How to send text messages from a Mac with an Android phone
Apple's Messages app sends texts only from an iPhone, so with Android you need another way. PhoneDesq shows your phone's text messages on the Mac and lets you reply or start new ones; your phone sends them from its own number. Google Messages for web is the other option if you use Google Messages.
Updated 4 November 2026
Text from your Mac with PhoneDesq
Download PhoneDesq
Get PhoneDesq for your Mac from phonedesq.com/download, open the download and drag PhoneDesq into Applications. It is free during launch.
Plug in your phone
Connect your Android phone with a USB cable that carries data (some cables only charge), unlock the phone, and tap Allow when it asks.
Follow the setup
PhoneDesq shows each step for your phone's brand the first time. After that it reconnects by itself, over the cable or your Wi-Fi.
Open Messages
Your conversations appear with their time, read state and which SIM each came from.
Reply or start a new message
Type a reply, or press New Message and pick a contact or type a number. You press Send in your messaging app, shown in a PhoneDesq window, and the phone sends it from its own number.
Why Messages on the Mac doesn't work with Android
Apple's Messages app relays texts through an iPhone. Without one, it can't send or receive SMS for you. An Android phone needs an app that reads its messages and sends through it.
Calls on the Mac
When the phone rings, PhoneDesq shows who is calling with Answer and Decline, and you hear the call through the Mac. Your voice still goes through the phone's microphone, so keep the phone nearby. You can call anyone from the Mac's keyboard too.
Notifications and chat apps
With the free PhoneDesq app on the phone, its notifications appear in the Mac's Notification Center: reply inline, use the app's own buttons, and clearing one clears it on both. WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and other chat apps open as their real apps in Mac windows.
Privacy
Your messages travel from your phone to your Mac over your cable or your own Wi-Fi, encrypted, and nowhere else. There is no account and no cloud in between.
Every way to do it, compared
PhoneDesq
Good: Texts with read state and SIM, new messages to contacts or numbers, calls with Answer and Decline, notifications with reply, chat apps as Mac windows. Nothing goes through a cloud. Free during launch.
Limits: macOS 14 or later; sending goes through your phone's messaging app.
Google Messages for web
Good: Free, in any browser, pair by scanning a code.
Limits: Only for Google Messages; texts only — no calls, other apps or files.
Microsoft Phone Link
Good: Texts, calls and notifications from an Android phone, done well.
Limits: Phone Link is Windows only; there is no Mac version.
Apple Messages
Good: Built into the Mac.
Limits: Needs an iPhone; it cannot send texts through an Android phone.
Questions
Can I use iMessage on a Mac with an Android phone?
No. iMessage needs an Apple account and, for SMS, an iPhone. To text from the Mac with an Android phone, use PhoneDesq or Google Messages for web.
Do texts come from my own number?
Yes. Your phone sends every message, from its own number and SIM, exactly as if you had typed it on the phone.
Does it work with two SIMs?
Yes. PhoneDesq shows which SIM each message came from, with its name.
Can I answer Android calls on my Mac?
Yes. PhoneDesq shows a call card with Answer and Decline and plays the call through the Mac; you speak into the phone.
Does it work with Google Messages and RCS chats?
PhoneDesq reads the phone's text messages and opens your default messaging app, such as Google Messages, in a Mac window to send — so chats in that app work there as they do on the phone.