How to Send Text Messages, Photos, and Videos — A Senior’s Guide to Staying Connected

Your grandchild just took their first step. They ran across the living room, arms out, grinning from ear to ear — and your daughter grabbed her phone to catch it on video. Thirty seconds later, it lands in your inbox. That is texting working exactly as intended.

For many seniors, texting feels like a chore best left to someone else. The reality is the opposite: texting is one of the simplest, most reliable ways to stay in your family’s life. Your daughter sends you a photo of your granddaughter’s drawing; your son texts when he lands at the airport; your old friend sends a note just to say hello. All of it happens through the same Messages app on your phone.

This guide covers it all — writing and sending a text, sending a photo, sending a video, and managing group conversations — step by step, in plain language.

Why Texting Matters

Text messages arrive instantly, work on any phone, and do not require an internet connection to receive (though sending photos does need data or WiFi). Unlike email, texts are almost always read within minutes. Unlike phone calls, they do not interrupt — your family can respond when they have a moment.

For seniors, texting also bridges a generational gap. Your grandchildren are growing up in a world where a phone call is an event. A quick text is normal, expected, and entirely comfortable once you know the basics. That is what this guide gives you: enough confidence to text your family without thinking twice about it.

What You Need Before You Start

How to Open Your Messaging App and Start a New Message

1. 1
   Find and tap the Messages icon. On your home screen, look for the app with a speech bubble icon. On iPhone it is green with a white speech bubble; on Android it is usually gray or blue. Tap it to open the app.
2. 2
   Start a new message. In the Messages app, look for a button to compose a new message. On iPhone, tap the icon in the top right that looks like a pencil and a speech bubble, or a plus sign in a circle. On Android, tap the icon that looks like a speech bubble with a pen or plus sign.
3. 3
   Enter your recipient. A search field will appear. Type the name or phone number of the person you want to text. If they are in your Contacts, their name will appear in the list below the search field — tap it to select them.
4. 4
   The message composition area opens. You will see a large text field where you can type your message. The keyboard will appear automatically. You are now ready to write your message, add a photo, or send a video.

Typing, Sending, and Reading Text Messages

Once you have opened a conversation, you are ready to write and send. The keyboard will appear at the bottom of your screen — tap anywhere on the text field to make it appear if it is not already there.

1. 1
   Tap the text field and use the keyboard to type your message. The keyboard on your phone works exactly like a regular keyboard — just tap the letters to type. The backspace or delete key removes letters you typed by mistake.
2. 2
   Send the message. When you are finished typing, look for the send button — an upward-pointing arrow. On iPhone it is in a blue or green bubble; on Android it is usually green. Tap it to send. The message will appear in the conversation as a sent bubble.
3. 3
   Read replies. When someone replies to you, a notification appears on your phone — a banner, a sound, or the Messages icon showing a badge. Tap the notification or open Messages to see the reply. The conversation shows all messages in order, oldest at the top.

How to Send a Photo or Video via Text

Sending a photo or video uses the same Messages conversation. The steps are slightly different on iPhone versus Android, but the result is the same.

iPhone (iOS)

1. 1
   Open the conversation where you want to send the photo. Tap inside the text field at the bottom of the screen.
2. 2
   Tap the Camera icon to the left of the text field. If the icon is not there, tap the App Store icon and look for the photo option, or tap the photo icon that appears above the keyboard when you start typing.
3. 3
   Choose “Photo Library” to open your camera roll. Scroll through your photos and tap the one you want to send. You can send multiple photos at once by selecting more than one.
4. 4
   Tap the Send arrow. The photo will appear in the conversation as a sent image bubble. If you are sending a video, it works the same way — select the video from Photo Library and send. Videos may take a few seconds to send depending on their length and your connection speed.

Android

1. 1
   Open the conversation. Tap inside the text field at the bottom of the Messages screen.
2. 2
   Tap the “+” or attachment icon to the left of the text field. A menu will appear with options including Photo or Gallery. Tap it.
3. 3
   Select your photo or video from your gallery or Files app. Tap to confirm your selection.
4. 4
   Tap Send — the upward arrow icon. Your photo or video will appear in the conversation.

Group Texts and Replying to Specific People

A group text is when you include more than one person in the same conversation. Everyone in the group can see and reply to every message. It is useful for coordinating family plans, sharing updates with multiple people at once, or keeping adult children in the loop.

Replying to the whole group: When you type and send a reply in a group conversation, it goes to everyone — there is no way to reply to just one person within the group text from the Messages app itself.

Replying privately to one person: If you want to respond to just one person without the group seeing, you would need to start a new one-on-one message outside the group thread. That is a separate conversation.

Leaving a group text: On iPhone, you can leave a group message if there are at least three other people in it. Tap the group name at the top, scroll down, and tap Leave this Conversation. On Android, leaving is more limited depending on your phone and carrier.

When to Ask for Help

Texting is simple once it clicks, but there are many situations where having someone sit with you makes all the difference: if photos will not send and you cannot figure out why, if you are accidentally replying to the wrong conversation, or if your phone is behaving in a way that does not match what this guide says it should.

If you have just set up a new phone, following this guide on the new device with an already-familiar phone beside you is the best approach. Book a TechKNOWphobia session and we will walk through it with you, one step at a time, on your actual device.

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