Q&A for How to Text Someone

THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. It will make you sound like you are angry or shouting at the recipient.

Yes. In fact, some cell phones offer this service automatically. In other cases, contact your cell phone provider to see if it's available. You text to a landline the same way as to a cell phone. The service will convert the text into a voicemail that it sends to the landline. Just type in the phone number of the landline and send the text if you have the service automatically.

Yes, you need to include the area code before the last seven digits when texting someone.

When you send a message from an iPhone, a blue bubble indicates it's sent via iMessage, and a green bubble indicates it's sent as an SMS text message. SMS messages don't have a delivery confirmation feature like iMessage does, but they are still sent.

Even though the number looks different, you can text "OUT" to 26932 as instructed. These short codes are designed to work with most cell phone systems.

You will typically see a "Delivered" status. If the message does not go through, you might receive an "Undelivered" notification or a similar error.

To send a group text, you typically begin by selecting one contact and then look for an option, often indicated by a plus sign, to add more recipients to the message.

No, your name is not automatically included in the text message itself. You would need to type your name if you wish to identify yourself, particularly if the recipient does not already have your contact information saved.