How to fax to the UK from the US

The 0, the +44 and the (0)

The leading 0 is a national prefix for calls inside the UK. ITU’s dialing rules say it isn’t dialed from abroad, so 020 7946 0000 becomes +44 20 7946 0000. The hybrid +44 (0)20 7946 0000 shows the same prefix in parentheses, and a US fax machine should skip it.

With United Kingdom selected, FaxTonic reads 020 7946 0000, (020) 7946 0000, +44 (0)20 7946 0000 and 0044 20 7946 0000 as one number, shown as +44 20 7946 0000 at the review step. Just change 011 to +, since 011 is refused with United Kingdom selected.

Is it really a UK number?

Some numbers look British but aren’t in the UK, and FaxTonic doesn’t send to those places.

• Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. These Crown Dependencies aren’t part of the UK, yet they use +44 numbers: 01534, 01481 and 01624. FaxTonic refuses all three.
• Ireland. The Republic has its own country code, +353, and its Dublin numbers also start with 01, so check the address, not just the digits. FaxTonic refuses them either way.
• Northern Ireland. It’s in the UK: +44 28, or 028. If you see 048, a code for callers in the Republic, change it to 028: FaxTonic refuses 048.

What UK prefixes mean

The first digits show what kind of line you have. UK cell numbers are called mobiles, and they can’t take a fax. Refused numbers stop before you pay.

FaxTonic also refuses 055 and 056 numbers. If you only have an 03 or freephone number, ask for an ordinary 01 or 02 line: we can’t promise that a fax reaches those numbers from the US.

UK landlines are going digital

The UK’s old analog phone network is being retired. GOV.UK says all users of Openreach’s old analog network must move to a new service by January 31, 2027. BT’s 2017 plan said 2025. That date has since moved, and Openreach said in September 2026 that January 31, 2027 remains unchanged.

GOV.UK tells people with a fax machine on a landline to check that it will keep working. BT says fax generally works on its Digital Voice service, without promising it, and advises its customers to send no more than 10 pages at a time.

So a number that took your fax last year may not take it now. Contact the recipient before sending anything that matters, and if a long fax fails, ask whether their line has gone digital. FaxTonic doesn’t resend a failed fax: see what to do when a fax doesn’t go through.

Not every UK body still takes fax

UK public bodies treat fax differently, so go by the recipient’s current letter or website.

• The NHS in England. A 2018 order from the health secretary banned NHS purchases of fax machines from January 2019 and set March 31, 2020 as the phase-out date. GP practices were told to stop using fax by April 2020. A number on an old NHS letter may be dead, so call first. FaxTonic isn’t for patient information from a US provider or health plan: see faxing medical records.
• Insolvency filings. Under the law of England and Wales, insolvency rules dropped fax on June 22, 2026, because that delivery route to the courts and the Insolvency Service is no longer available.
• HMRC. Its complaints page, updated in June 2026, still lists fax numbers, including one starting 03.

How far ahead the UK is

Clocks in the UK show Greenwich Mean Time from late October to late March, and British Summer Time, one hour later, for the rest of the year. US and UK clocks change on different weekends, so for a few weeks a year the gap shrinks by an hour.

Those weeks run from the second Sunday in March until the last one, and from the last Sunday in October until the first Sunday in November: in 2027, March 14 to 28 and October 31 to November 7. Hawaii (10 hours behind) and most of Arizona (7) don’t change clocks, so add an hour during British Summer Time.

How to fax the UK with FaxTonic

1. Save your document as PDF, JPEG, and PNG, up to 20 pages with the cover. A4 pages shrink slightly to fit US Letter.
2. Open FaxTonic and add the file. Put your phone or email on the free cover page: FaxTonic only sends, so your recipient can’t fax back to the US number in the page header.
3. Choose United Kingdom and type the fax line’s own number as printed. A fax can’t dial an extension.
4. Compare the +44 number at the review step with your source, digit by digit.
5. Check the total, $1.59 a page at any hour, and pay by card.
6. Watch the status page. “Delivered” means the receiving machine confirmed the fax. There’s no transmission report.

Play the video: How to Send a One-Time Fax Without Signing Up for Anything

An undeliverable fax is refunded automatically: we hold back a fee of $0.30 + 2.9% and return the rest, or all of it if our fax provider refused the fax when we submitted it. A delivered fax isn’t refunded, even if it reached the wrong number. The refund policy has the full rule.