How to Send a Text from Gmail?
Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where your phone is out of reach. Perhaps it’s charging or maybe you left it at your friend’s house and it just so happens that at that exact moment, you need to send a text message. How great would it be if you knew how to send a text from Gmail? Keep on dreaming.
Gmail used to have a pretty straightforward process for sending text messages using your Gmail address. Unfortunately, those days are gone, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck in text message limbo.
1. Using a Mobile Service Provider’s SMS Gateway
Some wireless carriers provide email to SMS gateways. This allows you to send text messages to a phone number via email, but there are some drawbacks.
To send a message, you need to have the recipient’s phone number and phone carrier at hand. This can be a stretch since it’s not very likely that you know all the carriers your friends’ devices are on. We’ll explain more about tracking down the carriers further on.
The whole process of sending a text message is simple. Follow these steps:
- Sign in to Gmail
- Click Compose to create a new message
- Enter the phone number in the To-field
- Next enter the SMS gateway listing, which is the domain name for the carrier. For example: 123456…@service.com
- Write your message
- After you’ve hit Send, your SMS will be sent to the phone number you entered. Doable, right?
That leaves us with just one problem to tackle: finding the carriers of your friends’ phones. You don’t have to worry, however. Just go to TextMagic and enter your friends’ phone numbers. Their carrier codes will pop up automatically, but it’s a service you do have to pay for.
Other downsides? There’s a limit of 140 characters for a Gmail SMS plus there’s no possibility of sending emojis and images or formatting your message. If you want to send something other than plain text, you’ll have to use an MMS gateway, which enables you to send images, audio, and movies. Unfortunately, not every mobile network provider supports MMS gateways.
What is an SMS Gateway?
While the method mentioned above seems rather straightforward, we can imagine you were momentarily baffled when the term SMS Gateway sprung up. An SMS gateway allows a computer to send and receive text messages in the form of an SMS transmission between telecommunications networks.
The gateway translates the message to make sure it’s compatible to be delivered to the desired endpoint. In most cases, this means the text is routed to a mobile phone through a wireless carrier. Our Anonymous Text sms gateway is able to send text messages worldwide.
2. Using a Third-Party Service
If you want to send a text from Gmail but struggle with a mobile network provider that doesn’t support an SMS or MMS gateway, you can always turn to a third-party service.
One of those texting services is TextMagic. This service not only helps you sending texts via email, but it also allows you to have online conversations and add text messaging to your business workflow. As a bonus, it also works with other email service providers, like Yahoo.
Once you’ve registered and created an account on TextMagic, you navigate to Services in the left menu and select the Email to SMS page. Then you click Add Allowed Email and enter your Gmail address. You can now use your email account to send text messages through Gmail, which is an easy-to-use process as well.
- Open Gmail and click on Compose
- Enter the recipient’s phone number in the To-field followed by the SMS gateway address textmagic.com. For example: 123456…@textmagic.com
- Type your message and press Send
- Done! All responses to your text will be routed back to your Gmail account from now on!
Any drawbacks? Yes, you need to create a TextMagic account, which isn’t free. And if you want to send bulk text messages, this can be somewhat expensive via TextMagic. On the other hand, inbound messages are free of charge.
3. Using a Chrome Extension
Don’t want to spend any money on sending text messages from Gmail? Then opt for a free Chrome extension. There are a few good ones available on the Chrome Web Store. And if you only need this service occasionally, it doesn’t cost you anything.
The set-up is super easy as well:
- Go to the Chrome Web Store and install the extension
- Open your Gmail and authorize the tool to access your account
- Compose and write a message
- Click on the mobile icon and hit ‘Add phone numbers’
- Type the phone number or add a phone number from your Google Contact List
- Hit send
Did we spot any limitations? Yes, unfortunately, you can only send emails as text messages to US- and Canada-based phone numbers. Plus there’s a limit to the number of texts you can send for free. If you exceed that number, you have to purchase a rather expensive Premium Plan.
Can I send an anonymous text from Gmail?
Now that we’ve established the various ways to send a text message via Gmail, it’s time to think about anonymous email alternatives. After all, there are numerous situations in which you’d want your text message to remain completely untraceable.
Imagine you’re pulling a prank on someone? Or sending a message with private and sensitive content? If that’s the case, you can turn to our service.
Just go to our website, write your message, and choose your preferred sender name from a list of phone numbers. You can send your message right away or select a later date and time. Either way, your message will be sent safely and completely anonymous.
Don’t worry about the available space to compose your text. With a maximum of 1224 characters, you’re guaranteed to have plenty of room to state your message and stay completely off the radar at the same time. Do you want to include emojis? Sure, we support those little fellas as well!
Frequently asked questions about text and Gmail
Can Google send SMS?
You can read about three options for sending texts via Gmail on this page. But there is more. Apart from Gmail, it is also possible to send text messages via another Google product, even without tapping your phone. Want to learn how? Before we tell you, you should know that this is currently only available in the US.
So, yes, start to learn to use Google Voice to send your text message to one or more recipients. If you use more than 160 characters for a recipient that does not have Google Voice, the SMS will be sent in multiple text messages. Go to voice.google.com and try it out!