Send and receive text messages in Messages

You can send and receive text messages with friends and contacts on 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 the Messages app . 
2. Tap Compose .
3. In the 'To' field, enter the names, phone numbers or email addresses that you'd like to message. You can also choose from your top contacts or your whole contacts 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’ve finished, tap Send . 

Tip: Find out 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.

1. Open the Messages app .
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 received, 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 .

Tip: Learn how to change your notification settings.

Do more with your messages

Set a reminder for a message

Set a reminder for a message:

1. Open the Messages app .
2. Go to the message for which you want to set a reminder.
3. Tap and hold the message.
4. Tap Reminder .
5. Choose an option.

Tip: To set up a reminder from your conversation list, tap and hold a conversation.

Get a verification code from a message

Some apps and websites send you a verification code, a security code or a one-time password to use to sign in or confirm your identity.

1. Open the Messages app .
2. Open a message with a verification code.
3. Click Copy {Code}.
4. On the app or website, paste the code.

Tip: Google can’t view your messages or verification codes. They aren't 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 use filters to narrow your search. 

Tip: To remove previews, turn off link previews 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 have switched from a phone with visual voicemail to one without, and you get unreadable texts from your mobile operator, 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.