I'm having trouble masking my entry control to a phone number mask. Why?

Question

I have a MAUI app. The initial XAML markup looks like this:

<mops:PopupPage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
                xmlns:mops="clr-namespace:Mopups.Pages;assembly=Mopups"
                xmlns:tools="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2022/maui/toolkit"
                xmlns:vmods="clr-namespace:LockAndKey.Pages"
                xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
                x:DataType="vmods:DbViewModel"
                x:Class="LockAndKey.Pages.DbUpdte"
                CloseWhenBackgroundIsClicked="False"
                BackgroundColor="#80000000">

As you can see I'm using Community Toolkit for MAUI. What I'm trying to do is mask an entry control like a telephone number entry. So I have the XAML entry control like this:

<Entry Placeholder="Enter owner's phone number"
       Grid.Row="2" Margin="20,0,10,0"
       Text="{Binding DbPhone}" Keyboard="Numeric">
    <Entry.Behaviors>
        <tools:MaskedBehavior Mask="(000) 000-0000"/>
    </Entry.Behaviors>
</Entry>

And this is the data binding for the control:

public string DbPhone
{
    get => _phone;
    set
    {
        _phone = value;
        OnPropertyChanged(nameof(DbPhone));
    }
}

When I run the program and tab town to this entry control, no numeric keypad shows up, and when I enter a phone number, nothing is entered into the control. How can I fix this?

I'm curious to know which platform? Whilst Keyboard="Numeric" works inconsistently between platforms and models, knowing which platform can give some insight what you need and what workarounds you can use. — Stephen Quan
– Stephen Quan, Commented Nov 10 at 2:27
Stephen Quan, I am using Windows 11 and the framework is .net 9.0. I initially tried adding Keyboard="Numeric" and when I did that and tried to type numbers, nothing was being entered. — Bob Gatto
– Bob Gatto, Commented Nov 10 at 3:35
Keyboard="Numeric" is more likely to show a numeric keypad on Android and some iOS devices. On Windows, unless if you're using a touch screen, I'm not sure you would be expecting anything different than being able to type with the keyboard. As to the "tab" key. Dependent on the visual element tree, a combination of "tab" and/or arrow keys may be needed for keyboard navigation to the control. You need to ensure that your Entry component actually acquires active focus. I recommend that you add troubleshooting by binding to your Entry's IsFocused property and verify that it changes to True. — Stephen Quan
– Stephen Quan, Commented Nov 10 at 3:53
Since you mentioned popup, it may be necessary to call VisualElement.Focus on the Entry after the Popup opens. — Stephen Quan
– Stephen Quan, Commented Nov 10 at 3:58
I added Keyboard="Telephone" back into the control and removed the <Entry.Behaviors> coding and ran the program. A phone number that was stored in the table as 1234567890 was displayed as (123) 456-7890 Which is how I want it. However, when I delete that line and manually type it in as 1234567890 I would like it to show up as (123) 456-7890 which it doesn't. I i place that <Entry.Behaviors> back in I am not able to type any numbe at all. — Bob Gatto
– Bob Gatto, Commented Nov 10 at 4:13

Sinatr · Accepted Answer · 2025-11-10 15:02:24Z

1

MaskedBehavior require you to use X character to specify mask. In your case

<tools:MaskedBehavior Mask="(XXX) XXX-XXXX"/>

or alternatively

<tools:MaskedBehavior Mask="(000) 000-0000"
                      UnmaskedCharacter="0"/>

answered Nov 10 at 15:02

Sinatr

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