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You can send a text from your email to any cell phone number for free. All the major cell phone carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile offer free Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) gateways that make it possible to text from email using your phone or computer.
If you are without your phone for whatever reason or need to save money, below is a guide on how to text via email.
Message limit: Text messages are limited to 160 characters due to the design of the text from email gateway protocol, so consider the character limit when typing your message. Longer messages will be broken into multiple texts. You may optionally enter a subject, which is also included in the 160 characters.
Send text from email to a Verizon Wireless phone
Step 1
Launch your preferred email application such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, or iCloud Mail.
Step 2
Enter the recipient’s Verizon Wireless phone number (including the area code) into the “To” field of your email heading without dashes or spaces.
Step 3
Type “@vtext.com” immediately after the mobile number. For example, if the phone number is (123) 456-7891, the email address would be “1234567891@vtext.com”. For MMS, type “@vzwpix.com” after the phone number.
Step 4
Click on “Compose” and draft the message you wish to send.
Step 5
Click the “Send” button to complete the process and send the message through the Verizon Wireless network. The recipient of the phone number will receive your email in the form of a text.
Send text from email to a T-mobile phone
Step 1
Launch your preferred email client such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, or iCloud Mail.
Step 2
Enter the recipient’s T-Mobile phone number (including the area code) into the “To” field of your email heading without dashes or spaces.
Step 3
Type “@tmomail.net” immediately after the mobile number for both SMS and MMS. For example, if the phone number is (123) 456-7891, the email address would be “1234567891@tmomail.net”.
Step 4
Click on “Compose” and draft the message you wish to send.
Step 5
Click the “Send” button to complete the process and send the message through the T-Mobile network. The recipient of the phone number will receive your email in the form of a text message.
Send text from email to an AT&T phone
Step 1
Launch your preferred email application such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook, or iCloud Mail.
Step 2
Enter the recipient’s AT&T phone number (including the area code) into the “To” field of your email heading without dashes or spaces.
Step 3
Type “@txt.att.net” immediately after the mobile number. For example, if the phone number is (123) 456-7891, the email address would be “1234567891@txt.att.net”. For MMS, type “@mms.att.net” after the phone number.
Step 4
Click on “Compose” and draft the message you wish to send.
Step 5
Click the “Send” button to complete the process and send the message through the AT&T network. The recipient of the phone number will receive your email in the form of a text message.
Send text from email to Sprint, Cricket, Boost Mobile and more carriers
Below are more carriers with their SMS/MMS gateway templates and email formats depending on the recipient’s phone provider. Simply add the recipient phone number before the “@” and tap or click “Send” after composing your message.
Sprint – SMS: @messaging.sprintpcs.com; MMS: @pm.sprint.com
Cricket – @sms.mycricket.com, @mms.mycricket.com
US Cellular – SMS: @email.uscc.net, MMS: @mms.uscc.net
Boost Mobile – SMS: @sms.myboostmobile.com, MMS: @myboostmobile.com
Xfinity Mobile – SMS: @vtext.com, MMS: @mypixmessages.com
Straight Talk – SMS: @vtext.com, MMS: @mypixmessages.com
Virgin Mobile – SMS: number@vmobl.com, MMS: @vmpix.com
Republic Wireless – @text.republicwireless.com
Alltel – @message.alltel.com
Metro PCS – @mymetropcs.com (SMS & MMS)
Nextel – @messaging.nextel.com
VoiceStream – @voicestream.net
SunCom – @tms.suncom.com
C-Spire – @cspire1.com
Consumer Cellular – @mailmymobile.net
Google Project Fi– @msg.fi.google.com (SMS & MMS)
Mint Mobile – @mailmymobile.net
Page Plus – SMS: @vtext.com, MMS: @mypixmessages.com
Simple Mobile – @smtext.com
Ting – SMS for CDMA: @message.ting.com, SMS for GSM: @tmomail.net
Tracfone – @mmst5.tracfone.com(MMS)
Red Pocket – uses AT&T or T-Mobile (for GSM SIMs) & Verizon for CDMA