How do I send text messages (NOT iMessages) from my Mac? I recently bought my first Mac, after having been impressed with my iPhone 7 Plus for the past year. On my iPhone I can send both iMessages and text messages by switching on the &quot;Send as SMS&quot; option in Settings.
On my Mac the Messages app works great, except for when I want to send a message to a non-Apple user (most of my friends are on Android). When I try do do this I get an error like the one below:


Your message could not be sent.
PHONE_NUMBER is not registered with iMessage.

I feel like I looked everywhere in System Preferences, but cannot find a &quot;Send as SMS&quot; option. Surely this is possible? How?
Yes, it is possible! However, you do need to set things up first. 

Follow these steps:


Sign into iCloud on your Mac and iPhone using the same Apple ID
On your Mac open the Messages app
On your iPhone go to Settings > Messages > Text Messages Forwarding
You should now see your Mac listed - tap on the toggle to enable it. 
You’ll see a prompt asking you to enter the code shown on your Mac. 
Enter the code


Now when you add a non-iPhone mobile number into Messages on the Mac it will be highlighted in green - this is an indicator that you are sending a text message and not an iMessage.

NOTE: As all text messages sent from your Mac are now forwarded via your iPhone, they will count towards any associated costs for your mobile plan (if any).