With Messages for web, you can use your computer to text with your friends. Messages for web shows what’s on your Messages mobile app.
With Messages for web with Fi, you can also make voice calls and get voicemail messages on your computer.
Choose how you use Messages for web
To use Fi with Messages by Google online, you have 2 options:
Option 1: Send and receive texts only (chat features available with this option)
Send and receive texts with chat features, like high-resolution photos. Once you turn on texting on your computer, you still need your phone to stay connected. Messages for web sends SMS text messages with a connection from your computer to your phone. Carrier fees apply, like on the mobile app.
With this option, you can’t transfer your messages from Hangouts.
Option 2: Text, make calls, and check voicemail that sync to your Google Account (chat features not available with this option)
Make calls, send texts, and check voicemail with your phone or computer. Even when your phone is off, text conversations stay synced across the Messages mobile app and Messages for web.
With this option, you can transfer your messages from Hangouts until September 30, 2021.
If you delete your Google Account, your data in Messages for web is deleted. This includes texts, voicemail, and call history. However, your texts, voicemail, and call history will stay on your phone.
Important: Hangouts no longer supports Fi. For a similar experience to Hangouts, we recommend you use Option 2. Learn how to transfer your messages from Hangouts.
Use option 1: Send and receive texts only
Eligibility:
- If your phone is off or without service, you can’t receive or send text messages on your computer.
- Chat features are available with this option.
To text with Messages for web, go to Check your messages on your computer.
Use option 2: Text, make calls & check voicemail
Eligibility:
- With this option, chat features aren’t available.
- On your computer, make sure you use one of these browsers:
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
- Microsoft Edge (Chromium is required for voice calling)
- Safari
Important:
- Call history is stored online for 180 days and doesn’t sync with the Google Phone app.
- Text messages and voicemail are stored online until you delete them. Learn more about how to delete your texts, call history, and voicemail.
To use this option, chat features must be off. If you already use Messages by Google, before you sync your conversations, you need to turn off chat features.
- On your phone, open the Messages app
.
- In the upper right, tap More
Settings
Advanced
Google Fi Settings.
- Sign in to your Google Fi account.
- To begin to sync your conversations, tap:
- Transfer and sync conversations: If you have text messages in Hangouts to transfer.
- Sync conversations: If you don’t have any text messages in Hangouts to transfer.
- To sync with data, turn off Sync only over Wi-Fi.
- When the sync is done, at the top, you find “Sync complete.”
- To find your conversations, go to messages.google.com/web.
Tips:
- Sync can take up to 24 hours. During the sync, you can still text, make calls, and check voicemail on the web.
- If you experience any problems with the sync, like messages out of sync between your phone and the web: Tap Settings
Advanced
Google Fi Settings
Stop sync & sign out. Then, sign in and resume the sync.
- If you use Messages for web on a shared or public computer, turn off the sync when you’re done.
- If you transfer from Hangouts, you also back up current conversations from the Messages app to your Google Account.
- If you sync conversations, they’re stored in your Google Account and available from multiple devices.
If you want to stop backup of your texts, call history, and voicemail to your Google Account, you can stop sync. If you used Hangouts for text messages, you can still find your text messages in Gmail.
- On your phone, open the Messages app
.
- In the top right, tap More
Settings
Advanced
Google Fi settings.
- Sign in to your Google Fi account.
- Tap Stop sync & sign out.
- If prompted, tap Stop syncing. This doesn’t delete previous synced texts, call history, and voicemail.
Tip: If you want to use text only with chat features, turn on chat features.
To delete a text:
- Open Messages for web.
- On the left, select Messages
.
- Next to the text message you want to delete, select More
Delete.
To delete a call from your call history:
- Open Messages for web.
- On the left, select Calls
.
- Select the call you want to delete from your history.
- In the top right, select More
Delete
Delete here.
Important: When you delete a call from your call history, the call only deletes from Messages for web. Your call history is automatically deleted from Messages for web after 6 months.
To delete a voicemail:
- Open Messages for web.
- On the left, select Voicemail
.
- Select the voicemail you want to delete.
- In the top right, select Delete
Delete.
Important: When you delete a voicemail, the voicemail deletes from your Google Account and all of your devices.
Use Messages on the web features
Make voice calls
- On your computer, open Messages for web.
- On the left, click Calls
Make a call.
- To start a call, click a contact.
Change your microphone or speakers
Important: Make sure you have a microphone that works and you accept mic permissions.
- On your computer, open Messages for web.
- Next to your profile photo, click the speaker.
- Choose your microphone, call ring, or call audio device.
Tip: If you use Chrome, learn how to fix problems with your mic.
Check voicemail on the web
- On your computer, open Messages for web.
- On the left, click Voicemail.
- To listen or read the transcript, click a voicemail.
Read transcripts of your voicemail
- English
- Danish
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Portuguese
- Spanish
It may take several minutes for the transcript to show.
- Argentina
- China
- Cuba
- Egypt
- Ghana
- India
Important: India customers can make calls to other countries/regions but not within India. - Iran
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Myanmar
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Peru
- Russian Federation
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- South Korea
- Sudan
- Syria
- Thailand
- United Arab Emirates
- Vietnam
Hide your caller ID
- On your computer, go to Messages for web.
- At the top left, click Menu
Settings.
- To hide your caller ID, turn on Anonymous caller ID.
Make emergency calls
Fix problems with voice calls
Use a school or work account
Format phone numbers correctly
- If you copy and paste the phone number, enter it instead.
- For international calls, enter the correct country/region code and make sure you didn’t enter it twice.