Apple Contacts incorrectly formats leading zero in Japanese phone numbers

Question

Level 1

0 points

Apple Contacts incorrectly formats leading zero in Japanese phone numbers

I know about how to call Japanese phone numbers and when Skype was available it worked great. But now the numbers I need to call get formatted incorrectly. The Exchange part of the numbers I need to call have a leading ‘0’, but when I enter these numbers in Apple contacts or try to dial them with one of the new International calling apps that leading 0 gets added to the area code - for example: +81 98 078-XXXX gets reformatted to +81 980 78 XXXX.

I need to be able to dial the leading 0 for the exchange. How?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 13.7

Posted on Aug 25, 2026 7:56 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Aug 26, 2026 4:15 AM in response to ojiijohn

The spacing Apple Contacts shows doesn’t necessarily mean the number itself has changed. `+81 98 078 XXXX` and `+81 980 78 XXXX` contain the same digits; Contacts is just grouping them differently.

I’d first try dialing the contact and see whether the calling app actually sends `+8198078XXXX`. If it drops or inserts a digit, that would point to the calling app rather than Contacts.

Also, with Japanese numbers the initial `0` used as the domestic trunk prefix is normally omitted after `+81`, but a `0` that’s genuinely part of the subscriber number should remain.

If you can post the number pattern with the last four digits obscured, that would help narrow down whether this is only display formatting or an actual dialing problem.

Reply

Answer 2

ojiijohn Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 26, 2026 5:51 AM in response to PreCognition

Thank you for the response, however, I have tried manually entering the phone number and from contacts on 3 different calling apps, and same results. The number gets formatted as I enter each digit in all apps.

The Country code for Japan is 81; areas codes can be up to 4 digits, excluding the leading 0 (domestic calls only); exchanges typically 3 digits and subscriber 4 digits, but can have more.

When I enter the number manually I enter +81980781234 no spaces, no special characters other than the + at the beginning. The app then displays the number as +81 980 78 1234; attempting to call area code 980 which doesn’t exist.

I have tried eliminating the leading 0 in the exchange #, disabling automatic formatting in iCloud, entering a dash before the exchange (app won’t accept), entering a space before the exchange (app won’t accept). I don’t have the time nor the inclination to try every single international calling apps or service.

I never had a problem with Skype and really miss it.

Reply