Do you need to fax at all
Some solicitors, GP surgeries and courts still insist on fax, but plenty will take a signed PDF by email instead. Ask first.
Read the guide →Do you actually need to send a fax?
Being told to send a fax in 2026 is annoying, and there is nothing wrong with your reaction to it. Before you go looking for a fax machine, it is worth working out what the person asking for a fax actually needs from you, because it is often not a fax at all.
What the request is usually really asking for
A solicitor asking for a faxed signature usually wants proof that you signed something yourself. A GP surgery asking for a faxed referral usually wants it to arrive at a specific department without getting lost in a general inbox. A court or a government office asking for a fax is more likely to be following an old internal process than insisting on the technology itself.
US employers are the one group on this list where fax is often genuinely built into how they verify documents.
Questions worth asking before you fax anything
A short reply to whoever made the request can save you the whole exercise. Ask them directly:
- Would a signed PDF sent by email be accepted instead?
- Is there a secure portal I can upload the document to?
- Would you accept this by post if the timing allows it?
Solicitors and GP surgeries will often say yes to one of these. Courts and HMRC are more likely to say no, and if they do, it is worth taking that answer at face value.
When fax is still the only option
If the answer really is fax, you do not need to buy a machine or find a phone line. Sending a single fax from a phone or computer is a short process using an online fax service, and receiving one works the same way without a fax number of your own. If you have already asked and been told fax is required, read how to send a fax from your phone or how to send a fax from your computer for the next step.
The questions people actually arrive with
Four questions come up before any of the rest: whether you need to fax at all, how to send one, how to receive one, and what it will cost you.
Send a fax from your phone
You do not need a fax machine or a landline. A phone and an online fax service are enough for a single fax.
See the steps →Send a fax from your computer
Scanning and attaching a document works the same way on a laptop, with a couple of extra steps worth knowing.
See the steps →Receive a fax with no machine
You only need a fax number if someone else is sending you one. There are ways to get one without buying a machine.
Find out how →Send a fax internationally
Sending abroad means an international dialling prefix and country-specific quirks, particularly for US numbers.
Check the details →What sending a fax costs
Free tiers exist but usually come with an account and a limited number of pages before you pay anything.
Browse the guides →Who this guidance answers to
When someone tells you a fax is required, it matters whether the person giving you the next piece of advice has anything to gain from your answer being yes. A page that earns money each time you buy fax minutes has a reason to steer you toward faxing, whether or not you actually need to.
Outfax doesn't operate a fax service. It has no fax minutes to sell and no subscription of its own to fill, so there's nothing riding on whether the answer to "do I need to fax this" turns out to be yes or no. Where a signed PDF by email or a secure portal upload (an online form that accepts your document directly) will satisfy the solicitor, GP surgery, court or insurer asking for it, the guidance says so, even though that's the end of the matter.
Where a fax genuinely is the only route, the next step is a link to a specific outside service, chosen because it fits what you've just worked out you need.