Phone Number Entry and Country Selection

Country selection with flags in phone fields, automatic formatting as you type, how numbers look in lists, and masked numbers.

Structure of the field

The phone box consists of two parts:

1. Left part: The flag and country code of the selected country (for example 🇹🇷 +90). Click it to open the country list.
2. Right part: The part of the number after the country code. You type here.

You do not need to type the country code separately, because it comes from the selector. For a new record, the default country is Türkiye.

Selecting a country

1. Click the flag. The list opens.
2. In the list you see country names.
3. To find a country, you can type the first letters of the country name into the list. Or scroll and select.
4. Click the country. The flag and code change, and the number in the box is reformatted to the new country’s format.

Frequently used countries are also shown at the top of the list:

Türkiye, Germany, United Kingdom, USA, Netherlands, France

If the list overflows the edge of the screen, its direction changes automatically; if it does not fit below, it opens upward.

Automatic formatting as you type

As you type digits, the number is split into readable groups. You do not add the spaces yourself.

The faint example (placeholder) shown inside the field also changes according to the selected country. When you select Germany, you see an example in the format of a German number. This way you know how many digits to type.

Corrections made for you

• A leading 0 is removed. If you type 0532 123 45 67, it becomes 532 123 45 67. (In Italy the 0 is part of the number, so it is not removed.)
• Extra digits are trimmed. There is a limit of 10 digits for Türkiye, the USA, Canada, Russia, and the United Kingdom, and 9 digits for France.
• A pasted leading 90 is dropped in Türkiye. If you paste 905321234567, the number appears as 532 123 45 67; a second 90 is not added.
• The cursor stays in place. When you insert a digit in the middle of the number, the cursor does not jump.

Pasting and automatic country detection

If you copied the number from somewhere else, do not bother selecting the country. Paste a number that starts with + or 00:

A number you paste without a country code is treated as belonging to the selected country.

How is the number saved?

Regardless of what you type on screen, the system stores the number as country code + digits. For example:

• 🇹🇷 +90 and 532 123 45 67 → saved as: 905321234567
• 🇩🇪 +49 and 151 2345 6789 → saved as: 4915123456789

Spaces, parentheses, and dashes are not included in the record. This way the same number is recognized as the same even if written in different formats, and WhatsApp sending also works correctly.

How does the number look in lists?

In lists and cards, the number is shown in international format:

If an older record has the number entered as 5321234567 or 05321234567, the system treats it as a Türkiye number and still shows it as +90 532 123 45 67.

Masked (hidden) numbers

If you do not have permission to view phone numbers, numbers appear with asterisks. The country code, the first digit, and the last two digits remain visible:

+90 5** *** ** 67

In this case:

• The phone field of an existing contact is read-only; the country selector does not appear and you cannot change the number.
• When adding a new contact, the phone field works normally. After saving, the number appears masked to you.
• If you edit and save someone else’s record, the existing number is not corrupted; the masked value does not overwrite the record.
• You can always see the phone in your own profile.

For permission management, see Roles and Permissions.

Duplicate number warning

On the customer form, when you have typed at least 10 digits of the number or leave the field, the system checks whether another customer exists with the same number. If so, a yellow warning appears under the field:

⚠ There is a customer registered with this mobile: Ayşe Yılmaz (#123)

The name is a link; if you click it, the record opens in a new tab. The warning does not block saving, but be sure to check before creating the same person a second time. The record you are editing does not count as a match.

Numbers in bulk upload to Directory (Excel)

Numbers uploaded from a file to the Directory are also normalized according to these rules:

• Numbers starting with 00 are treated as international.
• 10-digit numbers starting with 5 are treated as Türkiye mobile numbers, and 90 is added at the start.
• 11-digit numbers starting with 0 are also Türkiye numbers.
• All other numbers are accepted as written, with the country code.

Common mistakes

• Typing a foreign number without selecting the country: The number is saved as a Türkiye number and does not reach WhatsApp.
• Both selecting and typing the country code: The selector already adds the code. In Türkiye you do not need to type 90 at the start.
• Trying to enter the number with spaces by hand: Not needed, the system formats it.
• Trying to fix a masked number: The field is locked. Ask the admin for permission to view phone numbers.
• Clicking “Save” without seeing the warning: Two records of the same person are created.

For how phones are shown on the chat screen, see Phone Numbers in Chatmatic.