When most people think of faxing, they imagine a big clunky machine which needs to connect to a phone line and takes up half the space on the office desk. Or maybe they imagine taking a drive to the UPS or FedEx Office store to use their fax machines. Either way, it doesn’t exactly scream “convenience”. Luckily, you don’t need any of that — your computer, your phone, and even the browser you’re reading this in can all send a fax. Thanks to online fax services, faxing has never been easier, cheaper, more convenient, or more secure.
Faxing is now as easy as logging on and sending an email. In fact, you can fax by email. Or by a web browser. Or via cloud storage services like Google Drive. You can fax on Windows, on a Mac, or even from your phone — and the right method depends entirely on what you’re trying to do.
Whatever device you’re reading this on — guess what? It’s also a fax machine. This guide takes a platform-agnostic look at every way you can use your computer to fax online, and helps you pick the right one for your situation. If you’re specifically on a Windows PC and want a head-to-head comparison of the actual services available, our best Windows fax services review covers that in detail. Mac users have a dedicated guide too.
Why Should You Fax From A Computer?
I’m one of those people who used to think faxing was a thing of the past — “Why would you ever need to send a fax when we have emails, digital signatures, and a thousand different instant messaging apps?”. Well, the clunky fax machine may be long gone, but faxing is still very much a thing in 2026 — and for good reasons.
Take emails for example — did you know there is no guaranteed and legally recognized way of confirming that any email you’ve sent has been received, but every fax you send will give you this? There’s also the issue that even the most popular email services have more security vulnerabilities than a standard online faxing service. Facts like this are why I choose fax every time I need to send anything important, like sensitive documents.
Then there’s digital signatures — companies like Docusign are becoming very popular, but even their Chief Legal Officer has admitted that there are many situations where a faxed signature will be accepted where an e-signature won’t — like when signing a will or trust, any sort of family law document (adoption, divorce, etc.), cancelling utility services, cancelling insurance policies, and many more.
With this in mind, the only thing stopping most people from faxing is the belief that you need a physical fax machine to do it. Luckily, you don’t — any computer, tablet, or phone with an internet connection can do the job, and it’s actually much easier and cheaper than maintaining a traditional setup.
How To Use Your Computer As A Fax Machine
The great thing about online fax services is that they let you benefit from the security and reliability of faxing, but without the need to buy a fax machine or do anything different to what you usually do to send documents. If you like emailing, you can fax by email. If you prefer doing things in your browser, you can use a web faxing service. There are dedicated apps, mobile apps, and even printers that can send faxes. Each method works on more than one platform, and the trick is matching the method to how you actually work — not picking the one with the loudest marketing.
The methods we’ll cover are:
- Email-to-fax — send and receive faxes through your normal email inbox. Works the same on any operating system.
- Online fax services (web or app) — log into a dedicated fax interface in your browser or via a desktop app. Works on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, and Linux.
- Built-in OS faxing tools — Windows Fax and Scan on PC, or print-to-fax workflows on Mac. Tied to a specific platform.
- Multifunction printer with fax modem — if your printer has a fax port and you have a phone line, your printer can fax directly. Works regardless of which computer it’s connected to.
- Mobile apps — iOS and Android apps that turn your phone or tablet into a fax machine. Often the best option if you’re not at a desk.
The next sections walk through each method conceptually. After that, there’s a quick decision guide for picking the right one based on how often you fax, what kind of documents you handle, and what platform you’re on.
How To Use Email-To-Fax From Your Computer
Computers are preferred by most people when it comes to emails — the larger screen and keyboard, plus connected accessories like scanners, make sending important messages much easier than on a mobile device. It’s also easier to organize and store different file types for attachments. With an email-to-fax service, you can send and receive faxes directly from your email inbox, faxing any messages and attachments in exactly the same way you would over email.
The general workflow is the same across providers — services like EveryFax, Fax.Plus, and others all offer email-to-fax as a core feature, with subscriptions ranging from a few dollars a month for occasional use to business plans with multiple users. Once you’ve signed up to whichever service fits your needs, you’ll get an email address pattern to send to (typically ‘[email protected]’), and from there it really is as simple as composing an email:
- Sign up with a provider that offers email-to-fax — coverage and pricing varies, so it’s worth comparing what you actually need (page volumes, HIPAA compliance, international destinations).
- Compose a new email from your normal inbox. The body becomes your cover page. The recipient fax number goes in the ‘send to’ field followed by the provider’s email-to-fax suffix — for example, ‘[email protected]’.
- Attach your fax pages. Most providers handle dozens of common file types — PDF, DOCX, JPEG, PNG. The service converts everything to a fax-compatible format on the way out.
- Hit send. The service handles the rest and sends you a confirmation as soon as the fax has been delivered (or failed to send — this may happen if the recipient’s fax machine is disconnected, or perhaps if you’ve entered the wrong area code).
People love email-to-fax because it offers the security and regulatory features that regular emails cannot — which makes it better for sending sensitive information. It also lets you do your emails and faxes all from one place. There are added benefits too, such as being able to receive faxes directly to your inbox. If you need to start faxing from your computer, email-to-fax is one of the easiest entry points, and it works identically whether you’re on Windows, Mac, or even a Chromebook.
How To Use An Online Fax Service
There are many online fax services which offer the ability to fax online, either from a web browser or a dedicated app you install on your computer. These services operate in a similar way to any email account or messaging app — you log in, view your sent and received faxes, compose and send new ones, and link your account to other cloud storage services like Dropbox, or third-party applications such as Google Docs, to enable quick access to any document you want to send.
The category covers everything from large corporate providers like eFax, RingCentral Fax, and Fax.Plus, down to lighter-weight services aimed at individuals. They all work along similar lines — buy a subscription, sign in through a browser or installed app, and send faxes from a clean interface. Online fax services may include extra features for preparing your fax, like custom signatures to make signing documents easy, or an address book to keep track of your contacts. The differences between providers come down to pricing, page limits, supported countries, integrations, and whether they offer the right compliance features for your work.
Online faxing is a great alternative to email-to-fax for computer users who might want to keep their emails and their faxes separate, or for those who are using faxes as part of their business and need a more complete managed service. If you’re specifically on a Windows PC and trying to pick a provider, our best Windows fax services review compares the leading options on price, features, and Windows app availability — that’s the right resource for the head-to-head comparison.
Fax Using Other Faxing Software Or Accessories
Beyond email-to-fax and online fax services, two other categories show up often enough to be worth knowing about: built-in operating system fax tools, and multifunction printers with a fax modem.
Built-In OS Fax Tools
Windows ships with a feature called Windows Fax and Scan, which connects Microsoft Office apps to a faxing pipeline — provided your computer is also connected to a fax modem, a phone line, or a third-party online fax service. It’s a leftover from an earlier era, the features are old and clunky, and Microsoft hasn’t given it meaningful updates in years. We don’t generally recommend it as a starting point. If you’re on Windows and want to know exactly how to enable and use it (or whether to bother), our Windows fax services guide walks through it alongside the more modern alternatives.
macOS does not include a direct equivalent, but Macs with a connected fax-capable printer can use the system print dialog to fax. Our faxing on Mac guide covers the Mac-native options in detail.
Faxing With A Printer
For decades, multifunction printers have often included a fax modem, which allows users to connect their printers to a landline and send and receive faxes. This is helpful since these printers are usually able to print and scan documents, allowing high-quality faxing and the printing of any received faxes. You should check the make and model of your printer to see if this is possible for you. The downsides of this method are that you often have to keep buying paper and ink, and pay more for the phone line and printer maintenance — so we’d recommend email-to-fax or online faxing in the first instance for most use cases.
Choosing The Right Method For Your Situation
With so many ways to fax from a computer, the actual question most readers have is “which one should I use?”. The honest answer is: it depends on how often you fax, what kind of documents you’re sending, and which devices you have access to. The table below maps the most common situations to the method that fits them best.
| Your situation | Best method | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You fax once or twice a year | Free or pay-per-page web service | No subscription needed; sign up only when you actually need to send something |
| You fax a few times a month for personal admin | Email-to-fax or basic online fax subscription | Cheap, low-friction, integrates with your existing inbox |
| You fax weekly or more for business | Online fax service with desktop app | Address book, audit trail, multi-user features pay for themselves quickly |
| You handle medical records or PHI | HIPAA-compliant online fax service with a signed BAA | Required for legal compliance — see our HIPAA compliant fax service rankings |
| You’re a Windows user picking your first service | Compare named Windows-compatible providers | See our best Windows fax services review for the head-to-head |
| You’re a Mac user | Online fax service via browser, or an iOS app sideloaded to macOS | See our Mac faxing guide for the platform-specific options |
| You’re often away from your desk | Mobile fax app on iPhone or Android | Camera-as-scanner means you can fax a document the moment you have it in hand |
| You already have a multifunction printer with a fax modem and phone line | Use the printer | The hardware is already paid for; just check the model supports it |
The two methods that cover the most ground for the most people are email-to-fax and online fax services. If you’re not sure where to start, pick one of those and you’ll cover 90% of real-world use cases.
Other Alternatives To Send And Receive Faxes
Computers aren’t the only fax-capable devices in your life. If you don’t always have access to a desktop or laptop, two other categories are worth knowing about — mobile apps and Mac-specific options.
Mobile Apps
There are a huge range of faxing apps you can download for your mobile device, whether you’re on Android or iPhone. Faxing apps are very popular because they’re, by definition, more portable and convenient than needing a computer. All you need is your phone or tablet, which can upload or scan documents and send faxes on the go.
The mobile workflow has one particular advantage that desktop methods don’t — your phone’s camera is also a scanner. Need to fax a hand-signed document, a prescription, an ID? Snap a photo from inside the app, and the app will auto-detect edges, correct perspective, and send it as a clean fax-quality scan. No flatbed scanner, no print-and-rescan workaround. For anyone who deals with paper documents on the move, mobile fax apps are usually faster than the equivalent desktop workflow.
Most of the major desktop fax providers also offer mobile apps that share the same account, so you can start a fax on your laptop and finish it on your phone, or vice versa. Municorn’s faxing apps, for example, are popular for mobile faxing and let users send unlimited faxes to over 90 different countries with no extra fees (long-distance faxing will cost you a bomb with most faxing services), working on all major mobile devices. Whichever you pick, the iPhone and Android review pages linked above are the best places to compare specific apps.
Fax From A Mac Computer
You can fax from a Mac using most of the methods covered above — email-to-fax and online fax services both work identically on macOS as they do on Windows. Macs also have a couple of platform-specific advantages, like the ability to run iPhone and iPad apps directly on Apple Silicon Macs, which means a mobile fax app you already use can become your desktop fax app too. For the full Mac-specific walkthrough, head to our dedicated Mac faxing guide.
Start Online Faxing Today
Now that you know all the ways you can fax from your computer, the next step is picking the one that fits your situation. For most people that’s an email-to-fax service or a full online fax app — both cover the everyday use cases without a learning curve.
If you want to go straight to a head-to-head comparison of the actual services available, we have platform-specific guides for that:
- Windows users — see our best Windows fax services review for ranked product comparisons.
- Mac users — see our Mac faxing guide for the platform-specific walkthrough.
- Mobile users — see our top iPhone fax apps and best Android fax apps roundups.
- HIPAA-sensitive workflows — see our HIPAA compliant fax service rankings.
Whichever route you take, faxing in 2026 doesn’t need a fax machine, a phone line, or a trip to the FedEx Office store. Pick a method, sign up, and send.
