iPhone guide
iPhone SMS forwarding: 3 ways to forward text messages
Three ways to forward iPhone texts: by hand, across Apple devices, or with a Shortcuts automation. Fwrd forwards to Slack, Discord, email, and more.
“SMS forwarding” can mean forwarding one message to another person, making messages available on your other Apple devices, or using a user-created Shortcuts automation to run an action when a qualifying message arrives.
By Fwrd · Last reviewed
Compare iPhone SMS forwarding methods
Start with the destination. That determines whether you need a manual share, Apple’s device feature, or a Personal Automation.
Swipe horizontally to compare every column.
| Method | Best for | Destination | Automatic? | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward in Messages | Sharing one or more selected messages | Another Messages recipient | No | You select and send the messages each time. |
| Apple Text Message Forwarding | Continuing conversations on your Apple devices | Mac, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro | Yes, after setup | It is for eligible Apple devices using the same Apple Account. |
| Message automation in Shortcuts | Running an action when a qualifying message arrives | Whatever the chosen action supports | User-created | You create and manage the Personal Automation yourself. |
Method 1
Forward selected messages manually
Apple’s built-in forwarding is the simplest option when you need to share one or more specific message bubbles with another Messages recipient. Touch and hold a message, choose More, select the messages, then tap the Share button (the Forward button on iOS 26). You choose and send the messages each time, so this is not an ongoing automation.
How to forward a text message on iPhone covers one message, several, a whole conversation, email and a PC, step by step.
Read Apple’s manual forwarding guide ↗Use this when
- • You need to share a small number of messages.
- • You want to choose the recipient each time.
- • You do not need future messages handled automatically.
Method 2
Use Apple Text Message Forwarding for Apple devices
Apple Text Message Forwarding makes SMS, MMS, and RCS messages sent and received on an iPhone available on an eligible Mac, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro. Apple says the devices use the same Apple Account. Messages in iCloud can also keep message history current across those devices.
This method is for continuing conversations on supported Apple devices. It does not route messages into Slack, Discord, Telegram, email, or other services.
Read Apple’s Text Message Forwarding guide ↗Apple lists
- • Mac
- • iPad
- • Apple Vision Pro
Method 3
Use a Message Personal Automation for third-party actions
What Shortcuts decides
Apple documents Sender and Message Contains criteria for the Message trigger. When more than one criterion is present, all of them must match. The user owns and manages this Personal Automation in Shortcuts.
What the chosen action decides
Once the trigger matches, Shortcuts passes content into the action selected by the user. That action determines what happens next and which destinations it supports.
Available on the App Store
Where Fwrd fits
Send selected incoming texts to Slack, Discord, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, email, another phone, or your own webhook. Add Fwrd’s Forward Message action to a Message automation in Shortcuts. Each matching message goes to every active destination in Fwrd, unless that destination’s filter skips it.
You create the automation and choose its matching keyword in Shortcuts. Keep the receiving iPhone on and online, and unlock it once after each restart.
Fwrd keeps a local forwarding log on the iPhone containing the message text, destination, time, and delivery result. It never records the sender. Each configured destination service receives and processes the messages sent to it.
How to stop a Message automation
On iOS 27, open Shortcuts, tap Library, then Automation, touch and hold the Message automation, and turn off Automation. You can also delete it, or remove its trigger from the shortcut. On iOS 26, open the Automation tab, select the Message automation, and choose Don’t Run. Either way, this stops that user-created trigger from running. Changing a destination inside an app is separate from disabling the Shortcuts automation.
Apple’s guide to managing automations ↗When the steps do not match your screen
Apple publishes its Shortcuts guide separately for each iOS release, and the automation steps changed between the iOS 26 guide and the iOS 27 guide. When a tutorial tells you to tap something that is not on your screen, a version difference is the first thing to check, not a mistake you made. Here is where Apple’s current documentation puts each control.
Text Message Forwarding is missing
Apple’s path is Settings, then Apps, then Messages, then Text Message Forwarding. Apple’s own fix when it is not there: turn iMessage off and back on, then tap Send & Receive and sign in again.
There is no Automation tab
On iOS 26.5, you tap Automation, then the add button in the corner (New Automation if you have none yet), and choose a trigger. Apple’s iOS 27 guide has no such step: you open or create a shortcut, tap Edit, then tap Automation, and choose the Message trigger there. Automation exists in both, but in the newer guide it lists the shortcuts that already have one.
It asks before it runs
Apple’s default is that the automation asks. When the event happens you get a notification asking you to run it, and nothing runs until you answer. Apple documents that some personal automations can be set to run without asking, and Message is on Apple’s list of those. If an automation only acts when you tap a notification, that setting is the reason.
It will not reach Android or a second account
Apple lists Mac, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, and says every device must be signed in to iCloud with the same Apple Account. An Android device, any other non-Apple device, and a device on a different Apple Account are out of reach, and no setting changes that. If one of your own devices is missing, Apple’s check is that the Apple Account under Send & Receive matches your iPhone.
There’s no “every message” switch
Apple gives the Message trigger two criteria: Sender and Message Contains. When more than one is added, Apple says all of them must be met before the automation triggers, and there is no option meaning any message. A single space “ ” in Message Contains forwards any text with a space in it. One-word replies like “Ok”, a lone emoji, or a bare link have no space, so they won’t match. That is a limit of Apple’s trigger, and it applies to every action that runs from it, Fwrd included.
Explore the current destination paths
Choose where you want to receive your texts. Each page covers what you need, how to set up forwarding, how to fix a failed delivery, and the questions people ask most about that destination.
iPhone SMS forwarding FAQ
Can an iPhone automatically forward SMS messages?
Yes, but the method depends on the destination. Apple Text Message Forwarding makes messages available on eligible Apple devices. A user-created Message automation in Shortcuts can run a chosen action when its criteria match.
Is Apple Text Message Forwarding the same as a Shortcuts automation?
No. Apple's Text Message Forwarding is for continuing SMS, MMS, and RCS conversations on eligible Apple devices. A Shortcuts Message automation is a user-created trigger that runs actions when its Sender and Message Contains criteria match.
Does Fwrd create the Personal Automation?
No. Fwrd exposes a Forward Message action, but the user creates, enables, edits, and disables the Personal Automation in Apple's Shortcuts app.
Which destinations does Fwrd support?
Fwrd works with Slack, Discord, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, email, another phone number, and your own HTTPS webhook. Install it from the App Store on an iPhone running iOS 26 or later.
Does Fwrd choose a destination based on the sender or message?
By message, yes. Apple's Message automation decides which messages trigger the action. Each matching message then goes to every active destination in Fwrd, unless that destination's filter skips it: each destination can keep only texts with words you choose, texts that look like a verification code, or texts that arrive at certain hours. For email, another phone, and WhatsApp, the filter works once the send action in your shortcut sits inside an If; until then they get every matching message.
Primary sources
The Apple behavior described above is based on current Apple Support and Shortcuts documentation.