phone keeps refreshing sim data

Does your phone keeps refreshing SIM data? You’ve come to the right page. In this article, we will discuss the causes and the solutions.

It can be very annoying when your phone requires you to refresh SIM data. 

This can be due to several reasons, including a faulty SIM card and damaged hardware.

Luckily, you can easily troubleshoot it.

We have you covered if you are looking for ways to fix the refresh SIM data issue!

If your phone keeps saying refreshing SIM data, restart it. If this doesn’t work, remove your SIM card. Either you have a faulty SIM or a damaged SIM reader. Then, check your phone’s network mode.

It is best to determine the main reason your phone is prompting you to refresh SIM data so that you can find the proper solution.

Why Phone Keeps Saying Refreshing SIM Data

Your phone may prompt you to refresh your SIM card data when you update it over the air. It will start to re-read your SIM’s data into its memory.

We recommend looking at your SIM card as it may be faulty.

You can also check your network settings as they may be improperly set, causing your SIM card to refresh its data continuously.

Here are other possible reasons:

1. Faulty SIM Card

Your SIM card may not be working. To check, fit another SIM into your device. If you don’t get the refreshing SIM card data message, the original SIM is defective.

2. Damaged Hardware

The SIM card reader of your phone might be damaged due to dropping your phone or some other reason. To check, insert another SIM into it.

3. Bad Network Configuration

Either the network mode setting is configured incorrectly, or the network operator settings might be set up improperly. The network operator should be set automatically.

4. Wrong Network Selected

Your phone’s mobile network could be wrong. When this happens, there’s complete signal loss.

Now you know the possible causes of the refreshing SIM data issue. Let us proceed to the solutions. 

How to Fix Phone Keep Saying Refreshing SIM Data

fix phone keeps refreshing sim data

The first step to fixing your phone keeps saying refreshing SIM data problem is restarting your device.

It will refresh all connections, including your mobile network. Doing this should get eliminate issues that are temporary in nature.

If this step works, you’ll save a lot of time and effort since you don’t have to go through the rest of the solutions.

However, in the case that it doesn’t, we have come up with proven steps that will help you get rid of the error within a few minutes.

Solution #1: Refresh Your Phone’s Connection Using Airplane Mode

If restarting your phone does not resolve the issue, you want a better way to refresh your device’s connections.

use airplane mode

The best way to do that would be to take advantage of Airplane Mode. It’s a feature that will completely block off your phone’s connections.

When you turn it off, your phone will reacquire the signal and resolve your SIM card problems.

Here’s how to use Airplane Mode to refresh your phone’s connections:

  1. Swipe down from the top of your device’s screen.
  2. Look for the plane icon, and tap on it.
  3. This will activate Airplane Mode and disconnect your phone.
  4. Wait for at least 30 seconds.
  5. Tap on the plane icon again to switch Airplane Mode off.
Note: Your WiFi and Bluetooth connections will be disconnected, so you want to make sure these are not in use before you activate Airplane Mode.

Solution #2: Remove Your SIM Card

You want to be more aggressive in case Airplane Mode does not work for you.

This time, you want to remove your SIM card, so your phone disconnects from the network.

remove sim card

This will give your SIM card a chance to reset so it can successfully connect to your carrier by the time you put it back in.

Here are the steps on how to remove your SIM card:

  1. Turn your device off.
  2. Using a SIM eject tool, push it into the hole of your SIM tray.
  3. Pull the SIM tray out and remove your SIM card.
  4. Wait for at least 2 to 5 minutes before putting it back in.
  5. Gently place the SIM card into the tray and push it back in.
Note: You can turn on your phone without your SIM card, but you won’t be able to make calls or receive messages.

Solution #3: Check Your Phone’s Network Mode

One of the reasons why your phone will say it’s refreshing SIM data is when you set your network mode wrong. This setting controls how your phone should connect to your carrier.

Your SIM card controls this feature. Setting it wrong can cause issues and malfunctions.

You want to go into your phone’s settings and configure this correctly so your SIM won’t be confused as to how it should use your phone to connect to your carrier.

Here’s how to change your phone’s network mode:

  1. Open your phone’s Settings app.
  2. Select Connections.
  3. Go to Mobile networks.
  4. Select Network mode SIM1 or SIM2.
  5. Choose LTE/3G/2G (auto connect) as your network mode.
Note: If your phone has two SIM cards, you’ll need to check both settings.

Solution #4: Set Your Network Operator to Automatic

set network automatic

Another setting you want to look closely at is your phone’s network operator configuration. You could direct your phone to connect to a different network operator than your SIM.

You may have tapped on this setting incorrectly, or a software issue caused this misconfiguration.

If your phone says it needs to refresh its SIM Data, you want to ensure this is set correctly.

You can manually set it to your carrier or put it into Automatic, so it acquires the signal from the carrier it detects on your SIM card.

Here’s how to set your phone’s network operator:

  1. Go to your phone’s Settings app.
  2. Select Connections.
  3. Tap on Mobile networks.
  4. Select Network operators.
  5. Choose Select automatically.
Note: If your phone continues to display the SIM error, you can also try selecting ‘GSM only’ mode.

Solution #5: Reset Your APN to Defaults

Your carrier’s APN settings can change without warning. You may be using an outdated version which will cause connectivity issues with your phone.

You can check with your carrier if their APN settings have changed, or you can reset them to defaults on your phone.

Here’s how to reset your phone’s APN settings:

  1. Go to your phone’s Settings app.
  2. Select Mobile networks.
  3. Tap on the Access Point Name (APN) option.
  4. Select More in the upper right corner.
  5. Choose Reset to default.
Tip: We recommend restarting your phone after performing this step so it will download your carrier’s latest APN settings.

Solution #6: Reset Your Phone’s Network Settings

reset network settings

Your SIM card takes care of sharing your carrier’s network settings to your phone.

It’s saved on the chip, so you’ll have access to it immediately. However, you’ll be able to change them once loaded onto your phone.

For the most part, nothing will dramatically go wrong even if you change a few settings.

However, if you changed them enough times and detected some incompatibilities with your configuration, it can show the ‘Refreshing SIM data’ error.

Here’s how to reset your phone’s network settings:

  1. Open your phone’s Settings.
  2. Go to System, then Advanced.
  3. Select Reset options.
  4. Tap on Reset network settings.
  5. Confirm by choosing Reset Settings.
Note: Doing this will load your phone's default network settings on your SIM card and restore its connection.

If your phone continues to say it’s refreshing SIM data, you can consider resetting it to resolve the problem.

You can also contact your phone’s manufacturer or carrier as they will be able to assist you in fixing this issue.

Read Next: My Phone Keeps Vibrating for No Reason?

Bottom Line

Now that you know the causes of your phone keep saying refreshing SIM data error, you’ll be able to fix it in no time.

As long as you follow the solutions in this guide, you should be able to get your SIM working again.