Forwarding iPhone SMS to email is the simplest way to keep a permanent, searchable archive of your texts — and to receive them on any device with an inbox. Here’s how to set it up in minutes.
What You’ll Need
- iPhone running iOS 16 or later
- Fwrdly installed
- Any email address (Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, custom domain)
Step 1: Install Fwrdly
Download Fwrdly from the App Store. Setup takes under 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add an Email Destination
- Open Fwrdly
- Tap “Add destination”
- Select Email
- Enter the email address you want to forward messages to
- Tap Save
That’s it. Fwrdly will now automatically email you every SMS received on your iPhone.
What the Forwarded Emails Look Like
Each forwarded message arrives as an email with:
- Subject:
SMS from [sender name or number] - Body: The full message text, timestamp, and sender’s contact info
- Reply-to: Disabled by default (email is one-way)
Forwarding to Multiple Email Addresses
Add multiple Email destinations in Fwrdly to forward to several inboxes simultaneously — useful for sending work OTPs to your work email and personal alerts to your personal inbox.
Filtering by Keyword
Use Fwrdly’s keyword filter to forward only specific messages to email. Common use cases:
- Forward only messages containing “verification” or “code” — great for OTP archiving
- Forward only messages from a specific number (e.g. your bank)
- Forward all messages from unknown numbers for spam tracking
Use Cases
OTP and verification code archiving Never lose a one-time password again. Forward all texts containing “code” or “verify” to a dedicated email folder and search them any time.
Business SMS to team inbox Forward customer texts from a business phone number to a shared team inbox so the whole team can see incoming requests.
Secondary device notifications If you use a second phone or tablet, get your iPhone texts as email notifications on that device.
SMS backup Keep a permanent email-based archive of all incoming texts for legal, compliance, or personal record-keeping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which email providers work? Any email address works — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, ProtonMail, or custom domain.
Is there a forwarding limit? No. Fwrdly forwards every message that matches your filters with no daily or monthly limits.
Can I forward MMS (photo messages)? Currently Fwrdly forwards the text content of SMS messages. MMS image forwarding is on the roadmap.
Will the sender know their message was forwarded? No. Forwarding happens silently on your device and is invisible to the sender.
Does it work with iMessage? Fwrdly forwards SMS (green bubble) messages. iMessage (blue bubble) forwarding requires additional configuration.
