When compared to traditional faxing, faxing via email saves time, telephone costs, ink, and paper. Very few people own fax machines in the modern day, and those which do may not use them often enough to justify their upkeep. It’s possible to visit libraries, post offices, and other locales to temporarily use their fax machines, but this can be inconvenient and possibly expensive.
Luckily, you can still engage with a fax machine from the comfort of your normal computer or phone. Here’s how to send a fax from your email in four easy steps, whether you’re using Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo Mail:
1. Sign Up For An Online Fax Service
Unfortunately, email providers like Gmail and Outlook Live do not allow you to send a fax with the email client alone. This would be a complicated feature to include, and as mentioned, few people rely on faxing messages on a regular basis, so the majority of email providers do not bother with this feature.
The good news is, that doesn’t mean you’re barred from faxing via your traditional email client. To send a fax via email, you merely need to use an online fax service that converts the email into a fax and sends it to the recipient’s fax machine, using your email client as a tether. Here are some popular fax services:
- eFax: With eFax, you can sign up for a monthly or yearly subscription and receive a virtual fax number that can be used to send and receive faxes from anywhere in the world. Best of all, eFax supports various file formats, including PDF, Word, Excel, and JPG.
- HelloFax: HelloFax is an online fax service that integrates with popular cloud storage platforms, such as Google Drive and Dropbox. It allows you to send and receive faxes directly from your cloud storage account, eliminating the need to download and upload files.
MyFax: MyFax is a fax service that offers personal and business plans. MyFax includes easy integration with popular email clients, like Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail, so you don’t need to use a different email provider or undergo a complicated, headache-inducing setup process. It also offers a mobile app for sending and receiving faxes on your phone, whether you’re using the program directly or routing it through your email client.
2. Compose the Email
Once you’ve chosen the right fax converter, it’s time to compose a new email. You should address it to the recipient’s fax number, followed by the fax service’s domain. For example, this may appear as “[email protected]”.
This configuration allows the fax service to properly establish itself within the connection, and the fax number itself ensures that the right fax machine is targeted for delivery.
3. Attach the Document
Now you can attach the document that you want to fax. Most online fax services support file formats like PDF, Word, Excel, and JPG. Depending on your email provider and the size of the file, it may upload within seconds or upwards of minutes. Be sure not to change the page while this process is underway.
4. Send the Email
Once the email is sent, the fax service will convert the email and attachments into a fax and send it to the recipient’s fax machine.
Be aware that the quality of the final delivery may depend on the recipient’s fax machine. The message is likely to arrive in black and white, so if you need to fax something in color, you should check with the recipient first to ensure that their machine can handle this task, or to determine if there is a better way to transmit a paper version of the message.
