How to Forward a Text Message to Someone Else on Your iPhone

Remember when a neighbor would call to share a bit of news, and you'd hang up, pick up the phone again, and pass it along to your sister? Forwarding a text message is the modern version of that. Your grandson sends you a sweet note, and you'd like your daughter to see it too — word for word, just the way he wrote it.

Here's how to pass that message along, without retyping a thing.

What "forwarding" means

To **forward** a message simply means to send a copy of it to someone new. The original message stays right where it was. Think of it like making a photocopy of a letter and putting that copy in a fresh envelope — the first letter never leaves your drawer.

This works for any text message in the green or blue bubbles on your iPhone. You can forward a single message, or several at once.

Step by step

Open the **Messages** app (the green icon with the white speech bubble) and tap the conversation that has the message you want to share.

1. Find the message bubble you want to forward. Press your finger on it and hold for about one second, until a small menu pops up above it. 2. Tap **More...** at the bottom of that menu. A little empty circle will appear next to every message in the conversation, and the one you held will already have a blue checkmark. 3. If you want to forward more messages from the same conversation, tap the circle next to each one. Otherwise, leave it as is. 4. Look in the bottom-right corner of the screen. You'll see a small arrow shaped like a curved arrow pointing right — that's the forward button. Tap it. 5. A brand-new message will open with the text already filled in. In the line that says **To:**, type the name of the person you want to send it to, or tap the blue **+** to pick them from your contacts. 6. Tap the blue arrow to send.

That's it. The message is on its way, exactly as it was written.

A couple of helpful notes

The person receiving the forwarded message won't automatically know who originally sent it. If that matters — say, you're sharing a quote from your grandson and want your daughter to know it came from him — just type a quick note above the forwarded text before you hit send. Something like, "Look what Tommy just sent me!" works perfectly.

You can also forward photos and videos the same way. The steps don't change — press and hold the picture, tap **More...**, then the forward arrow.

One thing to be careful of: once you forward a message, you can't take it back. So if it's something private, take a breath and make sure you've picked the right person before you tap that blue arrow. It's the same caution you'd use before dropping an envelope in the mailbox.

Try it today

The next time you get a text that makes you smile — a photo from a friend, a recipe from your sister, a funny line from a grandchild — try forwarding it to one other person who'd enjoy it too. Press and hold, tap **More...**, tap the forward arrow, pick a name, and send.

You'll have it down on the first try, and you'll have brightened someone's afternoon in the bargain.

Need a hand with your technology? We're here to help. Give PorchSwing a call or book an appointment, and we'll walk you through it at your own pace — no rush, no jargon.