ResenderForward SMS to email. Automatically
Resender forwards the text messages that arrive on an Android phone to your inbox, through your own mailbox.
Messages for a second phone, a SIM left at home, a number the whole team needs — in your email within seconds. Email only: Resender does not forward to another phone number, a messenger or a chat.
Why Resender
- 01
Set up in a minute
Sign in with Google or Microsoft — or use an app password for any other mailbox. The settings of most mail servers are already in the app.
- 02
Everything, or only what matters
Forward every SMS, or set your own rules — by sender, SIM card or message text. Choose the recipients for each rule.
- 03
Private
No sign-up and no server of ours: emails leave straight from the phone through your own mailbox. Passwords are stored encrypted on the phone, and the text of an SMS is erased from the journal after 7 days.
- 04
Everything in view
A sending journal for every message, error notices, and an optional daily report on how the app is doing.
How it works
The basic scenario is two plain steps. The third, rules, is optional.
Install Resender on the phone with the SIM
You no longer need to carry it: the important SMS arrive in your email.
Sign in to your mailbox
Google or Microsoft in one tap, an app password for the others. Every SMS is now forwarded to this address.
Set up rules
Steer the flow of SMS with filters by sender and message text; on a dual-SIM phone there is a filter by SIM card. Add recipients and pick the right ones in each rule.
What you can set up
Forward everything
Right after installation the app has one active rule — Forward everything. New rules apply top to bottom, and whatever matches none of them is handled by the rule Forward the rest.
Rules
Each rule checks the sender or the text of the SMS for a full or partial match with the value you set. Drag a rule in the list to change its priority. The first rule that matches sends the SMS to the recipients named in it. Any rule can be set to Do not forward — then the SMS it matches go to no one.
Dual SIM
On a phone with two SIM cards, each rule can listen on one or both SIMs, as you choose. So SMS from the work SIM can go to some recipients, SMS from the personal one to others — or to no one. The rule Forward the rest handles SMS from every SIM.
Several recipients
Add as many recipients as you like and give each rule its own list of recipients.
The privacy promise
Nothing passes through us.
Resender needs no sign-up and keeps none of your data on servers — we have none. SMS are processed on your device, and forwarding goes through your own mailbox at the mail provider you chose.
- No server. Your data is not stored or processed on our server, because we have no server. It cannot be stolen from our server, for the same reason.
- No sign-up. The only sign-in is to your own mailbox, and the key stays safely on your device: the mail password or sign-in token is kept encrypted with a key held by the Android Keystore. The other side of this approach: no cloud backup and no sync between devices.
- SMS text hidden. In the sending journal the text of an SMS is not shown until you tap Show text. The text is erased after 7 days, the record of the message after 30. The text is needed only by the rules, to compare it with the value you set — and it stays on your device.
- No telemetry, no analytics. We analyse neither your data nor how you use the app.
- No ads. Not in Free, not in Pro.
- No default apps. We do not ask you to make Resender your default SMS app. Your messages stay under your control.
- An important warning. If someone asks you to install Resender and forward your SMS to them — don't: it may be dangerous.
About this page: it counts visits with GoatCounter — no cookies, no personal data, no cross-site tracking. The full privacy policy covers the app line by line.
Reliability you can check
- Runs all the time. Resender runs as a foreground service — Android shows its small notification — so the system stops it less readily. An incoming SMS wakes the phone by itself: forwarding starts at once, and the email usually arrives within seconds.
- Retries for 24 hours. If the network is down or the mail server does not answer, Resender keeps trying for 24 hours. An SMS it could not forward in that time is not sent later, and the app reports the error.
- A daily report — if you want one. Switch it on and Resender emails you a short report on its work every day, so you know all is well.
- Write to the developer. One button in the settings: describe what happened, add screenshots from your gallery if you like — and Resender sends it to support through your own mailbox with a technical report: the device, the app's state, the mail server's host name and your address with the name masked. The report carries no sender numbers and no SMS text.
Make Android let it run
Android assumes an app you are not looking at is a battery problem. Doze, App Standby and the manufacturer's own battery manager all work to stop background apps, and they do not distinguish between an app wasting power and an app waiting for a message.
Resender is built around that. It does its durable work inside the wake-up that an incoming SMS already provides, rather than sleeping on a timer that quietly stops advancing when the processor suspends. But two things sit outside any app's control, and on some phones only you can change them.
Step 1 — take Resender off battery optimisation
The app has a button that opens Android's battery-optimisation list for you. Find Resender in that list and set it to Don't optimise (or Unrestricted — the wording moves around between versions). Two taps, and it is the single most important setting on this page.
You can also get there by hand: Settings → Apps → Resender → Battery → Unrestricted, or Settings → Battery → Battery optimisation → All apps → Resender.
Why doesn't the app do this itself? Google Play allows that system dialog only to apps of a few categories — alarms, dialers and the like; an SMS forwarder is not one of them. So the setting is yours to make: open the list and flip the switch, two taps.
Step 2 — the manufacturer's own restrictions
On top of plain Android, some manufacturers add a second layer with rules of their own. This too is set once.
Samsung (One UI)
Settings → Battery → Background usage limits: make sure Resender is in neither Sleeping apps nor Deep sleeping apps, and add it to Never sleeping apps.
Then Settings → Apps → Resender → Battery → Unrestricted.
Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO (MIUI / HyperOS)
In the Security app: Permissions → Autostart — turn Resender on. Then Settings → Battery → App battery saver → Resender — choose No restrictions.
Then open Recents, press and hold the Resender card and tap the padlock, so clearing recent apps does not stop it.
Huawei, Honor (EMUI / Magic OS)
Settings → Battery → App launch → Resender: turn Manage automatically off, then switch on Auto-launch, Secondary launch and Run in background.
Older versions call the same thing Protected apps.
Oppo, realme, OnePlus, vivo, Tecno and others
Look through Settings for Auto-start, Startup manager, Protected apps or Background power consumption, and allow Resender in each one you find.
An important caveat. Android's power-saving logic differs from device to device. The app cannot set it for you, so for Resender to forward SMS without delay, you set its power-saving options yourself. The app has detailed instructions for your device's software — in most cases they prevent the problem. If forwarding is still noticeably delayed or stops altogether, write to support: together we will find what works on your device.
Plans
- free
Free
3 SMS a dayEvery feature, up to 3 forwarded SMS a day. An SMS over the limit is held in the journal instead of being sent; you get one notice that day.
- pro
Pro
No daily limitA monthly or a yearly subscription on Google Play; the store shows the price. The first 7 days after the first launch are Pro at no charge, no card needed. Buying Pro sends the SMS held in the last 24 hours.
Cancel any time: Google Play → Subscriptions. When Pro ends, nothing about your rules changes — only the daily limit returns.
And no ads.
Questions
Can I automatically forward text messages to email?
Yes — that is all Resender does. Install it and sign in to your mailbox: every new SMS arrives at your address, and you do not need to keep the app open.
How does an SMS forwarder app work?
Android hands every incoming SMS to the apps allowed to receive SMS. Resender runs it down your list of rules — the first match decides, and the last row forwards the rest — and sends an email through your own mailbox, straight from the phone.
Do I need to enable SMS forwarding at my mobile carrier?
No. Resender works on the phone itself: it reads each SMS as it arrives on the phone and forwards it to email, not to another number. Nothing is set up or changed at your carrier.
Is SMS forwarding safe?
It is as safe as the mailbox you send to. Resender has no server; only the recipients you chose get the SMS. Never install a forwarder because a stranger asked you to.
What will Android ask me?
To receive SMS. Android names the whole SMS permission group, so the dialog says “send and view SMS messages” — Resender never sends SMS and does not read old ones, only new incoming ones. It may also ask to show notifications, and on a dual-SIM phone, when you first pick a SIM in a rule, to “make and manage phone calls”: that only reads the carrier names of the SIMs.
How do I receive SMS from my home SIM while abroad?
Leave the SIM in an Android phone at home with Resender on it, plugged in and online. Its SMS arrive in your email wherever you are.
Does it work if the phone is off or offline?
No. The phone with the SIM must be on and connected — mobile data or Wi-Fi. If the connection drops, Resender retries for 24 hours. On phones with an aggressive battery manager, also follow the steps under “Make Android let it run” above.
Why doesn't the app just flip the battery switch?
The one-tap dialog that would do it needs a permission Google Play gives only to a short list of app categories — alarms, calling, device administration and similar. A message forwarder is not on that list. So Resender opens the battery list and you flip the switch: two taps, no permission needed.
Can it forward SMS to another number, WhatsApp or Telegram?
No. Resender forwards to email only.
Is there an iPhone version?
No — iOS does not allow apps to read SMS, so there is no Resender for iPhone. Forwarding needs an Android phone; the emails you can read anywhere, on an iPhone too.
Is it free?
The first 7 days the app runs as Pro; then the limit applies — 3 SMS a day with every feature. Pro removes the limit: a monthly or yearly subscription on Google Play.
Are chat messages (RCS) forwarded?
No. Messages that arrive as a chat (RCS) are not SMS and are not forwarded.
Get in touch
Questions or suggestions: write to support@resender.me. A person reads it.