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Using Mobile Text Messaging

What Is...Signing In to ChatSending a Text Message

Signing In to Chat

Your online chat availability determines whether you can send mobile text messages to your contacts. If you’re signed in to Yahoo! Mail’s chat feature (that is, online), you can initiate text messaging; if you’re signed out of chat (offline), you can’t.

If you’re signed out of chat, you’ll see "Offline" in the Chat & Mobile Text area of your main Mail page.

Your status is offline for chat.

Just sign in to get started.

Tip: For text messaging, it doesn’t matter what your online status is, as long as you’re signed in. You can be available (Available symbol), busy (Busy symbol), or even invisible (Invisible symbol) and still be able to send and receive text messages. See the Chatting With Your Contacts tutorial to learn more about different chat statuses and how to create your own status messages.

 

Here’s How

  1. To sign in to Yahoo! Mail’s chat feature, click the "Offline" status, and then select another status from the menu.

    Select an online status from the menu.

    Your text messaging friends don’t see your online status, but your online Messenger contacts do.

 

What’s Next

Now that you’re signed in, you can send a mobile text message,

 
 
 

Words to Know

  • Offline: not connected to the Internet or any other network.
  • Online: connected to the Internet.
  • Online status: a setting that lets others know your availability to chat.
  • Yahoo! Messenger: an application that lets you communicate using your voice, text, or other means with one or more people over the Internet in real time (instantly).