Last updated · Written for someone at a computer with a document that has to go by fax.
To send a fax from your computer, open an online fax service in your browser, upload the document, type the recipient’s fax number and press send. There is no fax modem, no phone line and nothing to install, because the fax call is placed by the service rather than by your computer. A single fax is $2.99 for up to 10 pages on usfax.com; you get a delivery confirmation by email.
Sending a fax from a computer, step by step
- Have the document as a file. A PDF is safest; usfax.com also accepts TIFF, PNG and JPG. If the pages are on paper, scan them or photograph them with a phone and move the file to the computer. Keep the pages in order in a single file.
- Open the fax service in your browser. Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox — any of them, on Windows, macOS, Linux or a Chromebook. There is no driver, no modem and no software download, because the fax call is placed by the service rather than by your computer.
- Enter the recipient's fax number. Ten digits with the area code, copied from the form, letter or web page that asked you to fax. Use the specific number printed on your document: agencies commonly publish one fax number per form or per region.
- Upload the file, add a cover sheet if needed. Drag the file into the send page. Add a cover sheet if the recipient asks for one — some processes require a specific coversheet, and a fax without it can be returned or ignored.
- Send and keep the confirmation. Press send. The service dials the recipient's fax machine, transmits the pages and records the result with the destination number, timestamp and page count. Save that confirmation with the document.
Does it matter whether I am on Windows or a Mac?
Not any more, and that is the point. The old built-in tools assumed hardware that computers no longer ship with.
| Computer | Built-in fax tool | What it needs | Browser fax service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Windows Fax and Scan | A fax modem and an analog phone line | Works in Chrome, Edge or Firefox with neither |
| Mac | Print → Fax (older models only) | A built-in modem, which current Macs do not have | Works in Safari or Chrome with no hardware |
| Chromebook / Linux | None | — | Works in the browser like any other site |
Which files survive the trip?
A fax is a one-bit image — every pixel is black or white, with no grey between. That one fact governs what arrives legibly:
- PDF is the safest, because the layout is fixed and the text is sharp.
- Scans should be straight, evenly lit and full-page. A skewed phone photo faxes badly.
- Avoid highlighter, coloured form shading and light grey text; they become solid black or disappear.
- Sign in black or dark blue ink, pressed firmly.
- Count the pages before sending — a missing page is the commonest reason a filing bounces.
Sending needs nothing. Receiving needs a number.
Sending uses the recipient’s fax number, so a one-off send costs $2.99 and requires no account features at all. The moment someone has to fax a document back to you — an approval, a determination, a signed form — you need a fax number of your own, because a fax is a phone call and something has to answer it. That is what a fax number is, and receiving a fax explains what happens when one arrives.
Why is a computer-era business still faxing?
Because several processes a new business meets early still publish a fax channel, and it is often the fast one. The IRS instructions for Form SS-4 note that Fax-TIN operates 24 hours a day and returns an EIN by fax generally within four business days, compared with roughly four weeks by mail; the fax number for the 50 states and DC is 855-641-6935. The Oregon Health Authority accepts Medicaid provider-enrollment applications at 503-378-3074 when the portal cannot be used. None of these is fax-only, but fax is repeatedly the expedite path.