Free desktop app · Windows and Linux
SMSTunnel on your computer
Read and send your texts from Windows or Linux. Your own Android phone sends them, from your own number, and once you turn on sync in the phone app, the texts it receives show up on your computer with a notification.
Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit · Installs without a warning, and the Store keeps it up to date
macOS: later Checksums (SHA-256)
You also need the SMSTunnel app on your Android phone, signed in to the same account: get it on Google Play.
Sample conversations and numbers. The app speaks English and Romanian, and follows your computer's light or dark mode.
What it does
Your phone does the sending. Your computer gives you a keyboard and a big screen.
Your texts on your computer
Your conversations by number, with search, unread markers and each text's status: sent, delivered or failed. Type on your keyboard, and your own phone sends each text from your own number, one number per text.
A notification for each text you receive
With sync on in the phone app, each text your phone receives shows up as a notification, with its text or just "New text": you choose.
All your phones
See which of your phones are connected, and choose which one sends. On a dual-SIM phone, a reply goes out from the SIM that received the text.
In the tray, from start-up
Close the window and SMSTunnel keeps running in the tray, so new texts still show up. Turn on "Start with the computer" and it starts in the tray, ready for new texts.
Updates itself
New versions download in the background and install while the window is closed, or when you restart. The app installs only updates signed by SMSTunnel.
Lock a text for your phone
The lock next to the text box encrypts a text on your computer for your own phone: only the phone can read it. smstunnel.io still sees the number and the time.
What you need
An Android phone
With the SMSTunnel app, signed in to your account. Get it on Google Play
A free SMSTunnel account
The same one on the phone and on the computer. Create one
A 64-bit computer
Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or a 64-bit Linux desktop.
Get started in three steps
- 1 Install SMSTunnel on your Android phone and sign in. The phone must be online, with the SMSTunnel app running: it sends what you write.
- 2 Install SMSTunnel on your computer and sign in with the same account. Your phone shows up by itself.
- 3 To see the texts your phone receives, turn on Settings › Received texts › Sync received texts in the phone app. It is off until you turn it on, and only texts that arrive after that are synced.
Do you sign in with Google or Facebook? First set a password in the dashboard, under Account › Security. Then sign in on your computer with your email.
On Windows
- From the Microsoft Store, the simplest way: open SMSTunnel in the Microsoft Store and install it. Windows installs it without any warning, and the Store keeps it up to date. To have it start with Windows, turn it on in Windows Settings › Apps › Startup.
- With the installer from this site (SMSTunnel-setup.exe): it updates itself, and Windows may warn you the first time you open it, as below.
Windows says "Windows protected your PC"?
The installer from this site isn't signed with a code-signing certificate yet, so Windows doesn't recognize it and warns you the first time. To install it:
- Click More info.
- Click Run anyway.
Your browser may also say the file isn't commonly downloaded. Choose Keep.
Download SMSTunnel only from smstunnel.io or the Microsoft Store, and check the file if you like. If Windows won't let you install it at all, because of Smart App Control or a company policy, install it from the Microsoft Store: that version installs without this warning.
On Linux
- AppImage: make it executable, then open it:
chmod +x SMSTunnel.AppImage, then./SMSTunnel.AppImage. - .deb:
sudo apt install ./SMSTunnel.deb - .rpm:
sudo dnf install ./SMSTunnel.rpm - On GNOME, the tray icon appears with the AppIndicator extension; Ubuntu has it already.
- SMSTunnel keeps you signed in through your desktop's keyring (GNOME Keyring or KWallet).
Updates
Installed from this site, SMSTunnel updates itself. It looks for a new version a few times a day. It installs the update while the window is closed to the tray, or asks you to restart. Every update is signed, and the app installs only updates signed by SMSTunnel.
On Linux, the AppImage updates the same way. With the .deb or .rpm, SMSTunnel asks for your password when you click Restart.
Installed from the Microsoft Store, the Store installs its updates.
Your texts
- Sending: the texts you write on your computer travel through your SMSTunnel account to your phone, and your phone sends them.
- Receiving: the texts your phone receives reach your computer only while syncing is on in the phone app. You can turn it off at any time.
- Signing in: your password is used only to sign in, and it isn't stored. The app keeps you signed in through your computer's credential store: Windows Credential Manager, or your Linux keyring.
- On your computer: the app shows your texts from your SMSTunnel account and keeps none of them on the computer. It remembers only its settings, the email you last signed in with, and when you last opened each conversation. It talks only to smstunnel.io, with no ads, analytics or tracking.
Coming: end-to-end private texts
Texts readable only on your phone and your computers, with smstunnel.io keeping only encrypted copies it can't read, on every plan. Until then, as in the dashboard, your texts are kept in your account in readable form, except a text you lock for your phone.
Details: Privacy policy.
Check your download
Every release has a list of SHA-256 checksums:
SHA256SUMS.txt. Compare your
file's checksum with the line for the same kind of file; the list names each file with its version, for
example SMSTunnel_1.0.0_x64-setup.exe.
- Windows, in PowerShell:
Get-FileHash .\SMSTunnel-setup.exe. PowerShell writes it in capital letters; it's the same checksum. - Linux:
sha256sum SMSTunnel.AppImage, or the .deb or .rpm you downloaded.
Free
The app is free. Your SMSTunnel plan sets how many texts you can send each day, and your mobile operator charges each text like any SMS from your phone.
Common questions
Is the desktop app free?
Yes, on Windows and on Linux. Your SMSTunnel plan sets how many texts you can send each day, and your mobile operator charges each text like any SMS from your phone.
Do I still need my phone?
Yes. Your Android phone, with the SMSTunnel app, sends every text from your own number, so it must be online with the app running. If it is offline, a text waits and goes out when the phone is back, for up to 3 days.
Why don't the texts my phone receives show up?
Turn on Settings › Received texts › Sync received texts in the phone app. Only texts that arrive after you turn it on are synced, and your phone's existing inbox is never read.
I sign in with Google or Facebook. How do I sign in on my computer?
Set a password in the dashboard, under Account › Security, then sign in on your computer with your email and that password.
Why does Windows warn me when I open the installer?
Only the installer from this site does: it isn't signed with a code-signing certificate yet, so Windows SmartScreen doesn't recognize it. Click More info, then Run anyway. Or install SMSTunnel from the Microsoft Store: that version installs without the warning.
Can smstunnel.io read my texts?
Today the app works like the dashboard: your texts are kept in your SMSTunnel account in readable form, so the app can show them. A text you lock for your phone can be read only by your phone. End-to-end private texts for the desktop app, readable only on your phone and your computers, are coming, on every plan.
Can I use more than one phone?
Yes. The app shows every phone in your account and whether it is connected, and you choose which one sends each text.
Is there a version for macOS?
Not yet: a macOS version comes later. Until then, the dashboard at dashboard.smstunnel.io works in any browser on a Mac.
Your texts, on your computer
Download SMSTunnel for Windows or Linux, and install the phone app if you haven't yet.
More about it on the blog: the SMSTunnel desktop app.