Send & read text & voice messages in Google Messages

You can send and receive text messages with friends and contacts on Google Messages.

Important: Some of these steps only work on Android 6.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Start a conversation

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Tap Start chat.
3. In "To," enter the names, phone numbers, or email addresses that you'd like to message. You can also pick from your top contacts or your whole contact list.

Send a message

1. Tap the message box.
2. Enter your message. If you'd like to save it as a draft and go back, tap Back .
3. When you’re done, tap Send . 

Tip: Learn how to share contacts in your messages.

Send a voice message

1. Tap the message box.
2. Tap the Microphone .
3. Record your voice message.
   • The voice message is automatically saved as a draft so you can listen to it before you send it.
   • The voice message isn't sent until you tap Send .
4. Tap Send .

Read voice message transcripts

Important: If you turn on Live Captions, transcription is available on web. Learn how to turn on Live Captions.

When you receive a voice message, you can choose to listen to it or to read a transcript of the voice message if Live Captions are turned off.

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Open the chat where you received the voice message.
3. At the top of the voice message recording, tap View transcript.

Forward a message

After you open a conversation, you can send it to a new contact at any time.

1. Open Google Messages .
2. Open a chat.
3. Tap and hold a message.
4. Tap More Forward.
5. Choose your contact.
6. Tap Send .

Read text messages

To read a message that you just got, swipe down from the top of your screen and tap New Message .

You can also open any conversation in Google Messages to read it again.

Mark messages as read & unread

• Mark all messages as read: Tap More   Mark all as read.
• Mark a message as unread:
  1. In the conversation history, touch and hold the conversation you want to mark as unread.
  2. At the top, tap Mark as unread.

Play a video or recording

1. To play a video or recording that you received, tap a conversation.
2. Next to the video or recording, tap Play .

Call someone while in Google Messages

1. To call someone, tap a conversation.
2. At the top-right, tap Call .

Read archived messages

1. To read archived messages, open your list of conversations.
2. Tap More   Archived.

Tip: Learn how to change your notification settings.

Related resources

• Send photos, videos, or voice messages in Google Messages
• Block someone in Google Messages
• Edit group message options