Can you unsend an email

Can you unsend an email : Have you ever hit the send button in an email just to notice you missed a mistake? 

Same, here. 

You freak out, panic, and miss your chance to undo it.

Then the email is sent forever.

You wish you can avoid the embarrassment. You wish you can take it back. 

But can you unsend an email?

Well, you can, and here is how. 

In this article, you will learn how can you unsend an email. 

How to unsend an email in Gmail

Gmail has the “Undo Send” feature automatically.

However, you can adjust the timeframe that emails are held from the default of five seconds (too short, IMHO) up to 30 seconds.

Pick whatever feels best for you.

To adjust your timeframe, go to:

1. Gmail Settings (cogwheel icon)
2. Choose the General tab.
3. Scroll down to “Undo Send.”
4. Set the “Send cancellation period” to whatever is most works best for you – 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds.

This way, whenever you need to unsend an email, look for “Undo” in the “Message Sent” box and click it.

You will get the email open back and saved to your “Drafts” folder.

Gmail’s “Undo Send” feature is available on the Android and iOS Gmail app.

On the Android and iOS Gmail app: 

Click on the “Cancel” button at the bottom of the screen.

This is how can you unsend an email on Gmail.

How to unsend an email on Outlook.com

On Outlook.com,  the “Undo Send” isn’t automatically turned on.

You need to turn on “Undo Send”, here is how: 

1. Click on “Settings” (the cogwheel icon).
2. Click “View all Outlook Settings.”
3. Click “Mail.”
4. Scroll to “Undo send.”
5. Move the slider from 0 up to 10 seconds.

Now to un-send an email on Outlook, click on the “Undo” box in the “Sending” box at the bottom of the Outlook.com window.

The sent email will open back up and it will be saved to your “Drafts” folder.

This is how can you unsend an email on Outlook.com.

How to recall a message in Outlook

Outlook has a “Recall Message” feature. 

With the “Recall Message” feature, you can delete an email from the recipient’s email inbox.

The “Recall Message” feature only works if you are sending a message to someone using the same Microsoft Exchange server. 

Meaning, that the “Recall Message” feature only works if you are sending a message to someone within your company or to another person with a Microsoft 365 account.

To recall a message in Outlook:

Check if your message is still in your “Outbox.”

Note: If you have just hit send, it’s likely that the message is still in your “Outbox.”

Drag the message into your “Drafts” folder or delete it.

If your email has been sent:

1. The sent email will be in your “Sent” folder.
2. Double-click on the message you want to recall to open the message in a new window.
3. Under Messages > Move > Actions select “Recall This Message.”
4. Select either “Delete unread copies of this message” or “Delete unread copies and replace with a new message”.
5. Click OK.
6. If you choose to replace the message, your original message will open for you to edit and resend.

How to set up Outlook to unsend emails

The desktop version of Outlook doesn’t have the “Undo Send” feature.

However, there is a way around how can you unsend an email. 

You can set up a rule that delays sending all of your emails called “deferred delivery”: 

This feature will give you the chance to move the email you want to unsend from your “Outbox” to your “Drafts” folder.

To set up “deferred delivery”:

1. Open the Rules & Alerts dialog, go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts
2. Select “New Rule.”
3. Select “Apply rule on messages I send.”
4. Click “Next.”
5. Click “Next” again.
6. Click “Yes” to accept the warning about the rule being applied to every message you send.
7. Select the action “defer delivery by a number of minutes.”
8. Click on “a number of minutes” and choose a delay of 1 to 120 minutes (yes minutes, not seconds).
9. Click “Next.”
10. You can choose to add exceptions to delaying delivery or just choose “Next.”
11. Name your rule, verify that the “Turn on this rule” box is checked, and click “Finish.”
12. Click on “Finish”

When you want to unsend an email, look for it in your “Outbox” and drag it into your “Drafts” folder or your “Trash” folder to delete it.

This is how to avoid asking “can you unsend an email on Outlook.com”.

How to Avoid the Necessity to Unsend Emails

Here is the scenario, you have set the “Undo Send” to 30 seconds and it wasn’t enough. 

For one reason or another, you realized a little too late that your email is lacking. 

Here, the option of can you unsend an email is no longer on the table. 

Here is how to avoid putting yourself in the situation “How can you unsend an email?”. 

1. Type your emails in a word document, or by using Google Docs first. You can’t accidentally send an email this way. 
2. Get into the habit of proofreading ALL emails you send. Or use the app Grammatically that proofreads your copy for you. 
3. You can always send a ‘sorry’ email or retype and send the email again. 

Manage Your Emails 

If you’re going to depend on the Unsend feature, it is very possible you will stash unsent emails in the Drafts folder.

What can also throw off your organization is the pile of the same unsent emails and the sent emails in email conversation threads. 

There are some apps to help you keep your emails in the Drafts folder under control.

You can organize your emails into smart folders.

This will make managing your emails in groups easier. 

You can remove, archive, or label your emails (even the ones in Drafts).

Sending emails can have awkward “oops” moments.

Like sending to the wrong email address or forgetting an important attachment.

In this article Can you unsend an email, we covered the ways how can you unsend an email to take back the “oops” moments.

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