Faxing a landline in France, step by step
Fax a French landline from your browser. Number format, regional codes, time zone and office hours. First page free, €3.99 from 2 pages.
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France still has a steady trickle of fax traffic, mostly in healthcare, property and small trades. If you hold a document that has to reach a French office on paper-like terms, you can send it from this page without a machine, an account or a phone line.
French landline numbers are ten digits long, and the first two reveal the region: 01 for Paris and the area around it, 02 northwest, 03 northeast, 04 southeast, 05 southwest. Numbers on an internet box line often begin with 09. Enter the number as it is dialed locally, keeping the leading 0 and leaving out +33.
Cell phone numbers (06 and 07) cannot receive faxes, and 08 numbers are special-rate services that no fax machine answers. CaptainFax refuses all of them before you pay anything, so a typo in the first digits is caught on the spot.
Your first page is free. From two pages the whole document costs a flat €3.99, however long it is. Offices in France mostly answer between nine and six on weekdays, with a lunch break that can last until two, so aim for the morning if you want to check the delivery status quickly. From the United States, the form handles the international prefix (011), so you never dial it yourself. Paris is six hours ahead of New York.
France fax numbers: how to enter them
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dial code | +33 |
| ISO code | FR |
| Numbers accepted | 10 digits beginning with 01 to 05, or with 09; keep the leading 0. Cell numbers (06, 07) and 08 numbers are refused |
| Example number | 0148817645 |
| Region | Western Europe |
France: what we accept and what we reject
| Number typed | Result | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 01 48 81 76 45 | Accepted | Paris area |
| 04 72 12 34 56 | Accepted | Lyon area |
| 09 70 12 34 56 | Accepted | Line from an internet box |
| 06 12 34 56 78 | Rejected | Cell phone number, which no fax can reach |
| 1 48 81 76 45 | Rejected | The leading 0 is left out |
| 0 800 12 34 56 | Rejected | Toll-free or premium-rate number, not supported |
Area codes for major cities
| City or line type | Area code |
|---|---|
| Paris and Île-de-France | 01 |
| North-west (Rennes, Nantes, Rouen) | 02 |
| North-east (Lille, Strasbourg, Nancy) | 03 |
| South-east (Lyon, Marseille, Nice) | 04 |
| South-west (Bordeaux, Toulouse) | 05 |
| Internet-box and VoIP lines | 09 |
France: who still takes faxes?
- Medical practices, pharmacies and laboratories still receive prescriptions, test results and referral letters by fax, notably where the secure messaging system is not fully rolled out.
- Notary offices, estate agents and property managers exchange signed pages and supporting documents while a sale or a lease is being prepared.
- Branches and claims departments sometimes ask for a signed form or a certificate to be faxed because it arrives in a legible, dated form.
- Builders, garages, wholesalers and craftspeople often keep a fax line for quotes, delivery slips and purchase orders.
We don’t list organizations’ fax numbers. Take the number from a recent letter or from the recipient’s official site.
The official online alternative
Much of the administration has moved online: service-public.fr and impots.gouv.fr for citizens, FranceConnect to sign in with one identity, and the e-greffe or Portalis platforms for court filings. Check whether your procedure has an online form before choosing fax.
For health data, France relies on MSSanté, a secure messaging system open to registered professionals, and on Mon espace santé for patients. Those channels work only if both sides are enrolled, which is why a fax remains the fallback.
France: time zone and business hours
| Time zone | Central European Time |
|---|---|
| Gap with Paris | UTC+1 (UTC+2 during daylight saving time) |
| Typical business hours | Mon-Fri 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. local, often with a lunch break |
France: common questions
- Do I type +33 or a zero before the French number?
- Select France in the form and enter the ten-digit number including its leading 0, such as 01 48 81 76 45. The country code is added automatically, so you don’t need +33.
- Why was my French number rejected?
- The most common causes are a cell phone number starting with 06 or 07, an 08 special-rate number, a missing leading 0, or fewer than ten digits. Only landlines starting with 01 to 05 or 09 are accepted.
- How much does a fax to France cost?
- One page costs nothing. Two pages or more are a flat €3.99 per send, VAT included. Delivery receipts are an option at €2.99, billed only when the fax goes through.
Send a fax to France
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Keep exploring
A few pages that go well with the one you just read.
- Pick a country to see its dial code and the number format we expect, then send your fax to a landline.
- Look up a country’s code, its usual prefixes and how long its numbers are before you fax across a border.
- Choose the country, type the number, and find out at once whether it is ready to use.
- The current time where your recipient works, and the hours when every office is staffed together.
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