How to Recall an Email in Microsoft Outlook

“Oh no, I shouldn’t have sent that email.” It’s happened to all of us at least once. The good news is that you can undo or recall an email in Microsoft Outlook. To help you avoid this scenario in the future, we explain how to retract an email and delay emails so you can review them.

Use Undo Send in Outlook for the web

You can cancel sending an email in Outlook for the web with one click. You have up to 10 seconds to do this. First, you should make sure that the feature is set up correctly.

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First, click the Settings icon (the cogwheel) and scroll to the bottom of the resulting sidebar. Then select “Show all Outlook settings”.

When the Settings window opens, select Mail on the far left, then Compose & Reply on the right.

On the far right, go down to the Undo Send section. You will see a brief explanation of the feature with a slider to adjust the number of seconds up to 10.

After adjusting the Undo Send timing, be sure to click Save at the bottom.

Send back your email

The next time you send an email in Outlook for the web, you’ll see a brief message below.

Click “Undo” to prevent your email from being delivered to your recipient within the time frame set above.

You will then see the email as a draft, just like when you originally created it. From there, you can edit or delete it as per your preference.

Recall an email in Outlook on desktop

Although similar, the Outlook desktop app offers a callback feature rather than an undo send option.

The difference is that the email is still sent to the recipient. However, you can recall them if your recipient hasn’t opened the email yet.

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There is no time frame in which you have to recall the message. But the longer you wait, the better chance your recipient will open the email.

Note: You can only recall an email after you click send if you and your recipient have either a Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange email account in the same organization.

Go to the Sent folder for the email account if you have more than one. Select the message to open it in its own window and go to the Message tab.

In the Pan section of the ribbon, click the More Pan Actions drop-down arrow. Select “Recall this message”.

In the Recall This Message pop-up window, check an option to either delete unread copies of the email or delete the unread copies and replace them with a new message.

Optionally, select the following checkbox if you want to be notified of the success or failure of the recall. Click OK.”

When you select the option to replace the email, a new compose window will open. You’ll see your original message, which you can edit.

Select “Send” when you’re done editing the email.

Note: Your recipient may receive an email that you want to recall the message.

Create a rule to delay sending emails

To prevent an email from being sent accidentally or so quickly that you forget an attachment or recipient, you can create a rule in the Outlook desktop client.

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This rule delays sending emails for the number of minutes you specify. The emails remain in your outbox where you can review them before they are sent.

Go to the File tab and select “Info” on the left. Select your email account above if you have more than one. Then click on “Manage rules and notifications”.

In the Rules and Alerts box, confirm that you are on the Email Rules tab and that the correct email address is displayed. Then select “New Rule” in the top left.

When the Rules Wizard opens, select “Apply rule to messages I send” in the “Start with a blank rule” section. Click next.”

Next, you can choose specific conditions for your rule if you want.

For example, you might want the rule to apply only to messages marked as important or to messages with specific words in the subject line.

If you don’t select any conditions, just select Next. You’ll then see a notification confirming that you want your rule to apply to every email you send.

Click Yes to confirm and continue.

On the following screen, check the box below for Postpone delivery by a number of minutes.

Then, in the Step 2 box at the bottom, click the link to a count of.

In the following pop-up window, enter the number of minutes you want to use and click “OK”. Then select Next.

If you want to apply exceptions to your rule, check these boxes next. Then click Next again.

Give your rule a name on the last screen. Check the box to enable this rule and optionally create this rule for all accounts.

Check the rule description below. If you need to make a change, click Back. Otherwise, select “Finish” to create your rule.

When you return to the Rules and Alerts window, you will see your new rule in the list. Select “Apply” and then “OK” to close the window and return to your inbox.

To check the emails to be sent, go to the outbox folder of your email account. You then have time to edit or delete an email before it is forwarded to your recipient.

If you’re sending a message that’s missing an attachment or has details that shouldn’t be shown, you have options to cancel the email or recall it. But to make sure this doesn’t happen again, you should set up the delayed delivery rule for Outlook emails you send.