At long last, Google has introduced Android messages for web which allows users to send and receive text messages on their computers. The functionality is still rolling out, but if it’s live in your Messages app, here’s how to set everything up.
How to use Android Messages for web
- Set Messages as default SMS app
- Visit messages.android.com
- Authenticate your account
- Text away!
1. Set Messages as default SMS app
If you want to be able to access your texts from the web using Android Messages, you’ll first have to, of course, make sure that you’re using Messages on your phone. If you don’t already have it set as your default SMS app, you can follow this Android Basics tutorial.
2. Visit messages.android.com
This step is pretty self-explanatory, but you’ll need to visit messages.android.com from your computer. You should see a screen very similar to the one in the above screenshot.
Subtask: Before moving on to the next step, if you plan to continue using Messages for web, you should toggle on the option found right below the QR code. Doing this will keep you signed in on that computer. Make sure you only do this on machines that are yours and just you have access to. Staying signed into a computer/account that others can access means they will be able to read your text messages and more.
3. Authenticate your account
Now, open the Messages app on your Android smartphone. Locate and tap on the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the app to open the “more options” menu. From there, select “Messages for web.” This should open up your camera and allow you to scan the barcode found after visiting Android Messages on the web.
Note: At the time that this was written, Android Message for web hadn’t fully rolled out to everyone just yet. Google plans to have it available for all roughly a week after its announcement.
4. Text away!
If everything worked correctly, you should now not only see your text messages on your computer but also send and receive new SMS. Just remember that if you close your web browser or switch to a different computer, you’ll most likely have to repeat these steps.
If you have any questions, make sure to leave them in the comment section below or hit me up on Twitter.
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