Updated August 2026 · every requirement, menu path and carrier rule re-read on 18 August 2026 against the page of the company that publishes it
Transferring during setup is our first choice because Google's Pixel help page, read 18 August 2026, says the old eSIM can still work if the attempt fails. The Settings route is our second because Google's help page, read 18 August 2026, publishes the full menu path and adds no further requirement. A carrier account move is the fallback because Verizon's own FAQ, read 18 August 2026, says there is no fee for moving a line. Data checked: 18 August 2026.
Moving a line to a new Android phone is a software step now, and there are six ways it can go. This page sets out what each vendor actually documents, which is narrower than most guides claim: Google publishes three requirements and no time estimate, Apple publishes higher version numbers than are usually quoted, and the travel providers disagree with each other. An eSIM transfer moves your line, not your data, so back up the old phone before you reset anything.
A new phone still in first boot
Google Pixel Phone Help, "Transfer a SIM to a new phone" · read 18 August 2026 · source
The route Google documents first, and the only one with a safety net written into the documentation: Google says a failed attempt does not have to cost you the line you already have.
Skip it if the old phone is lost, broken or already wiped, because Google's procedure begins with it next to you. Choose it over the Settings route while you are still in first-boot setup, since this is the one pass that carries the line and the data together.
A phone already set up
Google Pixel Phone Help and Samsung US support, "SIM cards for your Galaxy phone or tablet" · read 18 August 2026 · source
Skipping the SIM step during setup costs you nothing. Both makers document the same move from the settings app afterwards, with different labels and, on Galaxy phones, an extra pairing step Google never mentions.
Skip it if your carrier is not on the vendor lists below, because the menu item can be present and the transfer still fail. Choose it over a carrier account move when you hold both phones, since neither maker asks you to contact anybody.
An old phone that is gone
Verizon My Verizon app eSIM FAQs and T-Mobile SIM card and eSIM support · read 18 August 2026 · source
The fallback when the phone-to-phone move is not offered. Two of the three big US carriers publish their steps openly, and both publish a gate you have to clear before the swap will run at all.
Skip it if you are not the account owner or an account manager on a Verizon account, because Verizon says the move is not yours to make. Choose it over a QR code when the carrier app can push the profile itself, since then you never handle a code at all.
No working old phone
Samsung US support and Nomad's help centre · read 18 August 2026 · source
The universal fallback. The detail that catches people is not on the phone at all: an activation code is spent once it has been used, so the code in your old email is usually already dead.
Skip it if the only code you have is one that has already been installed somewhere, because it will not install a second time. Choose it over the Settings route when the old phone is lost, dead or already wiped, since nothing here needs it.
Leaving iOS
Apple Support, "Transfer an eSIM and data from your iPhone or iPad to an Android device" · read 18 August 2026 · source
Apple documents a direct move, and on this route the version numbers matter more than the steps. They are higher than most guides say, including the version this page carried until today.
Skip it if your carrier is not one of the eight Apple names, because Apple ties the eSIM half of the move to that list. Choose it over a carrier account move when both version requirements are met, since this one carries your data across as well.
A plan bought for a trip
Holafly, Airalo and Nomad help centres · read 18 August 2026 · source
There is no single travel eSIM rule, and the old advice that these are all one-shot installs is no longer true. The three providers whose pages could be read publish three different policies, and one of them is the opposite of what this page used to say.
Skip it if the provider is Holafly, because Holafly says its own eSIMs cannot move and no phone setting overrides that. Check the provider before you change the phone since the rule that applies to your plan is the one its issuer publishes, and it is not the same rule twice.
What Google says to do
Google's own advice for a failed transfer is two sentences long: "If you encounter an issue when you transfer an eSIM, try again. For persistent issues, contact your carrier." That is the whole published remedy, and it is worth knowing before you start pulling the phones apart looking for a setting.
The reassuring part is also Google's, and it is the sentence to keep in mind if the screen looks stuck: "Your existing device or eSIM can still work even if your eSIM transfer isn't successful." Note the verb. Google says can, not will, so treat the old phone as a probable safety net rather than a guaranteed one, and do not factory reset it until the new phone has placed a call.
Two vendor gates that produce most of the mystery failures. T-Mobile says to turn one feature off before you begin: "Make sure SIM Protection is disabled", adding "If you don't, you'll receive an error." Verizon says the old handset is part of the process on a one-line account: "You need your old phone for authentication if there's only one line on your account." Neither is discoverable from the phone, which is why a transfer can fail with both devices working perfectly.
If you end up with no service on either phone, the emergency call path is not your carrier's discretion. United States rules place the duty on the carrier rather than the handset: under 47 CFR 9.10(b), read 18 August 2026, providers "must transmit all wireless 911 calls without respect to their call validation process" to a public safety answering point. That is a transmission obligation on the network, not a promise about any particular phone, so read it as the reason emergency calling is treated separately, not as a guarantee.
Once the line is live again, the settings that ride on a SIM profile are worth re-checking, starting with Wi-Fi calling.
Three lists, three vendors
This is where most guides, including this one until today, invent a device requirement that no manufacturer publishes. Google does not name a minimum Pixel and Samsung does not name a minimum Galaxy for the transfer tool. What Google publishes instead is a list of carriers, and it is the closest thing to an authoritative answer that exists.
One hardware note, because it decides whether any of this is optional. On Google's own Pixel tech specs page, read 18 August 2026, the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL are listed in the United States as "Dual eSIM (2 active eSIMs; stores 8 or more eSIMs)", with the rest of the world getting "Dual SIM (Single Nano SIM and eSIM)". The Pixel 11 Pro Fold keeps the physical tray in both. The Pixel 10 family follows the same split. On a US model without a tray, the eSIM route is the only route.
No. It moves the line, meaning your number and your cellular plan. Google describes the SIM transfer as something that happens while you transfer your data from another device, which is a separate step of the same setup flow, so treat the backup and the line as two jobs. Checked 18 August 2026.
It depends entirely on who issued it, and this is the one question where a general rule will get you into trouble. For a carrier line, nothing in Google's transfer procedure asks you to remove anything first. For travel plans the providers directly contradict each other: Nomad tells you to delete the profile from the old device before reinstalling, while Airalo recommends that you do not remove an eSIM you still intend to use. Read your own provider before you touch anything. Checked 18 August 2026.
Nobody publishes a figure. None of the vendor pages read for this guide, from Google, Samsung, Verizon, T-Mobile or Apple, states how long a transfer should take, which is why this page no longer quotes a number. What Google does publish is the remedy: try again, and contact your carrier if the problem persists. Checked 18 August 2026.
Both makers document the move, with different labels for the same button. Google requires Android 12 or later, the current version of Google Play Services and a screen lock set up on both phones. Samsung adds a pairing step where a code shown on the new phone is entered on the old one. Whether it runs at all depends on your carrier rather than on the brands involved. Checked 18 August 2026.
Check the vendor lists before assuming anything is broken. Google publishes a list of carriers that support eSIM Transfer, which in the United States names AT and T, FirstNet, Spectrum Mobile, T-Mobile, UScellular, Verizon Wireless and Xfinity Mobile. Samsung publishes a separate list of carriers that may allow it. If yours is on neither, the published advice from both companies is the same: contact your carrier, which can issue a profile directly. Checked 18 August 2026.
Yes, where the carrier supports it, and Google says so in the same breath as the transfer itself: with eSIM Transfer support you can move your plan to a new device without contacting your carrier, and you can also convert a physical SIM to an eSIM. On a United States Pixel without a SIM tray the question answers itself, since Google lists those models as dual eSIM only. Checked 18 August 2026.
The obligation sits with the carrier rather than the phone. United States rules require providers to transmit all wireless 911 calls without respect to their call validation process to a public safety answering point. That is a duty on the network, so read it as the reason emergency calls are handled separately from ordinary service, and not as a guarantee that any given handset in any given spot will connect. Checked 18 August 2026.
Checked 18 August 2026: the page had no external source of any kind, and the currency pass changed a good deal of it. The Apple section was wrong on both version numbers: Apple's article for this direction says iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 and asks for "a compatible version of Android 17", where this page said iOS 26 and Android 16, figures that belong to Apple's page for the opposite direction. Apple's US carrier list has four entries, not three, because it includes FirstNet, and the confirmation step described here as a double click of the side button does not appear on Apple's page at all, where the flow runs through a scanned QR code. The requirement to keep the old phone above 50 percent battery is gone: no Google page states a battery figure. So is the claim that transfers take two to five minutes, because no vendor read for this update publishes any duration. The device floors are gone too, "Pixel 7 and later" and "Galaxy S23 and later", neither of which any manufacturer publishes; in their place is Google's own list of carriers that support eSIM Transfer, quoted and linked. Samsung's pairing code is no longer described as six digits, because Samsung does not say how many digits it is. The travel eSIM section was the most wrong: Nomad publishes that its eSIMs can be reinstalled or transferred after deletion, the opposite of the dead end this page described, Airalo's own wording is "typically", not never, and Saily is now named only as a provider whose pages could not be read. The AT&T instructions have been cut and replaced with a link, because AT&T no longer brands the app the way this page did and its pages cannot be read by an automated check. The 911 sentence has been rewritten as what the rule actually says, a transmission duty on carriers under 47 CFR 9.10(b), rather than a promise about a handset. A decision table, an "Our answer" capsule, a dated verification box and this changelog are new.