# Test sends & preview

Send a test of your campaign to one or more phones before the full send, to check the content, personalization, and links on a real device. It's free and not part of the real campaign.

**Language:** en
**Audience:** platform
**TLDR:** From the Message step, the Send a test SMS (or RCS) button delivers the real campaign to your test numbers: it is free, not part of the real send, and arrives with personalization resolved against a sample contact. Test numbers are managed in project settings or added right from the test panel, and they stay saved for future tests.
**Translation key:** platform.campaigns.test-sends
**Search keywords:** test send, send a test, test message, test number, test phone, preview on device, test sms, test rcs, free test, test recipients, try before sending, test limit, test allowance, sms fallback
**Related pages:** /platform/es/campaigns/test-sends, /platform/en/campaigns, /platform/en/campaigns/creating-a-campaign, /platform/en/channels/rcs/senders-verification, /platform/en/channels/rcs/sms-fallback
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**Other language (es):** https://docs.instasent.com/platform/es/campaigns/test-sends.md

Before you send a campaign to your whole audience, send a **test** — the real
message, rendered on a real device, exactly as your contacts will see it. The **Send a
SMS test** button (or **Send a RCS test**, depending on the channel) sits below the
preview in the **Message** step of the campaign editor.

## Who a test goes to

A test is sent to your project's **test numbers**. Open the test sheet, pick one or
more numbers, and send. You can manage those numbers in your project settings, or add
one right from the sheet (the first time, when there are none yet, you'll see **Add
your first test phone**). A number you add from the sheet **is saved** to the
project's test-number list: it stays available for future tests, not just this one
send.

> **Note**: The test button stays disabled until the message has content — you'll see
> *Complete the message to send a test.* until then. Add your text and it enables.

## What the test contains

The test carries the **assembled message**, not the template with its blanks unfilled:
personalization is resolved against a sample contact from your audience, so a field
like the name shows a real value and links appear exactly as they'll be sent. Use the
country selector — and the **Android / iOS** toggle above the preview — to check how
the message looks for contacts in different places and on either device, then send
the test to see it on an actual handset.

For an **RCS** campaign, the test sends the RCS message itself.

## Cost and limits

Test sends are **free**: they don't consume your campaign budget and reach only your
test numbers, never your audience. Because they only reach those numbers, they aren't
part of the real campaign or its analytics either.

To prevent abuse, free tests have a **safety limit**. The panel tells you when you hit
it: if a test send isn't delivered, you'll see a notice explaining you may have run out
of free tests for the moment. That limit **isn't a public number** — it's not
disclosed and can vary from one account to another. If you reach it, wait a little
before retrying, or contact support if you need help.

> **Note**: The exact message when a test send fails is: *We were unable to deliver the test SMS
> to \[number]. If the number is correct, you may have run out of free test SMS for the
> moment. The free SMS limit is not disclosed and may vary depending on your account.*

{/* VERIFY: exact test-send limit (how many / period / per user·project·number, when it resets). There is no rate-limit in the frontend (SendSmsTestSheet / SendRcsTestSheet POST directly per number); the cap is enforced by the backend, and the panel explicitly declares it NOT disclosed and account-dependent (i18n general.sms.test.error.desc). No .api symlink available in this environment to confirm the real number. Documenting a concrete value would contradict the literal the customer sees, so the BEHAVIOUR is documented (it exists, unpublished, varies), not a figure. */}

## Testing an RCS campaign

> **Warning**: An RCS test **only tries to deliver over RCS and doesn't use SMS fallback**. If the
> test number can't receive RCS at that moment, the test simply won't arrive — unlike a
> real send, which does fall back to [SMS
> fallback](/platform/en/channels/rcs/sms-fallback). To test how the fallback behaves,
> do it with a real send of an RCS campaign.

An RCS test has a few more requirements than an SMS test:

- Your **RCS Sender must be approved and active** in the test number's country. Until
  then you can't send RCS — see [RCS sender
  verification](/platform/en/channels/rcs/senders-verification).
- The **test number's country must be among your sender's approved countries**. Test
  numbers outside that list appear greyed out and can't be selected. The panel notes
  it: *Test is only available for phones in countries approved for your RCS Sender.*
- The **device and carrier must support RCS** — *not all carriers and devices support
  RCS*.

![The test-send sheet showing project test numbers to choose from](/platform/en/campaigns/images/test-sends--1-test-sheet.png)
*Sending a test to your project's test numbers.*

![The RCS message in the device preview, showing the sender's verified identity at the top and the Quick actions below the message](/platform/en/campaigns/images/test-sends--1-rcs-device.png)
*How an RCS message arrives: the sender's verified identity and the Quick actions.*

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