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How to send a text to your email

There are times when you want to send a text to another person’s email, or you want your incoming texts to appear in your email inbox — and chances are you might not be sure how to do either of these things. Fear not! Our handy guide walks you through both options, whether you’re using an iOS or Android device.

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

How to send a text to another person's email inbox

This is an incredibly easy process, as long as your service plan allows you to send MMS (picture or data-rich) messages. If you have the most bare-bones text messaging plan, then you might not be able to send MMS messages. However, rather than hopping on your service provider's site and spending half an hour trying to determine if your plan includes MMS messaging, the fastest way to figure things out is to do a quick test.

Here's how to send a text to an email address:

Step 1: Compose a text like you normally would.

Step 2: Enter the desired email address into the box where you would normally put a phone number. 

It's that easy. Try sending one to yourself first to see if it works. If it does, great. If your text doesn't appear in your inbox after a reasonable amount of time, there's a chance that your mobile plan doesn't include MMS messaging, but this is rather unlikely.

How to forward incoming texts to your email inbox

Hate constantly switching between your phone and email to read messages throughout the day? Need to view links from a text on your PC, or wish there was a way to get some or all of your texts delivered to your email inbox? We’re here to help.

Forwarding incoming texts to your email inbox on Android

To manually forward one or more texts to your own email inbox, do the following:

Step 1: Select the conversation containing the message you want to forward.

Step 2: Tap and hold the message until options appear.

Step 3: Tap Forward in the menu that appears.

Step 4: Enter your email address in the recipient field.

If you’d like to send all your text messages and get them in your email inbox automatically, there are several various methods to achieve this — but the most straightforward way for Android users is to download and install the Phone Leash application from the Google Play Store. All you need to do is type in your forwarding information, and you should be all set. You’ll receive a 30-day free trial, after which you’ll have to pay and subscribe to keep using the app.

Forwarding incoming texts to your email inbox on iPhone

To manually send personal text messages to your own email inbox, do the following.

Step 1: Open up the conversation you want to send in the Messages section.

Step 2: Press and hold the message until the options pop up on your screen.

Step 3: Hit More and touch the circle beside the message(s) you’re wanting to deliver.

Step 4: Click Forward, and a New MMS screen should appear. From here, enter your email address in the To field and select Send.

To receive all your incoming text messages that have been forwarded to your email inbox, navigate to Settings>Messages>Receive At and pick Add An Email at the bottom of the screen. Put in the address you want the texts to go to, and boom! You’re finished.

Editors' Recommendations

Paula Beaton
Freelance tech and travel writer living in (somewhat) sunny Scotland. Gamer, tea addict, never without a good book.
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