Send messages

You can start a Messages conversation directly from Contacts.

Open Contacts for me

Send a message

Select a contact.
Click the contact’s email address or phone number label, then choose Send Message.

Set a texttone

You can set a custom texttone to help you identify who’s sending you a message.

Select a contact, then click Edit.
Click the Texttone field to choose a sound.

If your contact doesn’t use Messages, you can also send an SMS message if you have an iPhone with iOS 8 or later nearby.

Note: To send an SMS message, you must have an iCloud account, and your iPhone and Mac need to be on the same Wi-Fi network and signed in with the same Apple ID. For more information, see Set up iCloud.

For more information about the Messages app, see Send text messages.