Is Fax Still Used? Data from 7.5 Million Online Faxes
Updated July 25, 2026 · Data through July 2026 · Methodology v1
Yes — faxing is still in everyday use. Since 2009, people have submitted 7.5 million faxes
(19.2 million pages) through GotFreeFax alone, 5.8 million of them delivered — many to the organizations
— insurers, banks, agencies, healthcare providers — that still require documents by fax. This page
publishes aggregate statistics observed on our own platform: real transmission data, not survey estimates.
Key Fax Usage Statistics
7.5M
Faxes submitted since 2009
5.8 million delivered · 19.2 million pages · April 2009 to July 2026.
3.4 pages
Average fax length in 2026
Up from about 1.8 pages in 2010 — faxes keep getting longer.
89%
Sent on weekdays
Tuesday is the busiest fax day, narrowly ahead of Monday; weekend volume falls by two-thirds.
January
Busiest fax month
About 12% more faxes per day than November, the yearly low.
Busy signal
Top reason faxes fail
Followed by no carrier and no answer — receiving-line problems, not sender errors.
28%
Sent to toll-free lines
In 2024–2026, up from 24% in 2019–2023 — insurers, agencies, banks, and healthcare providers.
~1%
Sent across a border
France, the UK, Australia, Germany, and Japan lead international destinations.
9%
Abandoned before sending
Composed on the site but never confirmed by the sender.
About This Dataset
The statistics on this page are aggregates computed from fax transmissions sent through
GotFreeFax.com, a free online fax service operating since 2009. Figures describe
this platform's observed usage — a sample that skews toward consumer and small-business
senders in the United States and Canada — and are not industry-wide estimates. Metrics are
computed from complete transmission records: for example, delivery figures count a fax as failed only
after all automatic retries are exhausted. Counting rules: 7.5 million faxes submitted →
6.8 million confirmed attempts (after the sender's email confirmation) → 5.8 million
delivered. Share-of-volume figures (weekday, seasonal, abandonment) use submissions; the toll-free
share uses attempted faxes to valid 10-digit domestic numbers; failure-reason rankings use terminally
failed attempts. Because the site's audience size and search visibility vary
over time, we favor ratios and long-window behavioral patterns (which are robust to those swings) over
raw volume trends, and note where a figure could reflect changes in who finds the site rather than
changes in how people fax. We publish aggregate statistics only — never individual fax records,
sender information, or recipient fax numbers.
Fax Usage FAQ
Is fax still used in 2026?
Yes. GotFreeFax alone has handled 7.5 million fax submissions since 2009 (5.8 million delivered), and hundreds of thousands of faxes per year continue to flow to businesses, healthcare providers, insurers, and government offices that require documents by fax.
Who still uses fax?
Primarily people sending documents to organizations: in 2024–2026, 28% of domestic faxes in our dataset went to toll-free organizational fax lines, and sending concentrates heavily on weekday office hours.
Why do faxes still fail?
The most common failure reason in our data is a busy signal at the receiving line, followed by no carrier and no answer. Most failures are receiving-line problems rather than sender errors.
Can I cite these statistics?
Yes, freely, with attribution to GotFreeFax — a link to this page is appreciated but always at your discretion. Suggested citation: “Source: GotFreeFax fax usage data, gotfreefax.com/fax-statistics”. Journalists can request custom aggregate data cuts via our press page.
Full Research Report in Preparation
A complete research report — full time series, additional findings, methodology, and downloadable
aggregate data — is in preparation and will be published on this page. Journalists can request
embargoed access via the press page.
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