Everyday services

Make the most everyday of your phone
Find out how to get the most from your phones everyday features like mobile internet, picture messaging and voicemail.

Calling and voicemail

Find out about  voicemail and security, use video calling on your phone, and more.

Text messaging

Find out what it costs, how to set up your phone for texting abroad, and using services like Facebook.

Picture messaging

Find out how to get started using picture messaging, how much it costs and FAQs.
 

Internet on your phone

Find out what internet on your phone is, how much it costs and about internet widgets.

Other Everyday services topics

Answer centre

Top FAQs

  • What should I do if I can't send or receive picture messages?
  • How do I send picture messages to an email address?
  • How do I copy pictures from my mobile to a computer?

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What should I do if I can't send or receive picture messages?

Receiving
To receive a picture message, you must send one first. Send a picture message to yourself or a friend who's received a picture message before. You should get a 'Welcome' picture message from us shortly afterwards which means you're all set up.

Some phones without cameras can still send and receive picture messages. If you have this type of phone, activate your picture messaging by sending a picture or wallpaper that's stored on your phone.

Sending
Follow these steps if you've tried sending a picture message and:

  • you haven't received a 'Welcome' picture message back from us
  • the message you tried to send stayed in your outbox
  • you got a message on your screen telling you the settings are incorrect

Step 1 Get us to text you the right picture messaging settings.

Step 2 Once you've got the settings, turn your phone off then on again.

Step 3 Try sending a picture message again.

Still not working? Here's what else may be causing the problem.

See if you can make calls
If you can't call, then you won't be able to send picture messages.

If you're a pay as you go customer this may be happening because you don't have enough credit. Even though sending a picture message only costs 20p, pay as you go customers need at least 40p credit and U-Fix and Mix It customers need at least 28p credit to send a picture message. Topping up should fix the problem.

The picture message may be too big
There is a size limit on picture messages. Most phones automatically resize pictures so they're small enough to send. However, with certain phones you may need to go into your picture messaging settings and select a smaller resolution.

How do I send picture messages to an email address?

Sending a picture to an email address is a handy option when you aren't sure if someone has a phone that shows pictures, or if they don't have a mobile at all. Here's how you do it.

Step 1 Create your picture message as normal.

Step 2 When you go to send, your phone may give you a choice to send as a 'picture message' (or 'multimedia message') or as an 'email'. Don't choose to send as an email. Always send as a picture message or multimedia message.

Step 3 Type in an email address and press send.

Tip: It's even easier to send if you've already stored your contact's email address with their phone number.

If your friend replies to your email message, you'll receive it as a message on your mobile.

Find out more about Picture messaging

How do I copy pictures from my mobile to a computer?

If you'd like to print out pictures from messages to display on your wall, or if you want to save them in an online album to show your friends and family, you'll first need to copy them to your computer.

To save your pictures to a computer and keep the full quality:

  • take the memory card out of your phone and put it in your computer's card reader
  • use the data cable and software that came with your phone to copy them over
  • transfer them via Bluetooth or infrared (if your computer can do this)

Tip: You can buy a card reader to fit your memory card from most mobile phone and computer stores.

You can also send pictures to an email address. However, because your phone resizes picture messages when it sends them, the quality won't be as good. Sometimes it's better to have a smaller picture though - like when you want to it in an online album.

Where can I view a picture message online?

Got a text message that says you've been sent a picture message? To view the message, visit www.t-mobile.co.uk/pmcollect and enter your mobile number and the password from the text. The picture will only be available for 14 days so make sure you save it to a computer if you want to keep it.