Send & receive text messages in Messages

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

Start a conversation

1. Open the Messages app . 
2. Tap Compose .
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 

After you open a conversation, you can chat with everyone in that conversation. 

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.

Reply to a message quickly

At the bottom of a conversation, you’ll sometimes see suggested replies based on recent messages in the conversation. You can’t edit these replies.

To send a suggested reply, tap it. 

Note: You might be charged for data. Check with your carrier for details.

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 .

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:

1. Open the Messages app .
2. Open a verification code message.
3. Click Copy "[Code]".
4. 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

1. Open the Messages app .
2. Tap Search .
3. Enter your search terms. You can also use the filters to narrow down your search. 

To remove the previews, learn how to turn it off in settings. 

Read archived messages

1. Open the Messages app .
2. Tap More Archived.

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.