How to Text to an International Number – Can It Be Done?

Texting internationally has become much easier in the last few years. In large part due to the emergence of apps that allow you to text, and call folks without a per minute or per message fee. This has also led wireless services providers to open up the regular texting avenues so that users can have unlimited SMS texting as well. When it comes to how to text to an international number through apps or SMS texting you need to save the number correctly to be able to get the job done. That’s the number one thing that you need to worry about regardless of the app that you use or the way that you want to text. 

Other than saving the number correctly, there are other factors that are going to contribute towards a fluent communication between two devices. The thing with calls and texts in general is that it takes two to tango. You can do everything perfectly on your end to make sure that text is going to be sent to the right person. Yet, there’s no guarantee that this person will receive the texts. Since, as a recipient you have to meet other types of criteria to make sure that you’re able to get international texts. That happens again, through apps and regular texting methods. We are going to explore how to text to an international number from all angles here! 

• How to Text to An International Number – Dialing or Saving The Number 
• What Your Phone Service Needs To Include For The Text To Be Sent Out 
• How to Text to International Number – What The Receiving Device Needs To Have
• Is Texting Through Apps Different?
• Will You Incur In An Extra Cost For Trying To Text Internationally?
• How to Text to an International Number – Are My Messages Being Received?

How to Text to An International Number – Dialing or Saving The Number 

The first step that you’re going to have to take when texting an international number is making sure that you dial the number correctly. If you are going to be sending a text to a phone that you don’t have saved on your contact list you need to dial 011 + the country code + area code + the actual number. In some cases when it comes to texting you’ll be able to send the text by just literally adding a “+” sign. In front of the country code, and then the area code and the number. So if you’re trying to text to a number in Mexico for example you’ll have to dial 011 52 area code, and number. The other option is to just go with +52, the area code and number. The country code is a must. Otherwise, you may be sending texts to another person.      

The second option that we mentioned is essentially the way that you’re going to be able to save international numbers on apps like WhatsApp. You’ll be able to send texts through the apps this way without too much trouble. You can try regular texting this way as well. It depends on the country sometimes. You’ll be able to use the simplified version. This is essentially all you need to know as far as how to text to an international number. However, there are other elements that will come into play to determine if that person is going to be able to receive the text or not. That’s what we want to cover in the rest of the article.    

What Your Phone Service Needs To Include For The Text To Be Sent Out 

The obvious thing here is that your phone service needs to include international texting. Now, this is something that is pretty much included on all posts paid plans with the most important service providers. At least in the United States. If you’re on a lower end prepaid plan there is a chance that you are not going to be able to send international texts at all. For the most part though, we’d say that texting isn’t something that wireless service companies are currently very restrictive about. With the emergence of texting apps, it doesn’t make a ton of sense for wireless service companies to want to overly profit from international texting. Keep in mind though that if you’re the one that’s abroad you may have limited texting capabilities. 

In simple terms, if you have a postpaid plan, and you’re sitting at home you are pretty much going to be able to text to over 200 countries across the globe for free. If you’re abroad, and you’re on a roaming plan, it’s a good idea to keep track of the number of texts that you send. Particularly if you love adding pictures and GIFs. Those can come at an added cost. If you want to circumvent some of these restrictions you can always look at texting through apps as an option. With these apps you just need to be connected to a mobile or Wi-Fi network to be able to send messages abroad.     

How to Text to International Number – What The Receiving Device Needs To Have

Just like with calls to send texts both devices have to be in sync, in a sense, to be able to have this back and forth communication. Usually receiving international texts is actually free. So all that you need for that is to have a connection to a mobile network. When it comes to regular SMS texts it usually has to be a mobile connection. If you’re on a wifi network or something else there’s a chance that you won’t be able to receive the text that was sent. This applies regardless of where you happen to be in the world. That can be a bit difficult when you are traveling or in a spot with very limited mobile data.

Receiving an international text per se, maybe free. The problem is you need mobile data as we were saying to be able to receive that text. A lot of times these are some of the sneakiest added costs that you’re going to come across when you’re outside of your coverage area. If both phones are connected to their respective local networks, international texting is usually not a big deal. As long as you type in the number correctly, and you make sure that you have a stable connection with a mobile network. These texts may take a little bit more to appear on your phone. Just because there has to be a connection between different local networks.  

Is Texting Through Apps Different?

The base of the situation is essentially the same. What we mean by that, is that you need to make sure that you save the number correctly. To be able to add an international number to your WhatsApp for instance, you should follow the +country code, area code, and number formula that we talked about. Once you get that done you’re going to be able to use the app to text that number. The main difference that you’re going to come across between regular texting and texting through apps is that you can use WiFi coverage to be able to text through these apps. As well as regular mobile coverage. With regular SMS texts you can mostly only use mobile coverage.   

You also won’t have to worry about having a limited number of texts that you can use through apps. When you travel abroad you may have to limit the amount of texts that you send. Particularly if you don’t want to risk having to pay extra roaming fees. There’s an argument to be made that texting through apps is an easier option. Particularly, if you are doing so to an international number. Through a WiFi network you don’t necessarily have to worry about either of the phones having cell coverage if you will. It’s a little bit like DMing people through social media. 

Will You Incur In An Extra Cost For Trying To Text Internationally?

There are a lot of different elements that could alter the answer to this question. For the most part, if you’re at home you are going to be able to send these texts without too much trouble. Most US service providers are going to allow their users to text internationally without an extra cost. Of course, this is the case if you’re on one of their unlimited plans. When you’re on a prepaid plan the rates could vary considerably. If you are the one that is abroad and you’re using your regular plan you’re usually going to have a limited number of texts that you can send before you start getting hit with roaming fees.

When you’re in Canada or Mexico you can usually use your phone more or less in the same manner as you would locally. So texting to US or local numbers in those countries isn’t going to be too much of a problem. If you decide to go through the local SIM card option, many of these offer a limited number of texts. You can use the data, though, that these plans provide to text through apps unlimitedly. At the very least until your data runs out. Just to sum up this part of the article where you are in the world as you are trying to text will heavily influence the rate. When you’re texting internationally as you’re sitting at home you should be more or less ok.   

How to Text to an International Number – Are My Messages Being Received?

One of the biggest problems that you can have when learning how to text an international number is making sure that that number is receiving your texts. Of course, there are the check marks on the side of the texts in most apps that are going to allow you to figure out if the message was delivered. In some apps, even regular SMS texting options, you can deactivate the read option. Yes, there are a lot of situations where you feel it’s the right thing to do. As a sender it can truly be frustrating to not know exactly if the text is getting to the person that it’s supposed to get to. Although you are going to be able to check if the text was delivered, that’s pretty much it. From there, you’ll have to wait for the person to reply to make sure that you’re talking to the right person. 

If the text message though, isn’t getting through you should get an error message sent back to you. That’s something that’s certainly important to point out. If you get the delivered check mark on the message then that usually means that you’re ok. The problem that we see often though, is that if you don’t have the number saved or dialed correctly you could end up sending things to a different person. Other than the one that you’re effectively trying to contact. That can naturally bring up another set of issues. In simple terms though, if things go completely wrong you’ll get an error message. Other than that, if it’s delivered you’ll see the check mark. You may see an “x” as well if it’s not delivered! From there though, you’ll pretty much have to wait for the other person to answer. 

How to Text to an International Number – Conclusion

Making sure that you dial or save the number on your phone correctly to be able to send the texts is a must. There’s really no other way around that. Once you get that down, though, you’ve won half the battle. Essentially, you’ve done everything that you can do on your end. From there, it’s going to come down to the other person’s phone. The problem that you may encounter may be that the other person isn’t able to receive SMS texts from international numbers. When that’s the case there’s going to be little that you can do on your end. 

Without question the less complex way of how to text an international number involves texting through apps. In these apps you still need to make sure that you are entering the number correctly. A lot of times though, you’ll be able to see the profile picture or the name of the person that you are trying to text on the chat. That’s going to give you a clear indication of who the person that you are texting actually is. With the whole country code dilemma more than one person has entered the wrong number on these apps. Ultimately, they ended up texting people that they didn’t want to text. Make sure that you look at the number distribution that you have to follow to make these texts the right way.