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I pasted a number from an email signature or spreadsheet and got 'digits only'; what is wrong?

The text you pasted carries something besides digits and their usual separators: a label such as 'Mobile:', an extension, or a comma and a second number. Delete the extra and leave a single number, and the link appears. Spaces, dashes, dots and brackets are not the problem; the tool removes those on its own.

Published · 3 min read

What the tool cleans up without asking

Before any check, the WhatsApp link generator strips everything people normally put inside phone numbers to group or decorate them. So each of these gives the same 966501234567:

  • Spaces: +966 50 123 4567.
  • Dashes, including the non-breaking hyphen some programs insert: +966-50-123-4567.
  • Dots: +966.50.123.4567.
  • Brackets: +966 (50) 123-4567.
  • Hidden direction marks and non-breaking spaces: characters you cannot see that stick to numbers copied out of Arabic text or a spreadsheet cell.

What stops it

After cleaning, only digits may remain, with a + or 00 allowed at the very start. Any other character triggers 'The number must contain digits only'. We tried common cases from signatures and spreadsheets, and every one was rejected:

  • A label in front: «جوال: +966501234567» or Mobile: +966 50 123 4567.
  • An extension after it: +966 50 123 4567 ext. 12, or x12.
  • Two numbers in one cell separated by a comma or a slash, as in the 'Phone' column of some sheets.
  • Two numbers separated by a space, such as +966501234567 +966551234567. A second + in the middle is not allowed.
  • A stray symbol at the end, such as an asterisk or a #.

Why the tool does not strip words as well

Because stripping them could hide a bigger mistake. If a cell holding two numbers had everything but digits removed, it would become one long run of digits that is neither number, and if its length happened to fall within the accepted range, you would get a link to a number that does not exist. Stopping with an error is better than a link that looks fine and is wrong.

A quick way to clean it

  1. Paste the text into the number box as it is.
  2. Delete everything before the + or the first digit, then everything after the last digit of the number you want.
  3. If the box holds two numbers, keep one and delete the other; make a second link for the other number if you need it.
  4. The error disappears the moment the input is valid, and the link shows.

If the copied number is a local one starting with 0, a different message appears after cleaning, asking for the country code. Pick the country in the country-code helper, or type the full international number.

Common questions

Is a number written in Arabic-Indic digits accepted?

Yes. Arabic-Indic and Persian digits are converted to Western digits before the check, so they never cause this error.

I removed the words and still get the error. Why?

Look for a small character that is easy to miss, such as a colon or a comma at the end. The quickest fix is to clear the box and type the number by hand.