, you delete an eSIM under Cellular with the Delete eSIM or Delete Plan button, per Apple’s instructions as of October 2026.

1. Open Settings → Cellular; the exact name depends on your iOS version and region.
2. Find the line you want to delete by its label or number.
3. If you have a single plan, tap Delete eSIM.
4. If you have several plans, tap the one you want, then tap Delete Plan.
5. Check which line is now set for cellular data.

To just turn a line off, open it and flip its switch off. There’s no need to delete a travel eSIM after a trip either: according to Apple, iOS 26 and later turns the travel eSIM off and your home SIM back on automatically when you return, depending on your country or region.

How do you delete an eSIM on a Samsung Galaxy?

On a Samsung Galaxy, you delete an eSIM in SIM manager; the steps below follow Samsung’s instructions updated in June 2026, and button names can vary by One UI version.

1. Open Settings → Connections.
2. Tap SIM manager.
3. Tap the eSIM you want to delete.
4. Tap Remove, then confirm.

To just turn the eSIM off, open it in SIM manager and flip the toggle. If there’s no SIM manager at all, Samsung says the model doesn’t support eSIM. A factory data reset wipes everything on the phone, and Samsung’s reset instructions don’t mention eSIM, so deal with your profiles before you reset.

How to delete an eSIM from your phone on Pixel and Xiaomi

On Google Pixel and Xiaomi, you delete an eSIM in the mobile network settings, and the exact labels depend on your Android, HyperOS or MIUI version.

• Google Pixel: Settings → Network & internet → SIMs (Mobile network in Google’s help) → pick the eSIM → Erase eSIM. Under Security → Advanced, you can turn on Confirm SIM deletion so the phone asks for your password first.
• Xiaomi: Settings → SIM cards & mobile networks → Manage eSIM → pick the profile, disable it first, then delete it. Xiaomi says a deleted profile can’t be restored and disappears from the eSIM list.

Don’t confuse deleting one eSIM with Reset eSIM under Manage eSIM on Xiaomi: according to Xiaomi, it permanently erases every profile at once. Xiaomi states plainly that deleting an eSIM doesn’t cancel your carrier plan, and Apple says to contact your carrier if you want to cancel.

What happens to your number if you delete a carrier eSIM?

Your number and plan stay yours after you delete a carrier eSIM: deleting the profile is like pulling out a physical SIM, and your contract keeps running. To give up the number, you cancel with the carrier; to use it again, you get a new eSIM. Here’s how that compares with a travel eSIM.

Russian carriers show how strict this can be: as of October 1, 2026, Beeline restores a deleted eSIM in store with a passport and activates eSIMs only in Russia. Details for MTS, MegaFon, Beeline, T2 and Yota are in our guide to Russian carriers’ eSIMs.

What happens to your travel plan if you delete the eSIM?

Deleting a travel eSIM only affects your data plan, because there’s no number on it: MoreSim plans are data-only, with no phone number, and bank texts keep going to your home SIM. So the only question is whether the plan is still active.

Once the plan has run out, you can delete the travel eSIM or just leave it off: a line that’s turned off doesn’t use data or interfere with other lines. Don’t delete an active profile to make room for a new eSIM — if the phone says its eSIM memory is full, ask support first. And if you run out of data before the trip ends, top up the current plan without a new eSIM: use “Top up data” on the eSIM card in your account or in the bot’s app, if top-ups are available for that plan.

What should you do before selling, repairing or trading in your phone?

Before selling, move your number to the new phone first and only then erase the old one along with its eSIM; before a repair, there’s no need to delete anything in advance.

1. Move your carrier number to the new phone: have the carrier reissue the eSIM, or use built-in eSIM transfer if your carrier and both phones support it.
2. Test calls, texts and cellular data on the new phone.
3. Don’t erase the old phone until the move is done: some carriers, Beeline among them, send the confirmation request to the device with the old eSIM.
4. If a travel plan is still active, contact the seller’s support before the reset.
5. Erase the phone along with its eSIM. On iPhone, go to General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings and choose to erase the eSIM too. On Android, delete the eSIM in SIM settings before the reset.
6. Take the physical SIM out of the tray.

Before a repair, ask the shop whether they’ll replace the logic board or erase the phone: either way, the profile may be lost. If so, check with your carrier in advance how to get a new eSIM for the same number, and with the seller’s support about a travel plan. A new eSIM goes on just like the first one, following our guide to installing and activating an eSIM.