You can send and receive text messages with friends and contacts on Messages.
Note: Some of these steps work only on Android 6.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.
Start a conversation
- Open the Messages app
.
- Tap Compose
.
- 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
- Tap the message box.
- Enter your message. If you'd like to save it as a draft and go back, tap Back
.
- When you’re done, tap Send
.
Tip: Learn how to share contacts in your messages.
Forward a message
After you open a conversation, you can send it to a new contact at any time.
- Open the Messages app
.
- Open a chat.
- Tap and hold a message.
- Tap More
Forward.
- Choose your contact.
- 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 Messages to read it again.
- Mark all messages as read: Tap More
Mark all as read.
- Play a video or recording: Tap a conversation. Next to the video or recording, tap Play
.
- Call someone: Tap a conversation. In the top-right, tap Call
.
- Read archived messages: From your list of conversations, tap More
Archived.
Tip: Learn how to change your notification settings.
Do more with your messages
Set reminders for your messages
To set up a reminder in a message:
- Open the Messages app
.
- Go to the messages you want to set a reminder for.
- Press and hold the message.
- Tap Reminder
.
- Choose an option.
To set up a reminder from your list of conversations:
- Open the Messages app
.
- Go to the conversation you want to set a reminder for.
- Press and hold the conversation.
- Tap Reminder
.
- Choose an option.
To edit or remove a reminder:
- Tap Reminder
to the right of the message of conversation.
- To edit the reminder, choose a new time.
- To delete the reminder, tap Delete.
Copy a code in a message
Some apps and websites send you a verification code, or one-time password, to use to sign in.
To copy a code:
- Open the Messages app
.
- Open a verification code message.
- Click Copy "[Code]".
- On the app or website, paste the code.
Note: Google can’t see your messages or verification codes; they’re not sent to Google servers as part of this feature.
Search for messages, photos, places and more
- Open the Messages app
.
- Tap Search
.
- Enter your search terms. You can also use the filters to narrow down your search.
To remove the previews, turn it off in settings.
Fix problems with text messages
- There’s not enough space on my device: If you get a notification that Messages may not send or receive messages until more space is available, try these tips to free space.
- I’m getting unreadable text messages: If you switched from a phone with visual voicemail to one without, and you get unreadable texts from your mobile carrier, troubleshoot your voicemail notifications.
- I’ve switched from an iPhone to an Android phone: If you're switching from an iPhone to an Android phone, be sure to turn off iMessage.
- I'm still having problems: Learn more about how to troubleshoot problems with Messages.