How to delete an eSIM on your phone

There may come a point at which an eSIM is no longer useful to you, in much the same way as a physical SIM might no longer be needed. For instance, you may have a new SIM, virtual or physical, upon joining a new network with an unlocked phone. The process of getting rid of an eSIM is even easier than disposing of its physical equivalent because the eSIM is just a digital file. It sits on your internal phone storage like any other data and can be erased just as easily. Here’s a quick guide on how to delete an eSIM on your Android phone.

How to delete an eSIM on your phone

The exact steps and menu names you need to follow to delete an eSIM on your phone will depend on which device you have, but the process will be broadly the same. The screenshots above show how to find the eSIM on a Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus.

Here are the steps to take:

1. Open your phone’s Settings menu, either by tapping the app on your homepage or pulling down the quick menu and hitting the cog icon.
2. Select Connections.
3. On the next sub-menu, hit SIM Manager.
4. You should now see a rundown of all the SIMs saved in your phone, physical and virtual. Under the eSIMs header, select the eSIM you want to delete.
5. You should see the name of the eSIM with a toggle button beside it. Below are some options, including Erase eSIM. Tap this.
6. You’ll be asked to confirm your decision. Press Confirm.

It might be that you just want to disable the eSIM card but not delete it. For instance, if you’re in another country and using a different SIM card to roam, you can just turn off your eSIM while you’re away.

To do so, follow the steps above as far as step four, then move the toggle switch next to the name of your eSIM to the off position. This is the equivalent of taking a physical SIM out of your phone, but easier. Whenever you want to reactivate the eSIM, you can just toggle the switch back to on again.

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