Send a Text from Email

For many, sending texts on your phone is not as much fun as it is a necessary part of modern communication. If you would rather use a full-sized keyboard, there are ways you can use email to send your text messages (SMS) and Multimedia Messages (MMS).

Steps

  1. Get the recipient's carrier. Each carrier (Verizon, AT&T, etc) has a specific email gateway that you will have to go through in order to email a text message. If you don't know the person's carrier off the top of your head, you can enter their 10 digit phone number into a carrier lookup system such as CarrierLookup or FoneFinder.
  2. Enter the phone number in the "To" field of your email. Be sure to enter the full 10-digit number, followed by the specific carrier gateway address. Here is a list of some of the most common carrier gateways:
    • AT&T: number@txt.att.net[1] for a normal text message (SMS), or number@mms.att.net[2] for a multimedia message (MMS)
    • Verizon: number@vtext.com[3] for both SMS and MMS messages
    • Sprint PCS: number@messaging.sprintpcs.com for both SMS and MMS messages
    • T-Mobile: number@tmomail.net for both SMS and MMS messages
    • Virgin Mobile: number@vmobl.com[4] for both SMS and MMS messages
    • These gateways do change periodically, and are not always published for non-subscribers. For a comprehensive and up-to-date list of current gateway addresses and the format to use for various phone companies around the world, visit http://martinfitzpatrick.name/list-of-email-to-sms-gateways
  3. Enter your text in the body of the email. Although you can technically include a subject, doing so will take away from the body of your text, as most text messages have a 160-character limit.
    • Texts that exceed the character limit will be broken up into multiple messages. While your emails will be free, the recipient will be charged per message (unless they have unlimited texting).
    • Upload an image or short video to the email if you wish to send it as an MMS.
  4. Send your text. Click on the send button as you normally would for sending an email. The recipient should receive the text in about 30 seconds, and will see it on their phone as a normal text conversation. They will be able to respond to you as they would to any other text.
  5. Open their response. When you receive a reply, it will be sent to the account from which you originally emailed the text. However, unlike a normal text or email message, it will be received as a text file attached to a blank message. Click to open the attachment, or save it to your desktop and open it with a text reader or word processor.



Tips

  • SMS is replacing phone calls as a means of quick check-ins and communications. Consider including your SMS address in your email signature and on your business cards to provide another method for people to contact you.
  • Some cell phones cannot receive MMSs, even when sent from email. If you are using the correct gateway and still have having trouble getting a message through, it's possible that the phone you're trying to contact does not accept MMS messages.

Warnings

  • Sending emails via text is generally free, but the recipient will be subject to normal texting charges.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB63037&cv=820#fbid=88OunD5O1vp
  2. ↑ http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/send-mms-mobile-phone-internet/
  3. ↑ http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/text-messaging-faqs/
  4. ↑ http://virginmobileusa.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2245/kw/email

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