By Tracey Dowdy

Ever forgotten to send a Happy Birthday text or missed reminding your husband to pick up milk on the way home from work? God bless the nerds at Google who heard our cries and included a text message scheduler in the latest update to Google Messages. 

It’s one of several updates to its Android apps including Google Maps, Google Assistant, and TalkBack.  Make sure you have the latest version of Messages. Simply open the Play Store app, then go to My Apps and check for updates. 

After updating, the first time you launch Google Messages and open a chat thread, a small pop-up window appears over the Send button. 

To schedule a text, start typing your message then long-press the Send button. (Do yourself a favor and set the scheduled time before you write the message, so you don’t send it immediately out of habit.) When you long-press Send, a pop-up window opens that allows you to choose from pre-set date and times or choose to customize the date and time. Once you’re done, tap Save. 

Not only can you send texts, but you can include pictures and videos as well. When you’re done, just tap the Send button, which should now have a small clock icon on top of the paper airplane. 

Once scheduled, the message will appear in the text thread with a clock next to it and a note that says Scheduled message below the message. If you don’t want to see scheduled messages, you can hide them.

If you need to edit the message or the scheduled delivery time, tap the clock icon. A menu will pop up with three options – update message, send now, or delete the message. Update message allows you to edit the text, add photos or videos, or select a different time for the message to be sent. Send now will immediately send the message and delete message will discard the text. 

Keep in mind that your phone will need to be connected to mobile data and/or Wi-Fi when the message is scheduled to go out. If you’re not connected, your message won’t send. 

Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits, and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.