Invalid Country Code

What is this?

WhatsApp needs the full international number — country code first, then the number. If the number has no valid country code, the platform refuses to send and never reaches WhatsApp. The message is saved as Failed with this reason:

This phone number has no valid country code, so the message was not sent. Fix the number (country code first, no +, 00 or 0 before it) and send again.

The platform never guesses a country code for you, because a wrong guess would message the wrong person.

What can I do here?

Recognize the error wherever it appears — inbox, campaigns, API and webhooks
Fix one number or many at once
Prevent it at the source

How to use it

What a correct number looks like

Digits only: country code, then the number. Examples: 919876543210 (India — 91 + 10 digits), 971501234567 (UAE), 14155550123 (USA). A leading +, 00 or 0 is removed automatically, but a missing country code can’t be added for you.

Looks like	Problem
`9876543210`	No country code (a local 10-digit number)
`09876543210`	Starts with `0` — a local format, no country code
`+91 98765 43210`	Fine — the `+` and spaces are not the problem; the digits include `91`

Where you’ll see it

Where	What you see	Fix
Inbox	The message shows a red Failed mark; click it for the Reason above. The contact has the label Invalid Country Code	Edit the contact’s phone (it’s editable while it carries that label), or use Fix Invalid Phone Numbers
Campaigns	Those recipients show as failed with the same reason	Fix the numbers in Contacts, then send to them again
Workspace API	The request answers `422` with `"error": "INVALID_COUNTRY_CODE"` and the message above	Send `to` as digits with the country code, for example `"to": "919876543210"`
Webhooks and integrations (a form, store or CRM calling your automation)	The contact is created with the label Invalid Country Code, and the WhatsApp step fails	Make the sender pass the number with its country code — in the source form, store or CRM, or map the field correctly
Contact import	The row is rejected	Add the country code in your file

Example API failure:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "INVALID_COUNTRY_CODE",
  "message": "This phone number has no valid country code, so the message was not sent. Fix the number (country code first, no +, 00 or 0 before it) and send again."
}

Fix one contact

Open the contact — in the Inbox contact panel or the Contact Profile.
Edit the phone so it starts with the country code.
Save and send again. Once valid, the Invalid Country Code label is removed and the Country Code field is filled in.

Fix many contacts at once

Go to Contacts and click Fix Invalid Phone Numbers.
Enter the Country calling code to add (digits only: 91 for India, 971 for the UAE).
Click Fix numbers. It strips any +, 00 or 0 at the start and puts your code in front, only on contacts marked Invalid Country Code. Numbers that are still invalid stay marked.
If some were skipped because the fixed number already belongs to another contact, click Review and merge the skipped to merge the duplicates.

See Contacts for the full rules.

Only use Fix Invalid Phone Numbers when all the affected numbers belong to the same country. A local number can also be a valid number of another country (for example 9544102909 reads as a Myanmar number), and nothing can catch that for you.

Troubleshooting / Technical Notes

The number looks right but still fails. Check there are no letters or extra digits, and that the country code matches the country (an Indian number is 91 + exactly 10 digits).
Customers on Instagram, Facebook, Telegram or TikTok. They have no phone number, so this error doesn’t apply to them.
A WhatsApp username (BSUID) contact. It has no phone and is messaged through its WhatsApp user ID — this error doesn’t apply.
It keeps coming back from my form or store. Fix it at the source so numbers are saved with the country code (many forms have a country-code phone field).
Incoming messages created a second contact. A number stored without its country code can split into two contacts; fix and merge them.

​What is this?

​What can I do here?

​How to use it

​What a correct number looks like

​Where you’ll see it

​Fix one contact

​Fix many contacts at once

​Troubleshooting / Technical Notes

​Related docs

What is this?

What can I do here?

How to use it

What a correct number looks like

Where you’ll see it

Fix one contact

Fix many contacts at once

Troubleshooting / Technical Notes

Related docs