Can You Forward Text Messages Like Calls?

Call forwarding redirects voice calls; it does not set up text forwarding on an iPhone. To send selected new texts elsewhere, create a Message automation in Apple’s Shortcuts app. Apple’s built-in Text Message Forwarding is a separate feature for your own eligible Apple devices.

What you need: An iPhone with Shortcuts, a destination phone number or chat app, and a few minutes to set up and test the automation.

Why call forwarding does not send texts

A carrier’s call-forwarding setting changes where voice calls ring. It does not create a rule on the iPhone that sends incoming SMS messages to another number. Verizon states this directly in its call-forwarding FAQ. Carrier features can differ, so check AT&T or T-Mobile for their current options.

On iPhone, there are two different features people often call “text forwarding.” Apple’s Text Message Forwarding lets eligible Apple devices on the same Apple Account show SMS, MMS, and RCS messages. A Shortcuts Message automation runs an action when a new message matches a rule you set. The second option can send selected text outside the Apple Messages app.

Choose a route for your destination

Another phone number: Use Apple’s Send Message action in a Message automation. Set the recipient and pass the incoming message as the body. Set the automation to run without another tap, using the controls for your iOS version. This is an Apple feature; Fwrd is not needed for this route. See our current Shortcuts guide for the setup screens.

Slack, Discord, or Telegram: Use Fwrd’s Shortcuts action. The current App Store version supports these three chat destinations. You add the destination in Fwrd, then create the Message automation yourself. Fwrd sends the text to each destination you have configured. The destination guides include short setup videos: watch Slack setup, watch Discord setup, or watch Telegram setup.

Your own Mac or iPad: Set up Apple’s Text Message Forwarding or Messages in iCloud. That is the better fit when you want to continue conversations on your own Apple devices. See Apple’s setup guide.

Set up automatic text forwarding

1. Decide which messages should trigger the automation. You can select a sender from Contacts or match a word in the message.
2. In Shortcuts, create a Message automation. The path differs between iOS versions; our current guide shows both.
3. Add Apple’s Send Message action for a phone number, or Fwrd’s Forward Message action for Slack, Discord, or Telegram.
4. Set the action to use the incoming message and run without another tap, using the controls shown for your iOS version in our guide.
5. Send a test text that matches the rule. Check the destination before relying on it.

The Shortcuts screens differ between iOS versions. Follow our Shortcuts message automation guide for current steps. For Fwrd setup, read how automatic iPhone text forwarding works.

Limits of automatic text forwarding

A Message automation acts on new messages that match its rule. It does not copy earlier message history. A sender rule uses people in Contacts, while a message rule looks for a word or phrase. A keyword rule may miss a message if the wording changes.

The iPhone must be on when the message arrives. Internet destinations also need Wi-Fi or mobile data. Fwrd sends text only to Slack, Discord, or Telegram; it does not forward photos, and replies in those apps do not come from your phone number. Test the full route, including the receiving app.

Test a rule before relying on it

Send one message that should match and another that should not. Confirm that the first arrives at the destination and the second stays on the iPhone. If the rule catches too many messages, choose a more specific word or sender. Do not test with private texts in a shared chat.

A successful test confirms that the route worked at that time. It does not promise delivery for every future message. The iPhone, Shortcuts automation, destination account, and network must all be available when a matching message arrives.

Pick the right message rule

A content rule can be more useful than a sender rule for automated notices. Many alerts come from short codes that are not saved in Contacts, so choose a phrase that appears in the alert. Check a few examples first. A word such as “code” may match messages you did not mean to share.