The present invention is directed towards a method and a device for preparing a message in a portable electronic device such as a cellular phone. The device comprises a message type selection unit (14) providing a set of items of message types (20, 22, 24, 26, 28) that can be selected by a user, a first user input unit (32), for allowing message type selection by the user, and a control unit (40) arranged to: provide the set of items of message types (20, 22, 24, 26) that can be selected by a user, detect a message selection by a user via said user input unit (32), change transmission format in dependence of the selections made by the user. In this way for instance a message can be prepared and saved in advance of deciding final message type for transmission.