Can I Fax Myself? -

This post was last updated on November 4th, 2021 at 03:34 pm

So you want to send a fax to yourself. Sounds fun! To get started, we need to make an assumption: you have a fax machine that you want to fax to. It could be across the room, across the house, or across the country. Now that we have that end covered, we need a way to fax it to that machine. Solution: Learn how to send a fax from Gmail.

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How to Send a Fax From Gmail to Myself

Yes, you are going to send your fax from Gmail. There’s no need to buy another fax machine or a separate landline. No need for an all-in-one printer/copier/scanner/fax machine. Even if your document is paper right now, you are going to literally turn it into a digital document, attach it as a file, and email it to your fax machine.

Step One: Got Gmail?

Since this is about faxing from Gmail, we’d like to assume you already have a Gmail account. But you know the rule about assuming. We’re partial to Gmail because it’s such a powerful email tool. You get a massive storage allotment, and it’s integrated with some incredibly powerful (yet simple) productivity tools. It also integrates beautifully with a number of online fax services. If you don’t already have a Gmail account, go grab one now.

Step Two: Online Fax Service

This is where we add the special sauce in teaching you how to send a fax from Gmail. An internet fax service translates between your email and the recipient’s fax machine. In this case, that’s your fax machine. You are literally going to email your fax from Gmail to your fax machine. If your fax number is 1-234-567-8910 (including country and area codes), you are going to fax 12345678910@rcfax.com.

The RingCentral 30-Day Free Trial

That @rcfax.com email domain is from RingCentral. We use them as a fax service example because they are, by far, the easiest to use. They even give you a 30-day free trial to send and receive up to 1,500 pages of faxes. No contract, no obligations, no strings: just 30 days to give it a whirl.

Step Three: Digitize that Doc

Since you are basically emailing your fax, you will need to attach the document to your email. If it’s already on your computer, great. If it is paper, you will need to scan it. Don’t have a scanner? No problem, there’s an app for that. Dropbox and iCloud have it built right in. There are also numerous picture-to-pdf standalone apps.

Step Four: Send It

Here’s a bonus: Since we’re already talking about using your smartphone as a camera, we might mention that faxing yourself from email works from your phone too. Remember, your fax number just became an email address. You can Gmail from your phone, and this is the same process: address an email with your fax number @rcfax.com, attach your digitized document, and send it. RingCentral will even convert the subject line into a cover sheet if you need one.

Did Your Fax Machine Start Printing?

You have successfully faxed yourself! We’re not going to question why you wanted to, but we will celebrate with you discovering how an online fax service can simplify your life. You can even manage all of your faxes (sent and received) in your email account. No separate files are needed, and it comes with all the powerful functionality of Gmail.