How to Undo or Recall an Email | Gmail, Outlook and iOS Guide

You sent an email by mistake? Wrong recipient, typo, or missing attachment… It happens to everyone. Fortunately, there are ways to undo an email after sending it or better yet, to avoid this stressful situation in the first place.

Why does it matter?

• On average, we send and receive around ten emails per day.
• Worldwide, 350 billion emails are exchanged every day (Statista, May 2024).
• This volume could reach 400 billion by 2026. With so many messages being sent, mistakes are inevitable. Here’s how to correct them quickly.

How to undo an email: options by email provider

On Gmail (Google) :

• After clicking “Send”, you’ll see “Message sent” with two options:

  1. Undo

  2. View message

• To enable this feature:

  1. Go to Settings → See all settings

  2. Choose a cancellation period (between 5 and 30 seconds) next to “Undo Send”.

On Outlook (Microsoft)

• There is no instant undo option, but you can recall a message if the recipient hasn’t opened it:

  1. Go to Sent Items → Actions → Recall this message
  2. Select “Delete unread copies of this message”.

On iOS (Apple Mail)

• After sending, the option Undo Send appears at the bottom of the screen.

• If it doesn’t appear:

  1. Go to Settings → Mail → Undo Send Delay

  2. Choose a delay (10, 20 or 30 seconds).

How to avoid needing to undo an email

• Use drafts

  1. Save your email before sending so you can review and edit it later.

• Schedule your emails

  1. Delay sending by several hours or days to give yourself time to make changes.

  2. This option is available in Gmail, Outlook and iOS.

In summary

Undoing an email is possible but only for a short time. To avoid mistakes:

• Activate the undo options in your email settings

• Get into the habit of using drafts and scheduling

 Bonus tip: If you’re sending an important email, read it aloud before clicking “Send”. It makes spotting mistakes much easier.

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