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How do you ‘remove’ an eSIM before forcing restart on iphone?

D
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  • Dave M
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  • 3 replies

I am following the advice from: 

How do I fix iMessage or FaceTime issues after I switched?


I have completed step 3, however step 4 advises you remove the iD mobile SIM card and replace the empty sim tray prior to the restart.

I have attempted a restart without being able to undertake this process (as I have an eSIM) which did not work. 
 

Do I need to request a physical SIM or delete my eSIM and request a new one?

 

I have already attempted resetting network settings.

 

I received an email today from iD mobile stating that the switch to iD mobile had been completed. I was with O2- I thought it had all gone through yesterday when it was expected to- my O2 ported number was showing on my iD account yesterday.

I’m not sure if it related to this number as I have switched 3 numbers to iD from O2. The other 2 are working ok with FaceTime and iMessage. It’s only the one number affected which was my main number on my O2 account. All 3 numbers were ported from O2.

I’d really appreciate your help with this.

(for info I’m now running latest iOS 17.6 on iPhone 14 )

Thanks,

Dave

 

Best answer by Dave M

Now resolved-

After switching to iD and following as much as I was able to (with an eSIM not a physical sim) of the advice on community, iMessage and FaceTime still had activation errors.
I had ported my number from O2.

Some details of what I encountered-

Settings >Apple id >Sign-In & Security

Phone number- was marked as unavailable for iMessage and FaceTime with an info button stating- 'You must have a SIM associated with an Apple device for +447xxxxxxxxxx to be used for iMessage and FaceTime'

I deleted this number which could be done as it wasn't registered. 

Resetting Network Settings on my iPhone did not resolve the problem.

My number was correctly showing in Settings>Phone
Erasing and inputting it again did not resolve.

I contacted live chat requesting a new eSIM and they were very helpful and quickly emailed out a new one. 

I then again attempted to follow the community advice 'How do I fix iMessage or FaceTime issues after I switched?'

I was unable to untick my Apple id email in Settings>iMessage and also in Settings>Facetime. 

I had to put my old O2 sim back in which allowed me to do that. 

I deleted my original eSIM

This then cleared my phone number in Setting>Phone

I then followed step 4 in 'How do I fix iMessage or FaceTime issues after I switched?' And waited 30 mins while connected to WiFi. 

I then downloaded my new eSIM and waited for it to activate and connect. 

Following successful connection, Settings>Apple id>Sign-In & Security showed my number again.

I followed step 5 and it worked perfectly, activating in seconds- iMessage and FaceTime work flawlessly with my mobile number now. 

I spent 2 days very frustrated trying to sort this out. I hope this helps someone to resolve a similar issue more quickly.

Having an eSIM did make this more difficult to resolve as I had to delete the old one and request a new one, as opposed to being able to remove the physical SIM card from my phone but it is now resolved without having to wait for a physical SIM card to arrive.

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D
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  • Dave M
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  • New
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  • 3 replies
  • Answer
  • August 2, 2024

Now resolved-

After switching to iD and following as much as I was able to (with an eSIM not a physical sim) of the advice on community, iMessage and FaceTime still had activation errors.
I had ported my number from O2.

Some details of what I encountered-

Settings >Apple id >Sign-In & Security

Phone number- was marked as unavailable for iMessage and FaceTime with an info button stating- 'You must have a SIM associated with an Apple device for +447xxxxxxxxxx to be used for iMessage and FaceTime'

I deleted this number which could be done as it wasn't registered. 

Resetting Network Settings on my iPhone did not resolve the problem.

My number was correctly showing in Settings>Phone
Erasing and inputting it again did not resolve.

I contacted live chat requesting a new eSIM and they were very helpful and quickly emailed out a new one. 

I then again attempted to follow the community advice 'How do I fix iMessage or FaceTime issues after I switched?'

I was unable to untick my Apple id email in Settings>iMessage and also in Settings>Facetime. 

I had to put my old O2 sim back in which allowed me to do that. 

I deleted my original eSIM

This then cleared my phone number in Setting>Phone

I then followed step 4 in 'How do I fix iMessage or FaceTime issues after I switched?' And waited 30 mins while connected to WiFi. 

I then downloaded my new eSIM and waited for it to activate and connect. 

Following successful connection, Settings>Apple id>Sign-In & Security showed my number again.

I followed step 5 and it worked perfectly, activating in seconds- iMessage and FaceTime work flawlessly with my mobile number now. 

I spent 2 days very frustrated trying to sort this out. I hope this helps someone to resolve a similar issue more quickly.

Having an eSIM did make this more difficult to resolve as I had to delete the old one and request a new one, as opposed to being able to remove the physical SIM card from my phone but it is now resolved without having to wait for a physical SIM card to arrive.

Tom
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  • Tom
    Tom
Tom
iD Mobile Employee
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  • Tom
  • iD Mobile Employee
  • 8225 replies
  • August 8, 2024

Hi @Dave M 

 

Thanks for the tips here.

 

Tom

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