Table of Contents: 

Twitter SMS Commands
How To Post a Tweet via SMS
How To Get SMS Notifications for Tweets and Activity!

Twitter SMS Commands

You can perform certain actions, like following a user or marking a friend's update as a favorite, by using the designated Twitter commands below.

• TIP: When using these commands, do not append an @ symbol along with the command text.
• If you send these commands with an @ symbol, your commands will be read as a username and will not be executed as expected!
• Example: If you want to turn on device notifications send only ON and not @ON.

Turning mobile Twitter updates OFF and ON

• ON: turns ALL your authorized Twitter updates and notifications on.
• OFF, STOP, QUIT, END, CANCEL or UNSUBSCRIBE: turns ALL phone notifications off.    
• ON [username]: turns on notifications for a specific person on your phone. Example: ON alissa
• OFF [username]: turns off notifications for a specific person on your phone. Example: OFF blaine
• FOLLOW [username]: allows you to start following a specific user, as well as receive SMS notifications. Example: FOLLOW jerry, or f jerry, for short.
• UNFOLLOW [username]: allows you to stop following a specific user.
• LEAVE [username]: this command allows you to stop receiving SMS notifications for a specific user without having to unfollow them. When you log into twitter.com from the web you will still see this user's updates in your timeline. Example: LEAVE benfu, or l benfu, for short.

Fun stuff: friends, favorites, and stats!
Use the commands below to send direct messages, mark Tweets as favorites, and more.

• @[username] + message - shows your Tweet as a reply directed at another person, and causes your Tweet to save in their mentions tab. Example: @meangrape I love that song too!
• D [username] + message - sends that person a Direct Message that goes to their device, and saves in their web archive.
  • You can also use M [username] + message to send a private message!
  • Examples: d krissy want to pick a Jamba Juice for me while you're there? or m krissy wanna pick up a Jamba Juice for me while you're there? performs the same action.

• RT [username] - sends that user's latest Tweet to your followers (also known as a Retweet). Example: RT Charles
• SET LOCATION [place name] - updates the location field in your profile. Example: set location San Francisco
• SET BIO - edits your Bio information on your Twitter profile. Example: set bio I'm a writer in NYC!
• SET LANGUAGE [language name] - selects the language you'd like to receive notifications in. Example: set language German
• SET NAME [name here] - sets the name field on your Twitter profile. Example: set name Jane Doe
• SET URL [url here] - sets the URL field on your profile. Example: set url http://www.janedoe.com
• WHOIS [username] - retrieves the profile information for any public user on Twitter. Example: whois jack or w jack, for short.
• GET [username] - retrieves the latest Twitter update posted by that person. You can also use g [username] to get a user's latest Tweet. Examples: get goldman or g goldman.
• FAV [username] - marks that user's last Tweet as one of your favorites (reply to any update with FAV, FAVE, or FAVORITE to mark it as a favorite if you're receiving it in real time). Examples: fav crystal, fave crystal, or favorite crystal
• STATS [username] - this command returns the given user's number of followers, how many people they're following, and their bio information.
• HELP - texting help or info to Twitter will bring up helpful tips.
• SUGGEST - this command returns a listing of Twitter users' accounts we think you might enjoy following.

A few notes on SMS commands:

• Using ON/OFF [username] from your phone only stops notifications coming to your mobile phone; you'll still collect a person's updates on the web since you're still following them.
  • Use UNFOLLOW [username] to unfollow a user via SMS.
  • Use BLOCK [username] to block a user via SMS.
• The following commands perform the same actions: FOLLOW = ON. And LEAVE = OFF.
• Following someone from a phone for the first time will also cause you to follow them on the web.
• You don't have to use ON/OFF [username] from your phone, you can also set individual notifications from a person's profile page on the web, or check your following page and manage all phone notification settings there.

 

How To Post a Tweet via SMS

Tweeting via text message from your phone is one of the easiest ways to post a message to Twitter. Read on to learn more about how to send a Tweet via text message from your phone.

• First, you must have already linked your phone to your Twitter account. You can read about how to do this via SMS or from the web.
• Second, locate your Twitter short code. Here's a list of those codes. If you don't see your country on that list, we may not support your location or mobile carrier yet. We're working to support more every day!
• Once your phone is added, simply send a text message containing your Tweet to your short code. Below is an example of a user in the U.S. sending a text message to their short code (40404). That's all you need to do! It will post as a Tweet to your Twitter profile.
• To check that your message posted to your Twitter profile, log in on the web and click on your Profile. You should see your Tweet posted there.

If your Tweet did not post to your Twitter profile, you may not have added your phone correctly. Read this article for troubleshooting tips!

How To Get SMS Notifications for Tweets and Activity!

Want a notification on your phone whenever someone you like Tweets or @mentions you? How about when someone marks your Tweet as a favorite or retweets one of your Tweets? If you've already added your phone to your account, you can now enable this feature in your account’s Mobile Settings. You can jump ahead to any section by clicking on the links below:

Turning on notifications for DMs and @replies/mentions
Turning on Activity notifications
Turning on notifications to receive Tweets from a specific person on your phone
Turning All Twitter Updates On or Off

Turning on notifications for DMs and @replies/mentions

Via the web:

1. Visit your Settings page
2. Click the Mobile tab
3. Check the boxes under Message notifications for each type of notification you would like enabled for your device.
4. Select whether you want to receive notifications any time someone you follow mentions you using the Only from people I follow option, or choose to have any @mention or reply be delivered to your phone by selecting From anyone.

Via SMS:

• If you only want to receive notifications of mentions made by you are following, send set mentions on to your shortcode. If you'd like to receive notifications about other users who mention your username (potentially even users who you are not following) send set mentions all to your shortcode. To turn mention notifications off, send set mentions off to your shortcode.
• Send set messages on to your shortcode to turn on Direct Message notifications. To turn off DM notifications, send set messages off.

Turning on Activity notifications

Via the web:

1. Visit your Settings page
2. Click the Mobile tab
3. Check the boxes under Activity notifications for each type of notification you would like enabled for your device.
4. Select whether you want to receive notifications any time someone you follow mentions you using the Only from people I follow option, or choose to have any @mention or reply be delivered to your phone by selecting From anyone.

Via SMS:

• Send set followers on to your shortcode if you want to receive notifications about new followers. To turn this off send set followers off.
• If you want to receive notifications when someone you follow marks your Tweet as a favorite, send set favorites on to your shortcode. If you'd like to know when other users favorite your Tweets (potentially even users who you are not following) send set favorites all to your shortcode. To turn favorites notifications off, send set favorites off to your shortcode.
• If you want to receive notifications when someone you follow retweets one of your Tweet, send set retweets on to your shortcode. If you'd like to know when other users retweet your Tweets (potentially even users who you are not following) send set retweets all to your shortcode. To turn retweet notifications off, send set retweets off to your shortcode.

Turning on notifications to receive Tweets from a specific person on your phone

Via the web:

1. Visit your Settings page
2. Click the Mobile tab
3. Look for the area labelled Text message notifications
4. Check the box for Tweets from people you've enabled for mobile notifications to receive text message notifications any time a specific person Tweets.
5. Visit the Profile page or click on the username of the user whose updates you want to receive via SMS (try typing twitter.com/username in your browser's URL bar, or click through from your Following page).
6. Click the profile icon beside and select Turn on SMS Tweets from the drop-down menu (pictured below). From the same drop-down select Turn off SMS Tweets if you no longer wish to receive text message updates from this user. 

Note: People with protected accounts must approve you as a follower before you can choose to receive their updates on your phone.

Via SMS:

• Send ON [username] (without quotes or brackets) to the shortcode for your area.
• For example, to get @SchauerTime's updates using only a phone in the US, send ON Schauertime to 40404.

Turning All Twitter Updates On or Off
Via the web:

• Make sure all the boxes in the section Text Message Notifications in your Mobile Settings are unchecked.

Via SMS:

• Simply send OFF to your shortcode to turn all notifications off
• You can turn them back on by sending ON to your shortcode.

 

Need help? Visit our SMS Troubleshooting article for more information and tips.