How to send an SMS to an emergency contact on an Android phone
This short guide is a reference tool to help refresh your knowledge or practise what you have learned in the How to send an SMS to an emergency contact on an Android phone online video course.
Adding an emergency contact
If you ever need to make an Emergency SOS call, you can set up your phone to also automatically send a text message with your location to a trusted emergency contact. To select your emergency contact:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Safety and emergency.
- Tap Emergency contacts.
- Tap Add emergency contact and choose someone from your Contacts list with a mobile number.
- Tap Done to save.
- Repeat the steps to add more contacts if needed.
- To remove a contact, tap the More menu.
- Tap Remove, then Remove all to clear all emergency contacts.
Check Emergency SOS settings
- From the Settings menu, tap Safety and emergency.
- From the menu that appears, tap Emergency SOS.
- A short video will show how to trigger an emergency call by pressing the Side key five times.
- Turn on Require swipe to call to help avoid accidental calls.
- Turn on Send SOS to emergency contacts.
If you ever make an Emergency SOS call, your phone will automatically send an SMS with your location to your emergency contact. If your location changes, updates will continue to be sent for up to 24 hours.
Emergency SOS lets you call Triple Zero without unlocking your phone. You can learn more in the How to call emergency services from your Android phone’s lock screen course.