We have all been through times when we have sent an email without including all the needed information. Or, even worse, to the wrong person with inaccurate attachments and silly typos, making us look unprofessional.
This happens way too often than we would want to admit. But, thankfully, there are ways you can unsend an email and save yourself from the embarrassment.
In this article, you will learn how to unsend an email on Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Zoho. So, let’s just cut to the chase and find out how to do that.
How to Unsend an Email
Depending on the email service providers, the feature to unsend an email may or may not exist. For instance, Gmail authorizes its users to unsend an email whereas Hotmail does not have that feature available.
With the information garnered in this article, you’ll get to learn which other email service providers have the unsend feature. But, more importantly, you will know to unsend an email at times of crisis.
On Gmail
Gmail has an option that enables you to unsend an email. Depending on the configured settings, the time you have to unsend an email may vary. So, if you have set the shortest time to undo an email, be quick on your toes and follow these steps to unsend it.
- After you send the email, you will see Message Sent in the bottom left.
- The option to Undo is right beside View Message.
- Select Undo and your email won’t reach the recipient’s inbox.
You can change the time to undo an email if you feel the need. Here’s how you can extend the time to display the undo option in Gmail.
- Go to Settings at the top-right corner, next to Support.
- Click on See all settings.
- Scroll down until you find Undo Send.
- Now, choose the Send cancellation period.
This will give you extra seconds to unsend an email the next time.
On Outlook
You may rest assured that your email on Outlook can be unsent. But, this only works in Outlook for Windows.
To do so, you need to go through the steps shown below.
- Go to the Sent Items folder.
- Double-click the message to open it in the next window.
- Then, click on File and select Info.
- In case you can’t see the File tab, it is because you’re using the Outlook in browser and not the desktop app.
- Now, click on Message Resend and Recall.
- Choose Recall This Message…, and then, click on one of the two options.
- Delete unread copies of this message to recall the sent message.
- Delete unread copies and replace with a new message to replace the sent message with a new message.
- Next, click on Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient check box.
- Finally, click on OK.
Depending on your preference, you can tweak the time to unsend or undo your email. You can do it by following these steps.
- Click on Settings.
- Then, select View all Outlook settings.
- Click on Mail.
- Now, choose Compose and reply.
- Locate Undo Send. Under that option, select the time you want (5 or 10 seconds).
- At last, click on Save.
Once you get this done, you will have the chance to unsend a message until the time you have selected. The undo option will appear underneath the message list. Click on it to unsend an email on Outlook.
On Yahoo
Unlike Gmail and Outlook, Yahoo doesn’t include a feature to unsend an email. So, it is rather wise if you take your time to draft your email and proofread it before you press the send button. Keep editing the contents of your email until you are sure there are no errors.
However, if you need to unsend an email urgently, there are third-party apps that claim to do so. But, you should download and install such apps with caution. Or else, on top of sending an incorrect email, you will be further troubled with malware and viruses from faulty apps.
On Hotmail
In case you have erred in sending an email on Hotmail, it’s not possible to unsend the email. Similar to Yahoo, you don’t get the option to recall the email in Hotmail. Once you hit the send button, the email is sent for good.
All you can do afterward is send a proper email, correcting the blunders you made in the earlier email. Also, an apology mail could get you out of trouble. So, next time you are using Hotmail to send an email, be more careful.
On Zoho
Zoho has your back if you have mistakenly sent an email. You can unsend an email on Zoho in three ways namely, Undo Send, Outbox Delay, and Recall a sent email. We will discuss how to enable these options individually to unsend an email on Zoho below.
Undo Send
- In your Zoho Mail, go to Settings.
- Select the Compose Options.
- Then, from the Undo Send, adjust the time for how long you want this option to appear after sending an email.
After you have enabled Undo Send, you will see the option to unsend an email on the top of your mails.
Outbox Delay
Zoho prevents you from sending incorrect emails with its Outbox Delay feature. This will keep your email in the Outbox for the set period before it reaches your recipient’s box. In that period, you can make the necessary changes without making any blunders.
However, Zoho restricts users from using both Undo Send and Outbox Delay at the same time. Supposing you have turned on both features, the Undo Send button will not show up and you can only use Outbox Delay.
To enable the Outbox delay, walk along with these steps.
- Repeat the steps above 1 and 2.
- Search for Outbox Interval and turn on the toggle button.
- You can adjust the time for the delay period anywhere between 1 second to 120 minutes.
- Even with this feature turned on, you can still choose to send your emails right away. In the email compose window, you can select the Send button from the drop-down.
- Similarly, the Send Later option is also available if you want to schedule the email to be sent at a certain time.
Recall Sent Email
You can also recall sent emails in Zoho. This feature especially comes in handy if you have forgotten to enable the former options that Zoho offers. But, this only works for the paid Organization users. Also, this feature is available in the webmail version.
Here’s how you can go about recalling a sent email on Zoho.
- In the Zoho mail, go to the Sent folder.
- Then, select the Mail Delivery Status icon.
- After a mail delivery pop-up appears, select the Recall this email button.
- After the confirmation pop-up displays, select OK.
