Receive faxes
Get a fax number and receive faxes online
A fax number of your own, without a phone line or a machine. Anyone can fax you the way they always have; the pages arrive in your private inbox as a PDF you can open on a phone or a laptop and download.
Written by the FaxBolt team · last checked
How receiving works
- Enter the US area code you want, subscribe, then choose your number from the ones available in it.
- Give that number out exactly like a normal fax number — no special format, no instructions for the sender.
- When someone faxes it, the pages are received and converted to a PDF.
- The fax appears in your inbox with the sender's number and the time it arrived. Open it or download the PDF.
There is nothing to leave switched on and nothing to feed with paper. A fax that arrives at three in the morning is simply waiting in the inbox.
What a virtual fax number is
A virtual fax number is an ordinary phone number on the public network that is answered by software instead of by a machine. Senders dial it exactly as they would dial any fax; the provider answers the call, receives the pages, and files them in your account as a PDF. Nothing is plugged in at your end.
Numbers come in two shapes. A local number carries an area code and looks like a business in that place — it is what most people want. A toll-free number (800, 888, 877…) costs the sender nothing from a landline and reads as national. FaxBolt issues local US numbers; toll-free is not offered today.
Who actually needs one
- Clinics, insurers and pharmacies that will only send records by fax.
- Landlords, escrow, mortgage and title companies handling signed paperwork.
- Courts, government agencies and school districts with fax-only intake forms.
- Small businesses whose suppliers still send purchase orders by fax.
- Anyone who needs to receive a fax exactly once and does not want to hand out a friend's office number.
What it costs compared with a fax line
A dedicated analogue fax line from a phone company runs roughly $15–40 a month, plus the machine, plus toner and paper, plus the wall socket it has to sit next to. FaxBolt is $4.99 for the first week and $14.99 per month after that, includes both the number and unlimited sending and receiving under fair use, and cancels online whenever you are done.
For a household or a small office that receives a handful of faxes a month, the arithmetic is not close.
Numbers, area codes and porting
- Your number is a US fax number and works for senders across the US and Canada.
- It is a real number on the phone network, not a shared inbox or an alias.
- It is your incoming number. Faxes you send go out from the FaxBolt service number, so put your own number on the cover sheet when you want a reply.
- It stays yours for as long as the subscription is active; if you cancel, the number is released.
- Porting an existing fax number in is not supported today — if the number on your letterhead has to stay the same, keep the line or ask your carrier about forwarding to it.
Privacy of incoming documents
Received faxes are stored in private object storage with no public address. Opening or downloading one asks your signed-in account for a short-lived private link, which expires within minutes. Documents are scheduled for deletion 30 days after a subscription ends, and you can delete an individual fax from the inbox at any time. The privacy policy sets out what is kept and for how long.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a fax number without a phone line?
Through an online fax service. The provider holds the line side and assigns you a number on the phone network; incoming faxes are converted to PDFs and delivered to your account instead of to a machine.
Can I receive a fax on my phone?
Yes. Received faxes appear in your inbox in the browser, so you can open them on a phone, a tablet or a laptop — no app required.
Can I choose the area code of my fax number?
Yes. You enter a US area code before checkout and pick your exact number from the ones available in it straight after. If an area code has nothing free, try a neighbouring one — for receiving faxes the area code makes no practical difference to the sender.
Is there a free way to receive faxes?
Free receiving comes with strings. GotFreeFax publishes one shared inbound number: everybody sees the same list, faxes are deleted after five days, and it tells you outright not to use it for personal or sensitive documents. Free personal numbers exist but are temporary or conditional — FaxBurner gives you one for 24 hours, other services keep the number only while you keep using it. A number that stays yours unconditionally carries a monthly cost on any network.
Can I call a fax number?
You can dial it, but you will hear fax tones, not a person. A fax number answers as a fax; if you need to reach the person behind it, use the phone number on their cover sheet.
Can I have more than one fax number?
One number is included per account today, and additional numbers are not offered. If you need separate numbers for separate departments, you need separate accounts.
Do I keep the number if I cancel?
No. The number stays assigned while the subscription is active and is released after cancellation, so hand it out with that in mind if you plan to stop.