How to send a text message to an email address

Even though all modern smartphones offer built-in email capabilities and a wide selection of email apps to choose from, there are still times when you might be better off sending a short text message to someone’s email address rather than a normal email message. . For example, you may not have email set up on your phone or you may not want to reveal your personal email address to the recipient. Or you may be out of data coverage or may not have an Internet data plan on your device.

The good news is that almost all carriers still let you send a text message directly to an email address, even if you don’t have any cellular data or Wi-Fi connection available. This is because SMS and MMS text messages travel directly over a cellular connection that does not require Internet access, so they are a great way to reach someone when your only other option is to make a phone call.

While text messages sent to other phone numbers use text-only SMS (Short Message Service), messages sent to email addresses use MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). MMS is the same service used to send text messages that include photos and videos; Most cellular plans include this by default, but some may still charge a per-message fee for sending MMS instead of SMS messages. If you’re unsure how MMS messaging is handled on your plan, we recommend checking with your carrier.

Text messages sent to an email address still travel through your carrier’s MMS network, where they are converted to email and delivered from the carrier’s mail server to the recipient’s inbox. How the message appears to the recipient depends on your carrier, but in most cases it should come from an address that includes your phone number, such as [email protected], so that the recipient can reply to the message using the carrier as well Email over text service, allowing you to continue the entire conversation.

Let’s see how it works on an iPhone or Android smartphone.

A man holding a Google Pixel 8 showing the screen.

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How to send a text to someone’s email (Android)

Sending a text to an email address is as easy as entering an email address instead of a phone number in the “To” line of your messaging app. In the case of Android, this will probably be Google Messages, but it should work equally well in Samsung Messages or other SMS/MMS apps – as long as they support MMS.

step 1: Open the Messages app on your Android phone.

Start Chat button in Google Messages.

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step 2: choose start chat To start a new conversation.

Composing a new message in Google Messages.

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step 3: In To In the line, type the email address to which you want to send the message.

Sending a message to an email address in Google Messages.

Jesse Hollington/

step 4: Once you have typed the complete address, select Send The sign that appears below the address.

Entering a message in Google Messages.

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Step 5: Compose your text message as you normally would. When finished, select Send button to send it on its way. On newer versions of Android, you can also hold Send Button to schedule the message to be sent later.

iPhone 14 Pro showing iMessages.

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How to send a text to someone’s email (iPhone)

In theory, sending text messages to email from iPhone should be as easy as it is on Android – just enter the email address in the “To” line. However, there is another problem that may complicate things due to Apple’s iMessage service.

Most iPhone users’ primary email address will be automatically registered for iMessage. This means that when you try to send a text to an email address from the iPhone Messages app, it may travel over Apple’s iMessage network instead of going to the recipient’s email box. Luckily, it’s easy to tell when this is happening, thanks to the green-blue bubble thingy. There are also ways to avoid this if you really want to send a text message to the email inbox of the person registered for iMessage.

step 1: Make sure MMS is turned on by going to Adjustment , messages Looking for more mms messaging Toggle. This is usually enabled by default, but if it’s turned off for some reason you’ll need to turn it back on before you can send a text message to an email address.

How to Send Text Email iPhone Message MMS Messaging Settings

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step 2: Open the Messages app on your iPhone.

step 3: Select the Compose message button in the upper right corner.

Composing a message in the iPhone Messages app.

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step 4: In To In the line, type the email address to which you want to send the message and select it return Button on the keyboard.

Composing a message to an email address via MMS in the iPhone Messages app.

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Step 5: If the email address turns green, it means your message will be sent via MMS and you’re good to go. You should also see the words “New MMS” at the top of the screen and “Text Message” in the compose box.

Select that compose box, type your message and select green Arrow To send it on its way. That green send button is another sign that you’re using SMS/MMS instead of iMessage.

Composing a message to an iMessage email address in the iPhone Messages app.

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Step 6: If the email address turns blue, it means it is registered to receive iMessages. You can still proceed to send the message, but it will not go to the recipient’s email box; Instead, it will be sent to their iPhone, iPad or Mac. Additionally, if you don’t have data available, messages won’t go out until you’re back in coverage, as iMessage requires a data connection to reach Apple’s servers.

Send as iMessage and SMS settings on iPhone.

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Step 7: If you want the message to be sent via MMS to ensure that it reaches the recipient’s email inbox, the simplest solution is to open Adjustment , messages And toggle the iMessage switch. This completely disables iMessage on your iPhone, causing everything from the Messages app to be sent via SMS and MMS. Once the message is sent you can follow the same steps to turn iMessage back on.

Also check to make sure that send as sms is enabled under option Adjustment , messages, This will allow your iPhone to send iMessages as SMS/MMS messages when you’re out of data coverage or have turned off cellular data and Wi-Fi.

How to Forward Text to Someone’s Email (Android)

Sometimes you may want to forward your received text message to someone’s email address. For example, if you received an order confirmation or party invitation via text and you want to forward it forward. While you can normally copy-paste any text into an email, you can send it to an email address just as easily as a phone number by using your messaging app’s built-in forwarding capabilities.

step 1: Open the Messages app on your Android phone and select the conversation with the message you want to forward to the email address.

Selecting a message in Google Messages.

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step 2: Press and hold a specific message in a conversation until its color changes. Depending on your phone, you may also experience a quick response to confirm.

Forward option in Google Messages.

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step 3: Select the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and select Ahead, Alternatively, you can also use share Options here if you want to send the text message using an email app like Gmail, or forward it via another messaging app like WhatsApp.

step 4: After selecting the Forward option, select or select from the list of recently used addresses. new message Type in a new email address, and then proceed to send the message in the same manner as described above for sending a new message.

How to Forward a Text to Someone’s Email (iPhone)

Forwarding a text message from an iPhone to an email is equally easy, although the same warnings regarding iMessage apply when forwarding a message as when sending a new one, so if you find that the email address turns blue. And you may have to bypass it if you want. Instead of forcing it to go out via email. Also make sure MMS is enabled Adjustment , messagesas described above.

step 1: Open the Messages app on your iPhone and select the conversation with the message you want to forward to the email address.

Selecting a message in the iPhone Messages app.

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step 2: Press and hold the message you want to forward. A pop-up menu of options will appear.

Selecting multiple messages in the iPhone Messages app.

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step 3: choose More, The current message will appear with a blue checkmark next to it.

step 4: Select any additional messages you want to forward.

Forwarding a message in the iPhone Messages app.

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Step 5: choose forward arrow In the lower right corner. A Compose a New Message box will appear with the text of your selected message(s).

Forwarding a message in the iPhone Messages app.

Jesse Hollington/

Step 6: Enter an email address in To If desired, align, edit, or add text to the compose box and select green Arrow To send the message on its way.

Note that if you see a blue arrow here, the message will be sent directly to the recipient’s iPhone via Apple’s iMessage service; It will not reach their inbox. See the section above regarding sending text to someone’s email for how to override this.






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