Many times, people find it useful to be able to forward text messages (SMS) to email on their Android phone, by which they can save important data and read text messages from any device that has an email client.
If you want to know how to do the same, this guide will show you different ways to send text conversations to your email. Let’s begin.
How to Forward Text Messages to Email on Android
Method 1: Manually Forward Using the Default Messaging App
You can send the desired text message to anyone via email using your Android device’s default messaging app. Here’s how you can do it:
1. Open the Messages app and go to the conversation containing the message you want to forward.
2. Select the message. You can select multiple messages by tapping on them individually.
3. Tap the three dots in the top right corner. select the Share option, and then choose the email client app you want to use (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, etc.).
4. Enter the recipient’s email address and tap on the Send button at the top.
Method 2: Automation with IFTTT or Zapier
You can make your processes forward text messages to email if you know how to use automation tools. These systems work with many apps and services so you can use triggers and actions to make powerful automations.
1. IFTTT
IFTTT offers an applet called SMS2Email that can forward text messages from your Android device to your email address. Here is how you can set it up:
1. Install the IFTTT app on your Android device.
2. Open it, tap on Continue, and create an account if you don’t have one.
3. Search for the SMS2Email applet and activate it.
4. Configure the applet by selecting your Android device and entering the email address where you want to receive forwarded messages.
Note: You can set up filters to forward only messages from specific contacts or containing certain keywords.
5. Save the applet, and IFTTT will automatically forward matching text messages to the specified email address.
2. Zapier
Zapier is another powerful automation platform that can be used to forward text messages to email. While it doesn’t have a dedicated integration for SMS forwarding you can create a custom Zap which is a term used for automated workflow using third-party services like Twilio or Zapier built-in SMS functionality. The setup process can be more complex than IFTTT but Zapier offers more advanced features.
Method 3: Automatic Forwarding Using Third-Party Apps (Not Recommended)
Even though Android doesn’t have built-in SMS forwarding there are a lot of third-party apps that can do it for you. These apps can send all of your new texts to email or just certain ones.
1. SMS Forwarder
This is a great app that lets you send text messages to email or other places, like phone numbers, URLs, or chat apps like Telegram. Here is how to use it:
1. Install SMS Forwarder from the Google Play Store.
2. Open the app and create an account (or log in if you already have one).
3. Tap on the + button to create a new filter and select SMS as the filter type.
4. Configure the filter settings according to your preferences.
5. Under the Recipients section, select Email and enter the email address.
6. Save the filter and the app will automatically forward matching text messages to the specified email address.
2. Auto Forward SMS
Auto Forward is one of the best SMS forwarding apps. It lets you forward all texts or just the ones that match certain keywords, friends, periods, etc. It can forward to email and other phone numbers and it comes with extras like tracking your position.
1. Install the Auto Forward app from the Google Play Store.
2. Open it and grant app permissions to access your texts, contacts, etc when prompted.
3. Click on the + button at the bottom and select Basic Filter.
4. Click on the Settings icon, configure the filter, and tap on Next.
5. Click on the + button to add email and enter the email address you want to forward to.
6. Tap on Finish and your forwarding rules will take effect immediately.
Method 4: Google Voice (U.S. only)
If you’re based in the United States then you can use Google Voice to forward text messages to email. Google Voice provides a virtual phone number that can be used for calls and texting.
1. Download the Google Voice app and sign up for a Google Voice account (if you haven’t already) to obtain a virtual phone number.
2. Go to the Settings section and select Forwarding and text messaging.
3. Under Text messages, check the box next to Forward messages to email.
4. Enter the email address where you want to receive forwarded text messages.
5. Save the settings, and any text messages received on your Google Voice number will be forwarded to the specified email address.
It can be very helpful to be able to forward text messages to email on an Android phone. It backs up your important chats so you can access them from any device and makes it simple to send texts to other people. If you have any queries or suggestions do let us know in the comments section below.
Method 1: Default Messaging App does not have forward option.