Phone Number Parser

about this tool

How a number is read

Every country publishes a numbering plan: how long its numbers are, and which ranges are landlines, mobiles, toll-free, premium rate and the rest. This tool reads each number against those plans, Google's libphonenumber data, and says three things:

• The country and type. From the calling code and the range the number falls in. Where a calling code is shared, +1 across North America or +44 across the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, the range settles which country it is, or the tool lists the countries it could be.
• Whether it is in use. Valid means the right length in an allocated range. A number of the right length in a range that is not allocated is marked possible but not in use: unassigned, reserved, or newer than the data. Wrong lengths and unknown country codes are explained.
• Every standard form. E.164 (+442079460958) for storing and for SMS and calling services, the international and national ways of writing it, and a tel: link, with any extension kept.

What valid does not mean

Nothing is dialled or looked up, so valid cannot show that a number is connected or whose it is. A mobile number moved to another network keeps its range, so the type shows how a number was issued, not where it is now.

Lists

Paste up to 500 numbers, one a line, in any common format, even with a name beside them. Numbers written the national way need a country chosen. A leading 00 is read as + when that makes a valid number, since much of the world dials abroad with 00; elsewhere the prefix differs, so choose the country. Letters written for digits, as in 1-800-FLOWERS, are read off a phone keypad. Copy the valid ones as E.164, or download every result as CSV for a contacts import; a spreadsheet may read a leading + as a formula, so import the number columns as text there. The plans load into the page once and nothing leaves it. For an account number rather than a phone number, the IBAN validator does the same for bank accounts.

questions

What does “valid” mean for a phone number?

That it has the length its country uses and falls in a range that country has allocated, for landlines, mobiles, toll-free and so on. It does not mean the number is connected or tell you whose it is: nothing is dialled or looked up. “Possible, not in use” means the length fits but the range is not allocated, or is newer than this page’s data.

Can it tell a mobile from a landline?

From the range the number belongs to, yes, in most countries. In the United States and Canada mobiles and landlines share ranges, so the type there is “landline or mobile”. A number moved to another network keeps its range, so the type shows how it was issued.

What is E.164?

The international standard form: a +, the country calling code and the national number, with no spaces or leading zero, such as +442079460958. It is the form most systems store and the one SMS and calling services expect.

Why do some numbers need a country chosen?

A number written the national way, such as 020 7946 0958, does not say which country it is from. Choose the country, and every number without a + is read as one from there; a number that starts with + carries its own country code, and so does one that starts with 00 when reading the 00 as + makes a valid number.

Is my list sent anywhere?

No. The numbering plans, Google’s libphonenumber data, are loaded into the page once, and every number is read in your browser, so a contact list stays on your computer.