iPhone: Contacts not recognized for Portuguese calls

Question

Level 1

4 points

iPhone: Contacts not recognized for Portuguese calls

Hi,

So I have a Portuguese SIM in my phone but currently reside in the UK. I have this constant issue where people I know and have the contact of call me from Portugal but my phone doesn’t recognise the number is in my contacts. It slight changes the formatting and just won’t show the contact.

As you can see in my log it didn’t recognise a number that if I search won’t show up in my address book. However, if I just change the spacing then it does show up.

How can I fix this?

Thanks!

iPhone 16, iOS 26

Posted on Feb 4, 2026 2:07 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

SravanKrA

Level 10

434,476 points

Feb 4, 2026 8:44 PM in response to afonsoges

If you’re currently residing in the UK and most of your incoming calls are from Portugal, it’s important to save those phone numbers in the correct international format using the +351 country code.

Portuguese phone numbers consist of nine digits, usually written in three groups of three (AAA AAA AAA).

If you add +351 and the phone number, these are automatically formatted by an iPhone. You need not enter spaces.

Reply

Answer 2

SravanKrA

Level 10

434,476 points

Feb 4, 2026 8:38 PM in response to afonsoges

Spaces, Hyphen or Parentheses in a Phone number depends on the International prefix

Watch the GIF below. Note here only numbers are being input, but Spaces, Hyphen or Parentheses are added by iPhone automatically

iPhone 6 iOS 12

Reply

Answer 3

CamiASC

Level 1

8 points

Mar 17, 2026 1:59 PM in response to afonsoges

I’ve been having the same issue, and I believe it started since I updated to iOS 26.

UK based, primary eSIM with EE, physical sim from Portuguese network / line.

Same setup for years, all Portuguese contacts setup starting +351, but now caller number comes up without +351 and doesn’t recognise the contact name…

Annoying

Reply

Answer 4

afonsoges Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 4, 2026 11:05 PM in response to SravanKrA

Hi SravanKra,

Thanks for the reply. I already have all my foreign contacts saved with the correct prefix and no spaces. Yet I still have this issue with multiple contacts.

Thanks

Reply

Answer 5

afonsoges Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2026 8:34 AM in response to afonsoges

Hi, I'm still having the same issue. Does anyone have another suggestion? Thanks!

Reply

iPhone: Contacts not recognized for Portuguese calls

Similar questions