Phone number isn't in a supported format
Google Ads shows The phone number isn't in a supported format when a caller's number in a call import file is not in one of Google's three supported formats. Rewrite the column as a plus sign, country code and number, such as +16505551234. Check numbers that passed through a spreadsheet first, since saving them as numbers drops the plus sign.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- The error returned for the row when the phone call conversion import file is uploaded in Google Ads.
- What stops
- The row is refused. The call is not credited, and the ad keeps serving.
- How serious
- No policy risk. The cost is calls that never reach the account because one column was formatted wrongly.
What it means
The caller's phone number is one of the columns the import uses to find the call. Google accepts three formats: a plus sign followed by the country code and number (E.164, such as +16505551234), a US area code and number with no prefix (6505551234), or a plus sign followed by a country code of up to 3 characters and an international number of up to 14 characters, which may include dashes and spaces (+64 0800-726230).
The refusal is about how the number is written in the file, not whether the call happened. Google's page says to enter the number in a supported format and upload again.
What actually triggers it
A spreadsheet that dropped the plus sign
Not on Google's help page
A number column saved as numbers turns +16505551234 into 16505551234, which matches none of the three formats. The cell looks close enough on screen, and the import refuses it.
A non-US number with no plus sign
Only US numbers are accepted without a prefix. An international number written the way it is dialed locally, with no plus sign and country code, fits no supported format.
Brackets or extensions copied from a CRM
A number exported as (650) 555-1234 or with an extension after it is not one of the listed formats. Dashes and spaces are only listed for the plus-sign international format.
Fix it in this order
- Open the import file and look at a few refused rows in the caller's phone number column.
- Rewrite each number as a plus sign, the country code, then the number with no other characters, such as +16505551234. That format is accepted for every country.
- Format the column as text before saving the file, so the spreadsheet keeps the plus sign.
- Upload the refused rows again. Google's page says to upload again once the number is in a supported format.
Fix the whole column before the full file goes, not only the refused rows, so the next export from the same source does not repeat the fault.
Often confused with
This conversion can't be imported
The call is outside the conversion window. Its number is fine, and the fix is in the window, not the file.
A click-based import refusing an email or phone that is meant to be hashed. That phone must be E.164 before hashing, a stricter rule than the call import's three formats.