Have you ever sent something only to later regret it? We’ve all been in that situation. We wish we could undo the transmission. This article will show you how to reply to an Outlook email or postpone replying to it in Gmail.
We’ve all been in that situation. Sending an email and then quickly regretting it. It makes no difference if it was sent at the incorrect time, to the incorrect recipient, or contains embarrassing errors. Isn’t it fantastic if you could recall an email? You certainly can, given the right circumstances.
You can undo an email in Outlook for desktop by acting promptly. We’ll teach you how to get an Outlook email, go over the prerequisites, and offer some alternatives.
Outlook: How do I recall a message?
It is easy to request a recall via Outlook messages. We’ll discuss in the next section whether or not that request will be granted.
To recall an Outlook email
- From the left-hand pane of Outlook, navigate to the Sent Item folder.
- To open the message you want to remember, double-click it.
- Click File from the top menu.
- Click Resend or Recall > This Message.
- To delete all unread copies of the message , click. You can also choose to delete unread copies and send a new email instead.
- You can also check Let me know if the recall succeeded or failed for each recipient. This will send you an email detailing the results of each recall attempt. These will be sent to you via email.
- To recall the message, click OK after you are done. This will send an email request to the address of the recipient, asking them to delete the original email.
What are the requirements to recall an email in Outlook?
Recalling an email is only possible if you and the recipient have a Microsoft Exchange account or Microsoft 365 account on a single server or organization.
Check out the type of your email account .
- Click File in Outlook.
- Click Account Setting > Account Settings.
- The Email tab shows the Type table which indicates what type account you are using.
Because of this limitation, you won’t be able to retrieve emails sent to an account outside of your organization, such as Gmail, Yahoo, or another email provider. Because an email that has left your internal server is no longer under your control. Recall petitions aren’t always granted. They will not, in reality, be processed.
Even if you and the recipient are both on the Exchange server, it doesn’t guarantee recall success.
Before opening the original communication, the recipient must first open the recall request. If the receiver has read the original communication before requesting recall, the original message will be kept in their inbox. They will be able to receive the recall request in the future. They can, however, advise them that you want the original communication deleted. It is up to them to decide whether or not to carry out the recall.
The recall will take place in the background if the recipient has Automatically Process Meeting Requests and Responses to Meeting Requests and Polls enabled. Your original email will be removed after that. This option may be found in File > Option > Mail > Tracking. This only applies if the recipient hasn’t opened your original email. This option will not be available to recipients who have already read your email.
If the recipient has a policy that moves your original email to another folder, the recall request will fail. If the email was sent to a public mailbox and the recall request was received by someone other than the intended receiver, the recall will not operate.
If recipients are seeing their email outside of Outlook desktop, such as through the Outlook web program or on their mobile devices, recall requests will not be executed.
These conditions are essential for successful email recall.
- You and the recipient must both be on the same Exchange server.
- Before they can read the original email, the recipient must first open the recall request.
- Outlook must be used to open the recall request by the recipient.
- You must not give the recipient any rules that would modify or move your email.
You can see that there are very specific requirements to ensure your email recall is successful. You will have the best chance of recalling the email address. However, the process is not foolproof. It is best to use it as a last resort.
How to delay sending an email rather than recalling
It might be a good idea to try an alternative method if you find yourself frequently needing to recall email addresses.
You can do this by setting a rule in Outlook that delays the sending of your messages. This doesn’t technically recall an email but gives you a window to cancel it.
This is how to create a rule like this:
- Navigate to the tab.
- Select Manage Rules & Alerts.
- Click New Rule in the Email Rulestab.
- Select Use the rule to send messages.
- You can choose any conditions that you wish. You can choose to ignore the rule or send it to a specific person.
- Click Next.
- You can choose any action you wish. You must verify delay delivery by a few minutes .
- Click in the lower pane to select the number to specify how long you want to delay sending, from 1 to 120.
- To set exceptions or give your rule a name, click Next.
- When done, click Finish.
Gmail: How to delay sending an email
You use Gmail and would like a similar feature. You are in luck. Here are some ways to delay sending Gmail messages:
- Navigate to your email inbox, and click the icon in the upper right.
- Click To view all settings
- Navigate to the Send section from the Generaltab.
- You can use the dropdown to select a time period (up to 30 seconds), for which you wish to delay email transmission. This will give you a time limit to retract.
- Next, send a message and click Undo at the bottom-left.
Outlook Email Recall is Not the Answer
As you can see, canceling an Outlook email is simple. Whether or not the recall will be successful is depends on a number of elements. In an age where anyone may check their email from any location at any time, you shouldn’t trust recollection.
It’s worth looking into other possibilities for delaying your emails if you’re sending an error-prone email. This way, your email won’t go out right away, and you won’t be embarrassed if you make a mistake.
