Choose Another Phone or Email; Contact Card Is Not Available for FaceTime
A FaceTime issue may occur where you may not be able to FaceTime a specific person, producing the “Choose another phone number or email address to call ‘contact name.’ ‘[Contact email or number]’ in the contact card is not available for FaceTime.” This issue may occur regardless of whether it is an audio or video call. I should note that people who are experiencing this problem state that FaceTime works for all other contacts.
FaceTime offers a great way of communicating from Mac, iPhone and iPad. It can be a big issue if you can’t use FaceTime to call even one person. This could be a person you call often, like Mom or Dad. It is important to fix this soon, so you can continue staying connected. This issue may occur on iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Why is the contact card not available for FaceTime?
There could be a few reasons why you are seeing this error. This is a configuration error rather than a FaceTime problem. You are seeing this because the number or contact that you can’t FaceTime may have one of the following:
- The contact is not associated with the email or number shown in the popup error message.
- The FaceTime call for the contact is set to the phone number instead of an email or vice versa.
- There may have been a temporary connection problem.
I should note that if you are having other FaceTime call problems, you should check out our article, 6 FaceTime Calling Issues and Their Fixes.
How to fix the “Choose another phone number or email address” issue
Now that we know what may cause this problem, we can focus on fixing it.
1. Try these first:
- On your iPhone or iPad, turn on Airplane Mode and then turn it off again. If this is a Mac, turn off Wi-Fi and then turn it on again.
- Restart your device and then try again.
- Ensure that your iPhone, iPad or Mac is running the latest version of iOS, iPadOS or macOS.
2. Turn off FaceTime and turn it on again
- iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > FaceTime and toggle off the FaceTime switch. Wait a few seconds, and then turn it on again.

- Mac: Open the FaceTime app, and then from the top menu bar, click FaceTime, then click Turn FaceTime Off. Then go back and click Turn FaceTime On.

3. Update the contact card
You can try to update the contact card for this particular contact to include the FaceTime call phone number or other email addresses. You may want to contact this person before doing this so that you have accurate details. You do not have to update the details on all devices because if you are using multiple devices with the same Apple ID, the changes will sync. Here is how to update the contact card:
- iPhone or iPad: Open the Contacts app and then tap on the contact you can’t FaceTime. Tap the Edit button in the top-right corner of the screen and then update the incorrect details. If this person has another email, add it. If this person has a phone number, enter it. You can add multiple emails and phone numbers. Tap Done when you are finished.

- On Mac: Open the Contacts app, then find the contact. You can use the search field to quickly locate it. Then click the Edit button in the bottom-right corner of the screen and make the changes. Click Done when you are done.

4. Ask the contact to include the email or phone number in their FaceTime settings
This is another option you can try. You can ask the contact to associate the email or number. The contact can do this by changing the FaceTime settings. Here is how:
- Mac: Open the FaceTime app and from the top menu bar, click FaceTime and then Settings or Preferences and select the General tab, then ensure that the email or number is selected under “You can be reached for FaceTime at.”

- iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > FaceTime and check the “You Can be reached by FaceTime At” section. Ensure that the email or number is selected.

If the email does not appear here, you can add it by going to Settings > [your name] > Name, Phone Numbers, Email > Edit > Add Email or Phone Number and then following the onscreen instructions. On Mac, open System Settings > [your name] > Name, Phone, Email and then click the Add (+) button under the Reachable At section.
Related FaceTime articles
- FaceTime Call Won’t End? Fix
- FaceTime Poor Connection Error on iPhone, iPad or Mac
- Group FaceTime Calls Not Working? Fix
- Could Not Sign In To iMessage or FaceTime on Mac, Fix
- FaceTime History not Showing all Calls or Has Disappeared, How to Bring it Back
- Why Does FaceTime Hang up? How to Fix
- How to Record your FaceTime Calls on your Mac
- How to Use Live Captions in FaceTime