The +33 country code
The same number, written to be dialled from abroad.
33 is France's telephone country code, assigned by the International Telecommunication Union. Written with a leading plus sign, it lets a French number be dialled from any country without knowing the local exit prefix.
In brief
- 33 is the international country code for France.
- The national number's leading 0 disappears after the country code.
- 06 12 34 56 78 is therefore written +33 6 12 34 56 78.
- That format, known as E.164, is the one SMS gateways use.
The rule that trips people up most is the disappearing zero. That zero is not part of the number: it is a national prefix, telling the network that a long-distance call is being made inside the country. From abroad, +33 already plays that role, and keeping the zero would make the number invalid.
The full international format is called the E.164 standard. It admits no spaces, dots or dashes — those exist purely for human legibility and are stripped before any processing. It is in that form that SMS gateways, ours included, handle numbers internally.
This site's form, however, expects the ten-digit national format: the service only sends to French mobiles, and the conversion to international format is done for you.
Frequently asked questions
Should I write +33 or 0033?+
Both work, but the plus sign is preferable: it is recognised everywhere, whereas 00 is the European exit prefix and is not used in every country.
Can I type a number with +33 into the form?+
No. The form expects the ten-digit national format, starting with 06 or 07.
Envoyez votre SMS gratuitement
Service 100% gratuit et sans inscription. Envoyez vos SMS vers la France en quelques secondes.
Envoyer un SMS