To send a fax from an Android phone, install the FaxUp app from Google Play (or open faxup.net/send in Chrome), add or scan the document, enter the fax number and send. No fax machine or account is needed for the first fax.
An Android phone has a camera, a file manager and a browser, and that is everything faxing needs. Pick the app if the document is on paper, or Chrome if it is already a file.
Option 1: the FaxUp app
The app is on Google Play as "FAX Up - Send Fax from Phone". What it does that a browser can't do as well:
- a document scanner that crops to the page and boosts contrast for fax,
- Fill & Sign, to type on a form, add today's date and draw your signature,
- PDFs and photos shared to FaxUp straight from other apps, such as Files or Gmail,
- live status and a notification when the fax arrives, and automatic retries when the line is busy.
Steps
- Install FaxUp from Google Play and open it. No account is needed for the first fax.
- Start a new fax. Tap Scan for paper, or add a PDF or photo from the phone.
- Scan each page with the phone held flat above it. Fix a corner by dragging it if the edge was missed.
- Crop, rotate or reorder pages. Sign the form with Fill & Sign if it needs it (check the recipient accepts an electronic signature: the IRS doesn't for some forms).
- Enter the fax number. Mobile and premium-rate numbers are refused, because they can't receive a fax.
- Add a cover page with a subject and message if you want one, then send.
- Pay for that one fax, or use a credit. Follow the status until it says delivered.
Option 2: Chrome, nothing installed
faxup.net/send works in Chrome on Android exactly as on a computer:
- Open faxup.net/send and tap to add files: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or photos, up to 10 files of 25 MB each.
- Go through the preview. Each page is shown in black and white as the fax machine will print it.
- Choose the country, type the number, and add a cover page if needed.
- Pay for the fax on the secure Stripe checkout, or sign in to use credits you already have.
Paper but no app? Use the free phone document scanner in Chrome first, then send the PDF it makes. Need a signature without the app? The free fill and sign tool runs in the browser too.
If you fax often from the browser, Chrome's menu can add faxup.net to your home screen, where it opens like an app on the send page.
Which to use
| You have | Use |
|---|---|
| A paper form to sign and send | The app: scan, Fill & Sign, send |
| A PDF in Gmail or Drive | Either: share it to the app, or pick it in Chrome |
| A fax to a country outside the US and Canada | Chrome at faxup.net/send (the app adds this in 2.2.0) |
| One page to a US or Canada number | Chrome at faxup.net/free-fax: free with your email |
Both use the same account and credits. Sign in with the same email in the app and on the web and your balance follows you.
Before you press send
- Check the number against the letter or form it came from. One wrong digit can ring a voice line or nobody at all, and the fax fails.
- Look at the preview, not the original. Pencil, light ink and colour stamps can disappear in black and white; the fax preview tool points out what might not survive.
- If the fax fails, see why a fax fails and what to do. The credit comes back either way.