Find out how to text from a computer with online texting platforms, browser apps, email, and other tools.
Technically, all you need to text your customers is a phone and data plan.
But using a keyboard the size of a business card all day can result in killer hand cramps. That’s why many entrepreneurs and marketers prefer to text customers and run SMS campaigns from a computer.
Let’s look at the easiest ways to send and receive texts from your computer.
8 ways to send a text from your computer:
Start Texting From Your Computer with SimpleTexting
You can use a computer texting app like SimpleTexting to send text messages from a computer to one or more phone numbers. This is convenient if you want to mass text your clients or want to respond to text message conversations quickly.
What you’ll need:
How it works:
No matter which business texting platform you use, make sure it has two-way texting and mass texting (since some of the options on this list only let you send one text at a time).
If you’re an iPhone user, you can easily text your clients from a Mac computer.
What you’ll need:
How it works: While the Messages app on your computer lets you send and receive iMessages (blue texts) automatically, you can enable all SMS and MMS messages (blue and green texts) by:
After opening the Messages app on your Mac and signing in with your Apple ID, you’ll:
Have an Android phone? Text customers from your computer using Google’s browser-based Messages app.
What you’ll need:
How it works:
Sending texts with Google Voice is an acceptable option if you’re specifically looking to have one-on-one text conversations using your computer. Just don’t use it for bulk text messages or your account could be suspended.
What you’ll need:
How it works:
Microsoft also offers a convenient way to text from a computer with their Phone Link app.
What you’ll need:
How it works:
As long as you have an email address and know the phone service provider of the contact, you can send a text through email.
Here’s how it works:
Here are the codes from some popular wireless carriers:
T-Mobile | AT&T | Sprint | Verizon | |
SMS | @tmomail.net | @text.att.net | @messaging.sprintpcs.com | @vtext.com |
MMS | @tmomail.net | @mms.att.net | @pm.sprint.com | @vzwpix.com |
In the end, it will end up looking a little something like this:
Did you know some major wireless service providers allow you to text directly from their website?
Carriers like Verizon and AT&T have online portals that make sending texts to other users in your network and receiving text messages right from your laptop easy.
What you’ll need:
How it works: If you navigate to your user account on your carrier’s site (like your “My Verizon” or “My AT&T” page), you can send and receive texts from other users on the same carrier.
Some carriers even have a desktop app like T-Mobile’s DIGITS that you can download to make the process faster.
There are also a number of websites out there that will let you send SMS messages for free.
Sites like OpenTextingOnline and Text’em allow you to send text messages directly from their website to recipients with a cell phone at no charge.
A word of caution: These websites do come with some limitations. OpenTextingOnline, for example, does not support group messages, and Text’em requires the sender to have an email account if they want to receive replies.
All that to say, do some research on your free SMS site to make sure it has all the features you need. And, as with anything free, read some reviews to make sure the site is secure and spam-free.
Year after year, texting grows in popularity. It’s only natural that the ways to send and receive these messages grow and change as well.
Texting from your computer is especially helpful for businesses who want to do more than just send the occasional message, whether that means managing opt-in methods, organizing contacts, or scheduling texts in advance.
Want to try streamlined business texting for yourself? Try out SimpleTexting for 14 days, totally free.
This piece was originally published August 23, 2019. It was refreshed June 16, 2023. Meghan Tocci and Dani Henion contributed to this piece.
Dani Henion is the content team lead at SimpleTexting and is continuously looking for ways to make text messaging strategies and tips more accessible to SMBs. When she's not writing or planning new SMS content, you'll find her decorating elaborate sugar cookies or thrifting in Atlanta.
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