Did you know you can fax a PDF from your computer or phone?

Online fax services let you fax a PDF easily without the need of complicated conversions or a scanner, you can just use your email or a mobile fax app.

In this guide you'll learn how to fax a PDF in just a few steps using the method of your choice.  Let's get started!

Table of Contents
1
1. Fax a PDF Through Gmail
2
2. Fax a PDF Through a Mobile App (iOS, Android)
3
3. Fax a PDF Through a Free Fax Portal
4
Can I Receive Fax as PDFs?
fax a pdf

1. Fax a PDF Through Gmail

Currently, the easiest way to fax a PDF is by doing it through an email. Anybody can learn how to fax with an email because it's practically the same as sending a traditional email.

There are various online fax services that link an online fax number to your preferred email address, so you can fax a PDF. eFax is a great alternative that lets you create a 7 -day free account.

An online fax provider will also grant you a fax number to send and receive faxes digitally.

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Faxing a PDF by email is very similar to sending an ordinary email, but the main difference is that you can attach the PDFs to the message which will be converted into fax images.  The resulting fax format, usually a TIFF file, will then be transmitted securely to the recipient's fax machine. It is a very simple process once you get the hang of it. 

To fax a PDF from Gmail follow these steps:

  1. Create a new email message in Gmail.
  2. Enter the recipient number on the TO field, including the country code, like this: faxnumber@faxservice.com.  This format will vary depending on the service you are using.
  3. Attach the PDF document you want to fax to the email. When you send faxes you can upload a variety of file types.
  4. If you want to send a cover sheet before your fax, enter the text on the subject field or the body of the message.
  5. Press the Send button.

With this method you can fax a PDF with multiple pages and each one of them will be converted into a separate fax image.  You can also attach multiple PDFs to your email message, as long as you don't go over the maximum file size limit.

After you fax a PDF, you receive a confirmation email with more info about the transmission.

pdf to fax machine

2. Fax a PDF Through a Mobile App (iOS, Android)

Modern fax services have developed for their users mobile apps that allows them to send and receive faxes from the palm of their hands.These are very easy to use and are able to fax a PDF among various other formats.

 To fax a PDF from your phone follow these steps:

  1. Download your online fax service's app from the App Store or Google Play, depending on the device you have.
  2. Open the app.
  3. Log in using your credentials.
  4. Go to "Send Fax"
  5. Attach the PDF document you want to send. Some services let you pull PDFs from the cloud.
  6. Fill out the recipient's number and other details.
  7. Tap on Send
  8. Wait for the delivery confirmation notification to arrive.

3. Fax a PDF Through a Free Fax Portal

fax a pdf file

If you've been searching for a way to fax a PDF online, you may have come across pages like FaxZero or GotFreeFax, which basically let you send a couple of pages for free. 

These websites only let you send fax using a couple of file formats, but luckily the PDF is one them. It works the same as an online fax service: your PDF is converted into a fax image and then transmitted to a fax machine. Because they don't provide numbers, there's no way to receive fax as PDF with them.

As useful as they are, we'd only recommend you fax a PDF through these websites if you just need to send a casual fax, or if there's no sensitive information.  Here's why:

First, these services are free, so they don't guarantee your PDF has arrived safely to its destination.  Although some of them promise to send you a confirmation message, it's not uncommon to miss that message, or receive it hours after the fax has been sent.

Then you have the issue of cover page with ads or "branding".  We'll repeat, these services are useful and in some cases they may be your last resort to fax your PDF, but how serious does a fax look when you receive it after a page of ads?

Finally, you need to know that these services are free for a reason: to send more than 2-3 pages you'll need to pay a fee per additional page you send.  A single transmission can end up costing as much as a month of an online fax service!

Can I Receive Fax as PDFs?

With the free online fax number provided by your online fax service, you can also receive faxes as PDF files. This number will grab incoming fax transmissions and will run them through the same conversion process, but now the other way around, converting fax to PDF.

All online fax services let you receive fax as PDF.  The reason for this is that PDFs are easily readable across multiple devices and operating systems, plus, you can get Adobe's PDF reader at no cost.

Summary

It shouldn't take more than just a couple of minutes to fax a PDF in this time and age.  There's no need to print and scan your files because thanks to Fax Over IP technology, online fax services can convert your PDF to fax format in mere seconds.

Are you ready to fax a PDF online?