{"id":425,"date":"2026-05-11T22:13:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/?p=425"},"modified":"2026-05-20T07:14:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T07:14:30","slug":"outlook-text-alerts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/outlook-text-alerts\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get Text Alerts for Your Most Important Outlook Emails"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Not every email can wait until the next time you check your email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And as much as the Outlook app on our phones <em>try<\/em> to let us know whenever we get a new email, those notifications are easy to miss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But we don&#8217;t miss text messages. Those notifications cut through the noise and get our immediate attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you could get SMS alerts about select emails, that would be a pretty good insurance policy against missing time-sensitive, important messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well&#8230; you can. And it&#8217;s way easier than you think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/\">text.email<\/a><\/strong>, you can have Outlook transform specific alerts into text messages. I&#8217;ll show you how to set this up below, step-by-step, whether you&#8217;re looking to forward&nbsp;<strong>all incoming email<\/strong>&nbsp;to text or (more wisely)&nbsp;<strong>only certain messages<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"table-of-contents\">Outlook Text Alerts: Table of Contents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#settingup\">Setting Up Email-to-Text Forwarding in Outlook<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#step1\">Step 1: Create your text.email account<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#step2\">Step 2 (aka Option 1): Turn on forwarding for all messages in Outlook<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#step3\">Step 3 (aka Option 2): Forward only specific emails with an Outlook rule<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#step4\">Step 4: Customize the SMS format<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#getstarted\">Ready to Start Getting Outlook Text Alerts?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"setting-up\">Setting Up Email-to-Text Forwarding in Outlook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you subscribe to text.email, you&#8217;ll get a personal email address that&#8217;s&nbsp;<code>your-number@your-subdomain.text.email<\/code>. Any email sent to that address gets delivered to your phone as a text message. So if Outlook forwards an email there, you&#8217;ll get it as an SMS alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The whole setup takes about five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"step1\">Step 1: Create your text.email account<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Head over to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/\">text.email<\/a>&nbsp;website and create your account. Once you&#8217;re in, you&#8217;ll get an email subdomain; that&#8217;s the secret keyword that makes sure&nbsp;<strong>only you can send texts to your phone<\/strong>&nbsp;through text.email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>text.email assigns you a subdomain automatically, but&nbsp;<strong>you can change it to whatever you want in your account settings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a50bbf301cb7&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a50bbf301cb7\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"648\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-pickingkeyword-tinified-1024x648.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-287\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-pickingkeyword-tinified-1024x648.png 1024w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-pickingkeyword-tinified-300x190.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-pickingkeyword-tinified-768x486.png 768w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-pickingkeyword-tinified-1536x972.png 1536w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-pickingkeyword-tinified.png 2004w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So if your phone number is&nbsp;<code>5551234567<\/code>&nbsp;and your subdomain is&nbsp;<code>acme<\/code>, your address would be&nbsp;<code>5551234567@acme.text.email<\/code>. Copy that down, because you&#8217;ll need it in a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"step2\">Step 2 (aka Option 1): Turn on forwarding for all messages in Outlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want EVERY email to come to you as a text alert, here&#8217;s how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/outlook.com\/\">Outlook<\/a>&nbsp;in your browser. (Note: This is <em>way<\/em> easier to do on desktop than on your phone.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click the gear icon in the top-right corner to open settings. Select <strong>Mail<\/strong>, then click on <strong>Forwarding and IMAP<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a50bbf30230f&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a50bbf30230f\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1002\" height=\"594\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-outlooksettings-tinified.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-outlooksettings-tinified.png 1002w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-outlooksettings-tinified-300x178.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-outlooksettings-tinified-768x455.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Toggle the switch to <strong>Enable forwarding<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then put your text.email address in the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a50bbf3028b8&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a50bbf3028b8\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1002\" height=\"597\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-forwarding-tinified.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-forwarding-tinified.png 1002w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-forwarding-tinified-300x179.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-forwarding-tinified-768x458.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You should also check the box to <strong>Keep a copy of forwarded messaes<\/strong> (without that, the emails that become texts <em>won&#8217;t<\/em> stay in your inbox). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then click <strong>Save<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Note:<\/strong>&nbsp;if you don&#8217;t already have two-step verification turned on for your Microsoft account, Outlook will make you enable it before it lets you set up forwarding.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"step3\">Step 3 (aka Option 2): Forward only specific emails with an Outlook rule<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, if you actually <em>do <\/em>want every email triggering a text, you don&#8217;t have to do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if you only want text alerts on selected messages, we&#8217;ll use an Outlook rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, if you did the setup from the previous step back to&nbsp;<strong>Settings \u2192 Mail \u2192 Forwarding<\/strong>&nbsp;and toggle forwarding off (since we&#8217;re going to handle this with a rule instead).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go to <strong>Settings<\/strong> by clicking the gear in the top right. Then click on <strong>Mail<\/strong>, and then <strong>Rules<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a50bbf302f20&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a50bbf302f20\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1002\" height=\"597\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-rules-tinified.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-rules-tinified.png 1002w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-rules-tinified-300x179.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-rules-tinified-768x458.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Click the <strong>+ Add new rule<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can give your rule any name you want. And then, under <strong>Add a condition<\/strong>, choose the commonality between all the messages you want forwarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, maybe they&#8217;re all replies to a certain sales email campaign, so you know they&#8217;ll all have the same words in the subject line or a specific keyword. Maybe you applied for a job, so you want alerts on emails with the recruiter&#8217;s address in the from field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever it is, figure out the common connection and make your rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can add multiple conditions here to really fine-tune your forwarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a50bbf303511&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a50bbf303511\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1002\" height=\"597\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-multiplerules-tinified.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-multiplerules-tinified.png 1002w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-multiplerules-tinified-300x179.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-multiplerules-tinified-768x458.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, under <strong>Add an action<\/strong>, choose <strong>Forward to<\/strong> and put in your text.email address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a50bbf303a58&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a50bbf303a58\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1002\" height=\"597\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-forwardingemail-tinified.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-forwardingemail-tinified.png 1002w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-forwardingemail-tinified-300x179.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/outlookalerts-forwardingemail-tinified-768x458.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Then click <strong>Save<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can create multiple rules if you need different forwarding criteria. And you can add exceptions too, like forwarding everything from&nbsp;<code>alerts@monitoring.io<\/code>&nbsp;<em>except<\/em>&nbsp;when the subject contains &#8216;resolved.&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Need some help figuring out the best forwarding rules? Ask an LLM. It will help you figure out how to dial in your rules so you&#8217;re only getting text alerts on the emails you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"step4\">Step 4: Customize the SMS format<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You likely don&#8217;t want the entire email forwarded word-for-word as a text message (or as a multi-part text message more likely). These are alerts, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good news: text.email has&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/sms-formatting\/\">SMS formatting<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;options that let you control which parts of the email become the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, you might want something like:&nbsp;<code>{subject}: {body}<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or:&nbsp;<code>Alert from {from}: {subject}<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6a50bbf3040d2&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6a50bbf3040d2\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"648\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-smsformatting-tinified-1024x648.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-smsformatting-tinified-1024x648.png 1024w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-smsformatting-tinified-300x190.png 300w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-smsformatting-tinified-768x486.png 768w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-smsformatting-tinified-1536x972.png 1536w, https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gmailtext-smsformatting-tinified.png 2004w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can even use regex to get extra detailed about what text.email pulls out of your emails. The formatting guide I linked earlier has the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"getstarted\">Ready to Start Getting Outlook Text Alerts?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can (hopefully) see from the article above, setting up email-to-SMS forwarding in Outlook is pretty simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outlook is flexible but not complicated when it comes to filtering. text.email is a drop-in way to get text alerts. Together, that gives you a&nbsp;<strong>simple system where your most critical emails reach you as text messages<\/strong>&nbsp;with no code, API, or app to install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if there are Outlook emails you can&#8217;t afford to miss, this is one of the fastest ways to make sure they reach you instantly. Create your&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/text.email\/\">text.email account<\/a>, get your new email-to-SMS address, set up a forwarding rule in Outlook, and you&#8217;re set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You can have this running in about five minutes<\/strong>, and stop worrying about the important stuff getting buried in your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A step-by-step guide to get text alerts for important Outlook messages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-email-to-sms","category-text-email-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":486,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/text.email\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}