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Key takeaways

• You can schedule text messages directly in Android Messages.
• No extra apps are required to schedule texts on Android.
• Scheduled texts help you send messages at the right time.

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Have you ever composed a text message and thought, "I should send this later"? Maybe you want to reply to a message late at night or during someone's workday, but you worry you'll disturb the recipient, so you don't send it.

Then, when later comes, you forget all about it. It's happened to us all.

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Fortunately, scheduling texts on Android is simple. 

How to schedule text messages on Android

What you'll need: The only things you'll need are an Android device with a data plan (for sending texts) and Google Messages, which comes preinstalled on all Android phones. So, there are no apps to install. It's all there, ready to go.

1. Unlock your phone and open Messages

Unlock your Android phone and open the Messages app.

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2. Start a chat

For this, you can either create a new chat by tapping the Start chat button or open a pre-existing chat. If you create a new chat, you'll then select the recipient as you normally would.

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Start composing a new chat or open a pre-existing chat.

Jack Wallen

3. Type your message

In the resulting window, type the message you want to send.

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Start typing the message you want to schedule.

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4. Open the scheduler

After you've finished typing the message, long press the Send button (the right-pointing arrow at the bottom right of the screen). From the resulting popup, select either later today (5:00 PM), later tonight (9:00 PM), tomorrow (8:00 AM), or a custom time.

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If you want a custom date and time for sending, tap Pick date and time.

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5. Set a custom time

If you opt for a custom time, tap Pick date and time. In the next popup, you'll first select the date, tap Next, and then set the time.

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First, select a date, and then select a time for custom scheduled sending.

6. Save the custom time

In the final window of the custom time wizard, verify the time and date, and then tap Save. Once you've done that, you'll see the text and time at the bottom of the window. Tap the Send button, and your text is scheduled to be sent. It will appear in the chat timeline with a special Schedule icon.

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If all is correct, tap Save to schedule the custom time.

Jack Wallen

And that's all there is to scheduling text messages in Android. You can use this feature to schedule a message to a friend or family member or even send yourself reminders, without having to rely on an awkward (and sometimes jarring) alarm. I use this feature regularly to ensure I don't miss or forget something when a noisy alarm won't do.

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