July 15, 2021  |   

Can you send a fax from Gmail? Great news: you absolutely can. It's fast and simple. We know you're in a hurry, so we won't waste time getting right down to it. Here's how to use your Gmail account to send a fax quickly.

How Long Does It Take to Send a Fax From Gmail?

It's not possible to send a fax directly from Gmail, of course. However, there are several online fax services that allow you to send a fax from your Gmail account by attaching a document to an email message and sending it to a special fax number. The time it takes to send a fax in this way depends on the service you're using, as well as the size of the document you're faxing and the destination fax number.

Generally, faxes sent through online fax services are transmitted quickly, often within a few minutes. At Afax, your fax shouldn't take more than five minutes to send, and you can set it up so we send you a text message as soon as it goes through. .

Why Can't I Send Through Gmail Without a Third-Party Service?

It's not possible to send a fax directly through Gmail because it's an email service, not a fax service. Email and fax both send messages and documents, but they have a few key differences. For example, email is sent and received as digital text or HTML, while faxes are sent and received as images of documents.

Email is transmitted over the internet, while faxes are sent over phone lines. And while you can read email on all sorts of devices as long as you have an internet connection and an email client, faxes can only be read on devices with a fax machine or an online fax service. Email can be encrypted for extra security, but faxes are often seen as more secure because they're harder to intercept.

But don't worry; there's an easy solution if you only use email but suddenly find someone demanding a fax from you. Online fax services work by providing you with a virtual fax number that you can use to send and receive faxes.

How It Works

When you want to send a fax, you attach the document you want to fax to an email message and send it to the fax number provided by the service. The service then converts the document into a fax format and sends it to the destination fax number. When you receive a fax, the service converts the fax into a digital format and sends it to your email inbox as a PDF or other file type.

Once you link your Gmail with aFax, you can simply pull up a new email just as you normally would. In the To field, put your recipient's fax number without any spaces or extra characters. Then, add the domain name for aFax. Your end address will look something like this: 1112223434@onafax.com.

Put your cover letter (if you need one) in the Subject line of your email. Then attach your documents, hit send, and you're off to the races. Your recipient will get the fax to their machine just as if it came from a traditional fax machine in the first place. It happens in just minutes, and you don't have to do anything. Just go back to your normal work and wait for that text message telling you it's gone through!

Try It Today!

Ready to try it and send a fax quickly and easily? Visit aFax now and get started!