How to send a faxfrom your phone, your computer or your email — no fax machine.
Upload the document, type the fax number, press Send. It is delivered to any fax machine in the world, usually within five minutes, and you get a timestamped receipt. Below: the three steps from wherever you are starting, every other way to send a fax and what each one needs, and the answers to what people ask next.
UP TO 50 PAGES A FAX · NO ACCOUNT TO START · RECEIPT ON EVERY FAX
Three steps, from wherever you are starting.
A fax is a document, a number and a Send button. What changes is where the document is right now.
A file on my computer
- STEP 01
Open faxly.com and add the file
Go to faxly.com/send in any browser — there is nothing to install. Drag the file into the box or press Choose a document. PDF, Word, Excel, text and image files all work, up to 25 MB each and 10 files per fax; several files go out as one fax, in the order you add them.
TipWord and Excel files are turned into PDF on our servers, so the receiving machine prints them as you see them on screen.
- STEP 02
Type the fax number
Pick the country, then type the number as you would dial it locally: the country code is added for you. A US or Canadian number is its ten digits; for a number abroad, see fax numbers and country codes below. You can add a cover page here, with a line about what you are sending.
- STEP 03
Press Send and keep the receipt
Pay for a 48-hour pass, or sign in to your plan, and press Send. The page shows each attempt as it happens — dialling, connected, page 1 of 3 — and ends with Delivered the moment the receiving machine confirms the last page. A timestamped receipt is emailed to you, and pages that do not arrive are never charged.
A photo, or a paper document
- STEP 01
Photograph the pages with your phone
Open faxly.com/send in your phone’s browser and press Choose a document: you can take the picture right there, or pick one from your photos. Lay the page flat in good light and shoot it straight from above, one page per photo. We straighten the picture and clean it up so it arrives crisp; HEIC, JPG and PNG all work, and so does a scan saved as a PDF.
TipA phone’s own scanner — the Notes app on an iPhone, Google Drive’s scan on Android — makes a clean PDF of several pages. Add that file instead of the photos.
- STEP 02
Type the fax number
Pick the country, then type the number as you would dial it. Your phone’s keypad is all you need — there is no app to install, and the page works on any phone that has a browser.
- STEP 03
Press Send and keep the receipt
Pay for a 48-hour pass, or sign in to your plan, and press Send. You can watch the pages go, or close the browser: the receipt arrives by email the moment the receiving machine confirms the last page, and pages that do not arrive are never charged.
An email with the document attached
- STEP 01
Forward the email to the fax number’s address
Every fax number has an email address at Faxly: the number with its country code, then @fax.faxly.com — for example 14155550198@fax.faxly.com for +1 (415) 555-0198. Forward the email with the document attached, from any mail app or webmail. No document? Then the text of your email is faxed as written. The email to fax page builds the address for you.
TipGmail, Outlook and the others cannot send a fax by themselves — an email service does not dial phone lines. The address above is what turns the email into a fax.
- STEP 02
Open the link in our reply
Within a minute you get a reply with a link. It opens the send page with your document already in place and the number already filled in: check both, add a cover page if you like.
- STEP 03
Press Send and keep the receipt
Pay for a 48-hour pass, or sign in to your plan, and press Send. The receipt comes to the same inbox the moment the receiving machine confirms the last page, and pages that do not arrive are never charged.
Every other way to send a fax, and what each one needs.
A fax is a phone call between two machines. Every way of sending one is a way of getting a document onto a phone line; the question is what you have to own, go to, or pay for.
| The way | What you need | How long | What it costs | From a phone? | Proof it arrived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An online fax service (this one) | A browser — on a phone or a computer — the document, and the number. | About two minutes to send; delivered in a few minutes. | $1.99 for 48 hours and up to 50 pages, or a plan.€1.99 for 48 hours and up to 50 pages, or a plan.£1.99 for 48 hours and up to 50 pages, or a plan.CA$2.99 for 48 hours and up to 50 pages, or a plan.A$2.99 for 48 hours and up to 50 pages, or a plan.¥315 for 48 hours and up to 50 pages, or a plan.₩2,700 for 48 hours and up to 50 pages, or a plan. | Yes | A timestamped receipt, by email and on the page.The catchYou pay a small amount for each fax or a plan, and nothing for a fax that does not arrive. |
| Email to fax | An email account and the fax number’s address at a fax service. | A few minutes. | The same as the service’s own price. | Yes | A receipt by email.The catchGmail, Outlook and Apple Mail cannot send a fax on their own: the email has to go to a fax service’s address, such as the one in the three steps. |
| A fax machine, or an all-in-one printer with a fax function | The machine, toner and paper, and an analogue telephone line — a landline. A mobile phone will not do, and many internet phone lines will not carry a fax reliably. | A minute or so a page, longer when the line is busy. | The machine, and the line’s monthly fee. | No | The machine’s printed transmission report.The catchMost homes no longer have a landline, and the machine has to be in the room with the paper. |
| A shop, a library or a post office | A trip with the paper document. In the US, shipping and office-supply shops send faxes over the counter; elsewhere some libraries, post offices and copy shops do. | As long as the queue, during opening hours. | A fee per page, set by the shop; it adds up for long or international faxes. | No | Usually a printed confirmation page.The catchOnly during opening hours, and your document passes through someone else’s hands. |
| A fax app | The app from the app store, and an account with it. | Minutes. | Usually a subscription, sometimes credits. | Yes | Depends on the app.The catchAn app is an online fax service with an install step. Compare what it charges after any trial; a browser is enough for the service on this page. |
| The computer’s own fax (Windows Fax and Scan) | A fax modem in or beside the computer, and an analogue telephone line. | Minutes. | Nothing beyond the modem and the line. | No | A transmission log on the computer.The catchAlmost no computer sold in the last fifteen years has a modem, macOS has had no fax support for years, and the landline is still needed. |
Fax numbers and country codes.
A fax number is a telephone number, and it is dialled like one. Inside a country you dial it as it is written. To reach it from another country you dial the country code first, then the number without its trunk prefix — the leading 0 that is only dialled at home. The United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and Australia drop that 0; Italy keeps it; the United States and Canada have none, their numbers being ten digits after the country code 1. On Faxly you pick the country and type the number as you would dial it locally — the plus, the code and the prefix rule are handled for you.
- A fax machine has no extension. If a number comes with “ext. 203”, the extension is for the telephone beside it; the fax number is the digits before it.
- US toll-free numbers (800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 and 833) take faxes from inside North America; from other countries they often cannot be reached.
- A number that is busy or does not answer is tried again by itself, and you see every attempt. A number that is not a fax line — a voice line, a disconnected number — does not go through, and that fax is not charged.
| United States and Canada | +1 | +1 (415) 555-0198 |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | +44 | +44 20 7946 0000 — the 0 of 020 is dropped |
| Germany | +49 | +49 30 901820 — the 0 of 030 is dropped |
| France | +33 | +33 1 84 55 40 12 — the 0 of 01 is dropped |
| Italy | +39 | +39 06 1234 5678 — the 0 stays |
| Spain | +34 | +34 91 123 45 67 |
| Australia | +61 | +61 2 9876 5432 — the 0 of 02 is dropped |
| Japan | +81 | +81 3 1234 5678 — the 0 of 03 is dropped |
| India | +91 | +91 22 1234 5678 — the 0 of 022 is dropped |
| Mexico | +52 | +52 55 1234 5678 |
Cover pages, and when to use one.
A cover page is the first page of a fax: who it is for, who it is from, how many pages follow, and a line about what it is. It is customary for anything that goes to an office — a clinic, a court, a bank, an insurer — because the person at the machine is sorting the day’s faxes onto desks, and the cover page says whose desk yours belongs on. On Faxly you add one in the send flow with your name and a short message; it is drawn for you, in the language of the site, and counts as one page of the fax.
A confidentiality line is usual on medical and legal faxes. The cover page is also where a recipient looks for your fax number or email when a page is missing, so give one.
The questions people ask next.
Can I send a fax from my phone?
Yes. Open faxly.com/send in the phone’s browser — there is no app to install — and photograph the pages with the camera, or pick a PDF or photo from the phone. The number, the cover page and the receipt work the same as on a computer.
Can I send a fax from Gmail or Outlook?
Not from the email service itself: Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail do not dial phone lines. You can send the email, with the document attached, to the fax number’s address at Faxly — the number with its country code, then @fax.faxly.com — and our reply carries a link to check the fax and send it. How that works.
Do I need a fax machine or a phone line?
No. The fax is sent from our side, over our carrier’s lines, to the receiving machine. You need a browser and an internet connection, nothing else; the receiving side needs a fax machine, which is what you are sending to.
How long does it take?
Usually under five minutes from pressing Send to Delivered. A long document, or a receiving line that is busy, can take longer; you can watch each attempt on the page or close it and wait for the receipt by email.
How do I know the fax arrived?
The receiving machine confirms every page it takes. The moment it confirms the last one, the page shows Delivered and a timestamped receipt is emailed to you, with the number, the time and the page count — proof you can keep for your records.
Can I send a fax to another country?
Yes, to 180+ countries. Pick the country and type the number as it is dialled there; the country code and the leading-zero rule are handled for you — see fax numbers and country codes.
How many pages can I send, and what file types?
Up to 200 pages in one fax, from up to 10 files of 25 MB each. PDF, Word, Excel, text and CSV files, and photos as JPG, PNG, HEIC, WEBP, GIF or TIFF, are all accepted; files that are not PDFs are converted before sending, and photos are straightened and cleaned up.
Is it safe to fax medical, legal or financial documents?
Documents are encrypted in transit and at rest and handled by an automated pipeline; no one reads your fax. Fax remains an accepted way to send health information, and a cover page with a confidentiality line is customary. The privacy policy has the details, and support answers questions about agreements an organisation may need.
What if the number is busy, or wrong?
A busy line or no answer is tried again by itself, and you see each attempt as it happens. A number that is not a fax line does not go through and is not charged — check the digits and the country, then send again.
Can I receive faxes too?
Faxly sends faxes. Receiving them is not offered at the moment, so a pass or a plan is for sending; if you need a number of your own to receive on, you need a service that provides one.
Where can I send a fax near me?
In the US, shipping and office-supply shops send faxes over the counter during opening hours, for a fee per page; elsewhere some libraries, post offices and copy shops do. Or from wherever you are, in the browser you are reading this in: the three steps take about two minutes.
Is faxing still used?
Yes — in healthcare, law, government, banking and insurance, where a fax is a signed document on a known line with a confirmation that it arrived, and where the receiving office has worked that way for decades. Fax machines are rarer in homes, which is why most faxes are now sent from a phone or a computer.
Ready? It takes about two minutes.
Add the document, type the number, press Send. The receipt is in your inbox before the kettle boils.
NO FAX MACHINE · NO ACCOUNT TO START · RECEIPT ON EVERY FAX