You need to send a fax and the only thing in your hand is your phone. No fax machine, no printer, no computer nearby. This is one of the most common situations people find themselves in, and the good news is that your phone is all you need.
With PayPerFax, you can send a fax from your phone’s browser in a few minutes – no app, no account. Here’s how.
How to fax from your phone, step by step
❶ Open PayPerFax in your phone’s browser
Go to fax.payperfax.com in Safari, Chrome, or whatever browser you use. The site works on any phone – iPhone, Android, anything with a browser.
❷ Enter the fax number
Tap the country flag to select the destination country, then type the fax number including the area code. If you’re faxing within the US, that’s the 10-digit number. International? Select the country and enter the number without the country code. PayPerFax handles the formatting.
Add your email address in the email field. This is where you’ll get confirmation that the fax went through (or a notification if it didn’t).
❸ Attach your document
Tap "Browse" in the Attachments box. Your phone shows a small menu with the upload sources available: cloud drives, your local files, your camera, your photo library. Tap "Choose files" to pull a document from the Files app.
This opens the iOS Files browser. You can search by name (try the document’s title or "fax"), or tap through Recents, On My iPhone, iCloud Drive, or any cloud storage you’ve connected. Tap the file to attach it.
You can also upload a photo of a physical document (see Tips below for how to get the best quality). Accepted formats: PDF, DOC, DOCX, TIF, JPG, JPEG. Multiple files are combined into one fax in the order you upload them.
❹ Add a cover page (optional)
Check "Attach a cover page" if you want to include one. A form opens where you can type introductory text: the recipient’s name, what the document is, any instructions. This becomes the first page of your fax.
If you’re faxing something formal (a signed form to a government agency, medical records, legal documents), a cover page helps the recipient route it correctly. For a quick fax to someone expecting it, you can skip this.
❺ Preview your fax and check the price
Tap "Preview fax & check price." PayPerFax processes your document and shows you exactly how it will appear on the receiving end. This typically takes up to a minute depending on the file.
The preview shows you exactly what the recipient will see – worth a quick check before you pay. The price shown is the final price, guaranteed. No surprises.
❻ Pay and send
Enter your payment details (credit card or PayPal). PayPerFax places a hold on your card. You’re only charged if the fax goes through successfully. If transmission fails, you don’t pay.
Tap send, and that’s it.
❼ Get confirmation
A status screen tracks the transmission in real time. Once the fax is delivered, you’ll also receive an email confirmation at the address you entered, including a copy of the sent fax for your records.
Tips for faxing from your phone
Can’t find your document? If someone emailed you a PDF, check your Downloads folder or look in your email app’s file picker. The system file picker also surfaces files from iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and any other storage provider you’ve connected.
PDF beats a photo. If you have the document as a PDF already (in your email, in a cloud folder, saved from a website), use that. PDFs preserve formatting, text clarity, and signatures better than phone photos. A photo works in a pinch, but the fax quality will be noticeably sharper with a PDF.
Photographing a physical document? For better quality than a straight photo, lay the document flat on a dark surface with even lighting and photograph it straight-on. Or better yet, use your phone’s built-in document scanner:
- iPhone: Open the Notes app, create a new note, tap the camera icon, and choose "Scan Documents." It auto-detects edges, straightens the image, and saves a clean PDF.
- Android: Open Google Drive, tap the + button, choose "Scan." Same idea – edge detection, image straightening, saved as PDF.
Upload the resulting PDF to PayPerFax for the best possible fax quality from a phone.
Check the preview. On a small phone screen, it’s easy to upload the wrong file or not notice that a photo came out blurry. The preview shows you the actual fax output before you pay.
Why no app?
Most online fax services push you to download an app, create an account, and sign up for a monthly subscription. That makes sense if you fax regularly. But if you just need to send one fax right now, installing an app and creating an account is unnecessary friction. Most people searching "how to fax from my phone" are in exactly that situation.
PayPerFax is pay-per-fax: you pay for the single fax you’re sending, with no account and no subscription. Open the browser, upload, send, done.