Remove +1 from phone numbers (Outlook 2000)

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Someone deliberately added +1 to all local phone numbers, but now wants the +1 removed. He did not use the “automatically add country code to local phone numbers” option, but changed each contact individually. Is there a way to remove the +1 from local numbers in some automatic fashion so that he (i.e., his secretary) does not have to open and update each contact individually?

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Many apologies, as I’m pressed for time, but before the secretary gets put into the pressure cooker, I’m pretty sure that this can be done by code. Hopefully someone will come up with some pre-made code snippets before I resurface. Bit out of touch with current local dialling rules in the US. Does a + get recognised before the area code, or do you need a 0, and did they put a space or a hyphen or nothing between the 1 and the area code?

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Still waiting? See if this does what you want. It matches “+1 ” as the first three characters of four different phone numbers. It removes those first three characters and saves the change, sweeping through the entire contacts folder in one go. You could add checks for home and “other” numbers if they are an issue.

Sub DeletePlusOne()
'Delete +1 from all contacts' phone numbers
'Does not ask for confirmation on individual changes
Dim aContact As ContactItem
If MsgBox("This will scan the current folder.  Okay?", vbQuestion + vbYesNo) _
    = vbNo Then Exit Sub
'next line will err if not in a contact folder
For Each aContact In ActiveExplorer.CurrentFolder.Items
    If Left(aContact.BusinessTelephoneNumber, 3) = "+1 " Then
        aContact.BusinessTelephoneNumber = _
            Right(aContact.BusinessTelephoneNumber, _
                    Len(aContact.BusinessTelephoneNumber) - 3)
        aContact.Save
    End If
    If Left(aContact.BusinessFaxNumber, 3) = "+1 " Then
        aContact.BusinessFaxNumber = _
            Right(aContact.BusinessFaxNumber, _
                    Len(aContact.BusinessFaxNumber) - 3)
        aContact.Save
    End If
    If Left(aContact.Business2TelephoneNumber, 3) = "+1 " Then
        aContact.Business2TelephoneNumber = _
            Right(aContact.Business2TelephoneNumber, _
                    Len(aContact.Business2TelephoneNumber) - 3)
        aContact.Save
    End If
    If Left(aContact.CompanyMainTelephoneNumber, 3) = "+1 " Then
        aContact.CompanyMainTelephoneNumber = _
            Right(aContact.CompanyMainTelephoneNumber, _
                    Len(aContact.CompanyMainTelephoneNumber) - 3)
        aContact.Save
    End If
Next
MsgBox "Done!"
End Sub

Hope this helps.

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Thank you very much! I’ll give it a go.

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I get a “type mismatch” error when running this code on the Contacts folder. I know next to nothing about vb, so I’m having trouble figuring out the problem. Any help appreciated.

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If you’re actually viewing the contacts, it should work. My default view is the little cards, if that makes any difference (it shouldn’t). If you click Debug…, which line is highlighted?

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Could you not do an export to csv
Run a find and replace to remove the +1 in Excel
Import back in.
?

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