MSISDN stands for Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number. It is the worldwide format your SMS gateway uses to identify a mobile number — and the format you must use when importing contacts into Mailpro for SMS campaigns.
Pro tip: An MSISDN never contains
+, spaces, dashes or parentheses. It is just digits, country code first.The 3 parts of an MSISDN
- CC — Country Code (1-3 digits) defined by ITU-T E.164. Example: 1 for the USA, 33 for France, 49 for Germany.
- NDC — National Destination Code identifying the operator or area.
- SN — Subscriber Number, the unique number on that operator's network.
Examples
| Country | Local format | MSISDN |
|---|---|---|
| USA | (212) 555-0143 | 12125550143 |
| France | 06 12 34 56 78 | 33612345678 |
| Germany | 0151 12345678 | 4915112345678 |
| Italy | 333 123 4567 | 393331234567 |
| Spain | 612 345 678 | 34612345678 |
| Brazil | (11) 98765-4321 | 5511987654321 |
How to convert any number to MSISDN
- Drop the leading
0from the local number. - Prefix the country code (without
+). - Remove spaces, dashes and parentheses.
- Keep only digits — no letters.
Why MSISDN matters for SMS
- SMS routing relies on MSISDN to find the correct mobile network.
- Wrong format = undelivered or rejected SMS.
- Mailpro auto-validates each MSISDN at import time.
Send your first SMS in MSISDN format — free
Mailpro validates every MSISDN at import and routes your SMS to 200+ countries with real-time delivery reports. Try Mailpro SMS · SMS pricing
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