How to Send a Free Fax

Category: Fax

Those old-school fax machines may be the dinosaurs of the communications world, but they're not extinct yet. Sending a fax from your computer is a convenient, money-saving way to communicate with people or businesses that insist on paper documents. There are several ways to send a free fax right from your computer, even if you don't have a fax machine. Here's how you can start faxing from your PC, Mac or mobile device...

No Fax Machine? No Problem! Send a Free Fax

Back in the 1990s, I had to get in my car and travel to a local print shop to send or receive a fax. It was expensive, time-consuming, and completely lacking in privacy. Later, I bought a fax machine and discovered that incoming fax spam is a thing. Paper jams, toner spills, and the expense of a dedicated phone line convinced me to ditch it.

Even though we live in a digital age, there are still plenty of faxes whizzing back and forth over the wires. If you deal with doctors, lawyers, banks, accountants, insurance companies, or almost any office that handles lots of paperwork, you will occasionally need to send a fax.

Send a Free Fax From Computer

But what if you don't have a fax machine? You could drive to the nearest copy shop or office supply store (if they're open) and pay them to send your fax. Fortunately, there's a much better way. You can send a free fax right from your computer or smartphone - no fax machine required! (Even if you have a big head, and little arms.)

The first and best option in most cases is to try one of the many free fax servers to be found on the Web. FaxZero is one these free fax services. Just enter your name, email address, and optionally your company or fax number. Add the fax number and name of the intended recipient. Upload a file in PDF, DOC, or DOCX (Word 2007 and higher) format. If you have hardcopy pages that need to be faxed, you'll need to scan them into PDF format first (or take a picture of the document with your phone).

You can type a short message in the form to accompany your fax, or skip the attachment and just send the text. The form allows for basic formatting (bold, italic, underline, justification, and headings). You can fax up to three pages (plus cover page) five times a day for free.

Faxzero and most other free fax services have subscription-based plans for higher volume customers. Faxzero charges $2.09 for priority delivery of faxes up to 25 pages. See my list in Free Internet Faxing for more options. If you're often on the receiving end of faxes, my article Get Your Free Inbound Fax Number will show you how to funnel all that paper into your email inbox instead.

If you use an iPhone or iPad there are apps you can use to send a fax from your mobile device. Look in the Apple's App Store for PC-FAX (offers one free page per day) or on Google Play Store for Android devices.

Desktop Faxing Solutions

Why not just buy a cheap fax machine? The short answer to that question is that they're not really so cheap when you factor in all the costs. See my article Seven Reasons to Trash Your Fax Machine and join my crusade to stamp out fax machines in our lifetime! :-)

Let's start with the Fax and Scan utility built into Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11. To start Fax and Scan, click Start, type WFS, and press Enter. If Fax and Scan is not installed on your system, right-click the Start button, click Settings, Apps, Optional Features, Add a Feature. Click the box next to Windows Fax and Scan, and click Install. All modern versions of Mac OS have fax sending capability built in.

You can send a fax using a standard fax modem, if your computer has one. Just plug your phone line into the telephone jack on the back of your computer, and you should be good to go. Windows Fax and Scan lets you compose a text-only fax on the fly, or you can send any file, such as a Word document, a spreadsheet, a photo, or a scanned page to a remote fax machine. Cover pages are also easy to create with this program. On a Mac, open the document, click File/Print, click the PDF button, then choose "Fax PDF" from the pop-up menu.

Modern Macs and PCs may not have an internal modem, because the age of dial-up Internet is largely over. If your computer lacks a fax modem, you may already own an "all-in-one" printer/fax/scanner that will do the job.

Third-party fax software for Windows is preferred by some users, and some of these programs offer features that Windows Fax and Scan lacks. Electrasoft offers a shareware program that can print incoming faxes, forward them to your email inbox, or use your cellular phone to send a fax. A bit of Googling with reveal that there are plenty of free and low-cost fax programs with different features to suit every taste.

Enterprises which send lots of faxes each month can benefit from an in-house fax server. Such a server is a network-connected computer equipped with special telephony cards into which multiple phone lines can be plugged. Software handles receipt and queuing of digital fax documents from users on the network, and the transmission of faxes through multiple phone lines. A fax server can also store sent faxes, allowing users to quickly find, view, and print copies of what they sent.

Have you ever sent a fax from your computer? Tell us about it, or post your own comment or question below...

 
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This article was posted by on 9 Apr 2024


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Most recent comments on "How to Send a Free Fax"

Posted by:

Ryan James
09 Apr 2024

Living in Ecuador, I have been doing volunteer service registering US citizens to vote in the November election.

Each state has its own rules, but many states allow ballots to be returned via fax; some require the paper ballot to additionally be returned via mail follow-up.

I have used HelloFax for years, but noticed not too long ago, it is now named Dropbox Fax. To assist potential voters in avoiding any problems, I wrote Dropbox Fax to see if the services were truly sending faxes to a fax machine which would be required of the states allowing a fax.

I received a lovely response stating they could send an actual fax to a fax machine, but a specific box had to be checked and it cost 99 cents.

If anyone reading your article plans to return a ballot, they would be wise to check with the service before 'assuming'.


Posted by:

Renaud Olgiati
09 Apr 2024

If your computer does not have an internal fax-modem card, that simple solution is to use a USB fax-modem.
I have been using for years one made by TrendNET, and never had any problem with it.


Posted by:

Ernest N. Wilcox Jr. (Oldster)
09 Apr 2024

I have an All-In-One Printer that includes a fax feature, but I've never used it because the cost of a second phone line for it is greater than my need to be able to send/receive faxes is worth, so I use Fax-ZERO as mentioned in this item.

Out of curiosity, I decided to install Windows Fax and Scan, but to do so, I had to search for 'Optional Features' in the Windows 11 Setting app's search dialog because the path listed in this item (Settings, Apps, Optional Features) no longer exists.

Ernie (Oldster)


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