The plus sign disappeared from my phone numbers
International phone numbers have lost their leading plus.
Why it happens
- A leading plus starts a formula.
- Underneath that is the same category mistake that ruins SKUs: a phone number is made of digits and is not a quantity.
- Long numbers then hit the precision limit as well.
What to do now
- Import the column as text rather than opening the file directly, so the plus is never read as an operator.
- If the file is already damaged, go back to the original.
- Agree one written form with the sender if you control the exchange.
- Do not fix this by formatting the column.
Next time
A phone field typed as text is stored as it arrived, with the plus, the spaces, and any leading zero intact, because nothing tries to evaluate it.
Start from the contact list template.
Related problems
My CSV shows é where it should show éNames and addresses are full of sequences like é, ü, or ’ where accented letters, umlauts, and apostrophes should be.My dates imported as five-digit numbersA column that should hold dates contains numbers around 45000 instead.My file has dates that do not existA date column contains days that are not on the calendar: a 31st in a thirty-day month, or a 29 February in a year that has no such day.(1,234.56) is not being read as a negative numberAmounts wrapped in parentheses either fail to import or come through as positive numbers.