If you haven’t yet got the message, your phone company will remind you soon: Update your contact’s phone numbers, or when dialing, ensure that you dial the 1 and the area code. For some people, that’s a lot of contacts, a lot of updating, and a lot of work!

Don’t think it’s just you. It’s everywhere. In Idaho, where I live, we had to update all our phone numbers about a year ago.

For a while, an annoying voice came on the line, reminding me that I had to “add the area code” when dialing a local number. Recently, my Mom phoned from California, where she too has to update her contacts. Her problem is that she has over 50 of them that are just 7-digits long. To update them all with the area code would require a lot of tedious editing on a tiny touchscreen.

I have a better way!

On a computer, visit contacts.google.com. Because your Android phone is synchronized with your Google account, all your contacts appear on the Google Contacts page. And because you’re using a computer, you can see them all – and their phone numbers – in one convenient place.

Once you see your contacts, cull through the list and look for the 7-digit phone numbers. When you find one, click to select the contact, then click the Edit (pencil) icon. Add the area code.

Yes, you must repeat this process for every contact who has a short phone number, but it’s easier to do it on a computer screen than a tiny touchscreen on your phone.

Contacts are updated and synchronized between Google and your phone almost instantly. So when you’re done, you’re done!

Now you just have to wait for the upcoming 12-digit phone numbers to make the next conversion.

Yeah, I’m kidding.