Text messages

Sending a text message is a quick way of getting in touch with someone.

Check your mobile phone contract to see how much text messaging costs. If you do not have a plan that includes texting, each message you send will cost a small amount.

Sending messages with photographs (multi media messages) may also be charged separately and you may wish to consider using a different service for these, such as WhatsApp.

How to send a text from your phone

Mobile phones and smartphones will differ in the menu options and buttons, but in general, the process of sending a text message to someone else's phone is straightforward.

  1. From your phone's main menu find the 'Messages' or 'Messaging' option or application. Then select 'Text Message' or 'Text Messaging.'
  2. Choose 'New Message' or 'Write Message' or click on an icon (small picture) that looks like it will create a new message, such as a + sign, a pen symbol or a square with a line, like a pen on paper.
  3. In the 'To' field enter the phone number of the phone you want to send the message to. Many phones let you select a contact from your phone's address book, so you could try typing in their name in the field to see if it will fill in the number for you.
  4. You can send a text message to more than one contact at a time by clicking on the plus sign icon or continuing to enter contacts in the 'To' field.
  5. If you want to send a message with an attachment like a photo, find the 'Insert' option in the messaging menu (on the iPhone, click on the camera icon). This will bring up your options for sending a photo, video, etc.
  6. Finally, type in your message in the 'message' field and click 'Send'.

Replying To messages

If you get a text message from someone else, you can send them a reply by opening the message and typing in your response in the text box at the bottom, then click 'Send'.