Outlook email how to recall email

How to recall an email in Outlook

Most of us have had that sinking feeling when we accidentally send an email either to the wrong person, or that is full of errors.

However, gone are the days when we have to suffer from the shame of calling up the recipient and asking them to delete the message. Many email and file sharing services nowadays have a recall feature meaning there is a way you can try to get that email back without anyone seeing it.

So how do you recall an email in Outlook?

If you use Outlook 2010 or 2013 to manage your email, then follow this simple how-to guide to work out how to pull those emails back from the brink.

Recalling an email in Outlook 2010 and 2013

Why recalling an email in Outlook doesn’t always work

Unfortunately, if the recipient opens the email you didn’t want them to see, you can’t recall it. They can still get the recall message and note that you wanted to delete the first email, but it will stay in their Outlook system anyway.

If your first message was sent to a folder other than the inbox then the recall won’t work. Neither will it work if it’s sent to a public folder or if you try to recall it from a mobile device. Once one person has seen it, it’s too late.

The recall feature is designed to work with Outlook. If you are sending from a Gmail account for example, you can’t expect it to work, you’ll need to read our guide on how to recall an email in Gmail for tips on how to achieve this.

Other Solutions: Delay your emails

This means you can delay the delivery of an email after you’ve sent it giving you that extra time to change your mind.

Delay a single message in Outlook

This will only work to give you a bit more time to reconsider your message; it will not prevent you from accidentally sending the email to the wrong person. It is also only useful if you remember to check the message again before it leaves your Outbox.

Delay sending a group of messages

Again, this solution only works if you are carefully checking each of your emails for mistaken recipients or incorrect email attachments before it leaves your Outbox.

With Egress Protect and Outlook email encryption, you can take full control of recalling emails and revoke access to email content at any time. Alternatively you can use Egress Prevent, which stops emails being sent to the wrong people in the first place! Egress Prevent uses machine learning and big data analysis to understand email usage patterns and historic email data, recognising and alerting users to misaddressed emails before they press send. Get in touch with us to find out more about how to do this at your company.

How to recall an email in Outlook

Maybe you impulsively sent a mean email to someone. Or, maybe you sent a work email and just forgot to attach a document that your coworkers need.

If you want a way to take it back, you’re in luck — if you’re using Outlook, that is. That’s because Microsoft’s email client has a built-in solution for situations like this: The option to recall emails. An email recall can stop a recipient from seeing an incomplete, angry, or otherwise bad email you sent. Follow the instructions below if you want to recall an email in Outlook. If you also want to know how to delay your emails in Outlook (to prevent accidentally sending out such emails in the future), scroll past the recall instructions to view a guide on how to do just that.

Difficulty

Duration

What You Need

Outlook desktop app

Note: These instructions won’t work with the web-based version of Outlook — they only apply to the desktop client. Also, they only work if you and the recipient use a Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft 365 account within the same organization. Recalls in Outlook won’t work with recipient email addresses from outside of the sender’s organization.

How to recall an email in Outlook

Step 1: Open your Sent Items folder and look for the email you want to recall — it should be at or near the top of the list. You have to double-click on this email to fully open it before moving to the next step.

Step 2: Click the Message tab on the toolbar to make it active. Next, navigate to the Move section and click the More Move Actions button designated with a letter and an envelope, as shown below.

Step 3: Click the Recall This Message option on the drop-down list.

Step 4: If your interface is the simplified version of the ribbon, do the following: Select the Message tab, choose the three-dots icon, select Actions, and then choose Recall This Message.

Step 5: A pop-up window appears on your screen. Here, you have two options: Delete Unread Copies of This Message or Delete Unread Copies and Replace With a New Message. You’ll also see an option to have Outlook notify you if the process succeeds or fails. Select your option(s) and click the OK button to continue. If you deleted the message, congratulations! If you want to replace it, continue on.

Step 6: If you choose to create a replacement, Outlook opens a second screen so you can revise the message. As you compose your new email, Outlook recalls your old message and displays a notification (if you selected that option). Just click the Send button when you’re done with the revised message.

Note: If you send a recall message, it doesn’t exactly make your old email disappear. In order to have the original message disappear, the recipient may need to open the recall message first. This is why you should type URGENT or something similar in the recall message’s title so that it’s opened before the first offensive email. Continue on for a lengthier explanation. Microsoft also states that, in some cases, the recipient may be notified when recalled messages are deleted from their inbox. So, bear in mind that even when recalling an email, the recipient may still know that a botched or offensive message had been sent to them even if they can’t view it.

Alternatives to recalling an email

Solution 1: Type out an apologetic email. Besides double-checking to ensure your emails are sent to the correct people, this is probably the most straightforward solution to the issue. If you happen to accidentally send an email to the wrong recipient or group of recipients and it wasn’t overly scandalous, then just save some time and effort by owning up to your mistake and saying you’re sorry. An honest apology usually goes over well and may even build trust with the recipients. Then you can all move on.

Solution 2: Delay your emails, so they don’t send immediately. If you’re constantly replying to emails, sending private data back and forth, or are just prone to slipups, you might want to start delaying your emails. You can easily set this up for all your Outlook emails by following these simple instructions:

Step 1: Select File in the upper-left corner of Outlook.

Step 2: Scroll down a bit and click Manage Rules & Alerts.

Step 3: The *Rules and Alerts**window will pop up on your screen. From here, select the *New Rule* option.

Step 4: Another pop-up window will appear. Here, click Apply Rule on Messages I Send. You’ll notice that this is listed underneath Start From a Blank Rule. Hit the Next button to continue.

Step 5: Don’t worry about anything else on the conditions list and click Next to continue. After this, a confirmation screen will appear. Select Yes to confirm.

Step 6: Select the Defer Delivery By a Number of Minutes option. Choose the A Number of link. You’ll see a pop-up screen appear and you’ll be asked to choose your preferred duration. Input the number you want (120 minutes is as far as you can go) and then click the OK button. Once you’ve gone through all that, click Next.

Step 7: If you have any exceptions, select the exceptions options you want. Then, click the Next button to continue.

Step 8: Give your rule a name, and check the Turn On This Rule checkbox if it’s available. Finally, hit the Finish button.

Important FAQ

Why doesn’t email recall always work?

While it sounds pretty simple, recalling an email won’t always work the way you think. With today’s internet speeds (unless you live in a dead zone), that mistaken email is probably already waiting in someone’s inbox, which creates several issues. A few different factors will mess with your attempts to recall an email.

Can you recall an email after an hour?

You can always recall an email after one hour. Recalling an email will work as long as the recipient didn’t open the message just yet. However, it is best to act fast, as once the email is opened, the recall will do no good.

Does the recipient know if an email is recalled?

No, as long as the original message is never opened, the recipient will never know that an email is recalled. They will just see the second email you’ve sent in place of the original.

Recalling opened messages:

If a recipient opens your original email, you can’t recall it. The recipient can still get and read the second recall message, but the original stays in their Outlook inbox. That’s one reason why you should act quickly.

Redirects to other folders:

If your first message activated a filter and Outlook rerouted it to a specific folder, then your recall will fail. The recall option only affects emails that remain in the inbox. If the first message waits elsewhere, it won’t go away.

Redirects to other folders:

If anyone reads your message lurking in a public folder, the recall fails.

Other email clients:

The recall function works with Outlook. If you send an email to someone who uses Gmail, for example, the recall won’t work.

Again, recalls aren’t foolproof, and your attempts may get frustrated by factors you can’t control. But we do hope this guide helped you out.

How to recall email message in Outlook and Gmail

by Svetlana Cheusheva | updated on January 28, 2022

The tutorial provides the detailed guidance on how to retrieve email in Outlook after it has been sent, explains the key factors of recall success and describes a couple of alternatives.

A hasty click of the mouse can happen to the best of us. So, the Send button is hit, your email is on its way to the recipient, and you are cringing at the thought of what it may cost you. Before you start weighing the consequences and composing an apology notice, why not try to retrieve the erroneous message? Luckily, many email clients provide the ability to undo email messages after sending. Though this technique has a number of requirements and limitations, it does give you a good chance to timely correct your mistake and save face.

What does it mean to recall an email?

If you have accidentally sent an incomplete message, or forgot to attach a file, or sent an email to a wrong person, you can try to retrieve the message from the recipient’s inbox before they read it. In Microsoft Outlook, this feature is called Recall email, and it can be done in two different ways:

When a message is successfully recalled, the recipients no longer see it in their inbox.

The ability to retrieve email is only available for Microsoft Exchange email accounts and Office 365 users. Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019 are supported.

Some other email clients provide a similar feature too, though it may be called differently. For example, Gmail has the Undo Send option. Unlike Microsoft Outlook, Google Gmail is not recalling a message, but rather delaying its sending within a very short time period. For more information, please see Undo email sending in Gmail.

How to recall a message in Outlook

To recall a message sent in error, here are the steps to perform:

Tip. To be notified about the result, make sure the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient box is selected.

Outlook recall requirements and limitations

While the recall process is pretty simple and straightforward, there are a few conditions that must be met for this feature to work:

If these four requirements are fulfilled, there is a good chance that an embarrassing email will be saved from being read. In the nest section, you will find more information about the key reasons of a recall failure.

Why is Outlook recall not working?

A successful start of the recall process does not mean it will always be completed as intended. There are a lot of factors that can complicate or even nullify it.

1. Office 365 or Microsoft Exchange should be used

As already mentioned, the recall feature is only supported for Outlook 365 and Microsoft Exchange email accounts. But this fact alone does not guarantee that an email will be retracted. The following conditions are critical for a recall success:

2. Works only for Windows and Outlook email client

The Recall feature is designed to work only on the Windows operating system and only for the Outlook client. If you are trying to retrieve an email sent to someone on a different email system such as Gmail or Thunderbird, it will not work. Also, a recall won’t work for the web-based version of Outlook and Outlook for Mac.

3. Does not work for mobile apps

Recalls are not supported for emails that are read on mobile devices with an email client such as Gmail or Apple Mail. And even if your recipient uses Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) settings for Outlook on a smartphone or tablet, a recall may fail because of various compatibility issues.

4. The email must be in the recipient’s Inbox

To be successfully retrieved, a message must stay in the Inbox folder of the recipient. If it was moved to another folder manually or was rerouted by an Outlook rule, sorting filter, VBA code or an add-in, the recall will fail.

5. The email must be unread

A recall works only for unread messages. If the email has already been opened by the recipient, it won’t be deleted from their Inbox automatically. Instead, the recipient may get a notification that you have requested to retract the original message.

6. May fail for public and shared folders

Public folders make things complicated because multiple people can access the Inbox. So, if any person opens the email, the recall will fail and the original message will stay in the Inbox because it is now «read».

What happens when you recall an email in Outlook

Whether a recall succeeds or fails is determined by an array of different factors. The outcomes of success and failure may also be different depending on Outlook settings.

Recall success

Under the perfect circumstances, the recipient will never know that the message was received and deleted or replaced thereafter. In some situations, a recall notification will arrive.

On the sender side: If you selected the corresponding option, Outlook will notify you that your message has been successfully recalled:

On the recipient side: If the «Automatically process meeting requests and responses to meeting requests and polls» option is checked under File > Options > Mail > Tracking, the deletion or replacement of the original message would go unnoticed, aside from a couple of mail notifications in the system tray.

If the above option is not selected, the recipient will be informed that the sender wants to recall the message. If you are lucky and the recipient opens the recall notification before the original message, the latter will be automatically deleted or replaced with the new message. Otherwise, the original message will stay in the Inbox folder.

Recall failure

Regardless of the reasons because of which a recall failed, the results will be as follows.

On the sender side: If you selected the «Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient» option, you will be notified about the failure:

On the recipient side: For the most part, the recipient won’t notice that the sender was trying to retrieve the message. In some situations, they may get a recall message, but the original email will stay intact.

How to recover an email recalled by the sender

You noticed a new mail notification in the system tray but do not see that email in your Inbox? Chances are that the sender has recalled it. However, since the message was stored in your mailbox for a little while, it did leave a trace, and it is possible to recover it. Here’s how:

The selected message will be restored to either the Deleted Items folder or the Inbox folder. Because Outlook needs some time for synchronization, it may take a couple of minutes for the restored message to show up.

Note. Only the messages that are within the Retention Period set for your mailbox can be restored. The length of the period depends on your Exchange or Office 365 settings, the default is 14 days.

How do I know if a recalled message was successful?

If you wish to be informed about the result, do a recall as usual and make sure the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient box is checked (usually, this option is selected by default):

Outlook will send you a notification as soon as the recall message is processed by the recipient:

A tracking icon will also be added to your original message. Open the message you attempted to recall from the Sent items folder, click the Tracking button on the Message tab, and Outlook will show you the details:

What does it mean when you get a recall message?

When you get a recall notification like shown below, that means that the sender does not want you to read their original message and has attempted to retrieve it from your Inbox.

Most often, a recall message is received in one of the following situations:

Undo Send in Gmail

Undo Send is now a default feature of Gmail. After sending a message, the Undo option will pop up automatically in the bottom left corner of your screen, and you will have about 30 seconds to make your decision before the option disappears:

Unlike Outlook’s recall feature, Gmail’s Undo option does not pry out an email from the receiver’s mailbox. What is actually does is delaying email sending like Outlook’s defer delivery rule does. If you do not use Undo within 30 seconds, the message will be sent permanently to the recipient.

Alternatives to recalling a message

Since there are too many factors that impact the success of a message recall, one of the following workarounds may come in handy.

Delay sending email

If you often send important information, a recall failure could be a costly mistake. To prevent this from happening, you can force Outlook to keep your emails in Outbox for a specified time interval before sending. This will give you time to grab an inappropriate message from your Outbox folder and correct a mistake. Two options are available to you:

Send an apology

Sending a quick apology note could be the simplest solution if the message you’ve mistakenly sent does not contain sensitive information and is not too abominable. Simply apologize and stop worrying about it. To err is human 🙂

That’s how you recall sent email in Outlook. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!

A premature click and before you know it, your unfinished e-mail is on its way to your colleague. It’s annoying, but not the end of the world for Microsoft Outlook users. The e-mail program comes with a recall function for messages. We reveal how it works and what is required in order to recall your e-mail.

Hosted Exchange with IONOS

The prefect solution for your business! Get the world’s leading email and calendar solution together with secure hosting from a single source!

Requirements for the recall function

E-mails sent with Microsoft Outlook can be deleted from the recipient’s inbox or replaced with a new e-mail as long as the following conditions are met:

If these three requirements are fulfilled, then the e-mail can be recalled without a problem.

Recalling e-mails with Outlook 2016, 2013, and 2010

In order to recall an e-mail that has already been sent using Outlook 2016, 2013, or 2010, you need to do the following:

Step 1: Click on the “Sent Items” folder, which is on the left side of the Outlook window.

All outgoing messages are automatically saved in the “Sent Items” folder.

Step 2: Select the message that you want to recall via Outlook and double-click on it so that it opens in a new window.

When you open a sent message in a new window, Outlook offers various functions for forwarding or moving the e-mail.

Step 3: Click on the “Actions” button and select the Outlook option “Recall This Message” from the drop-down menu.

The “Actions” button can be found in the “Move” menu area.

If the Outlook option “Recall This Message” is not displayed, this is probably because you aren’t using an Exchange account or the recall function has been deactivated by the administrator of the Exchange server.

Step 4: Select one of the two recall options.

Decide whether you want to inform the recipient as to why you’ve recalled the message.

If you would like to inform the recipients of the reason for the recall, check the box for “Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient”

Confirm your selection by clicking on “OK.”

Step 5: Make sure that the recall was successful.

Outlook will always inform you by e-mail about the result of the recall. If you have activated the corresponding function, the recipient of the message will also be informed about the recall.

Failed recall

The report about the failed recall consists of the following information: recipient, subject, time, and date of delivery as well as whether the recall was successful or not.

Successful recall

If you receive a positive recall report, you can assume that the message that was sent incorrectly has been deleted or replaced with a different version.

How to ensure the recall is successful

Whether an already-sent e-mail can be replaced by a new message depends not only on the requirements listed above, but also on the recipient’s Outlook settings.

The following scenarios are possible according to Microsoft.

Scenario 1: The “Automatically process meeting requests and responses to meeting requests and polls” feature is enabled (as default).

If the recipient has the “Automatically process meeting requests and responses to meeting requests and polls” feature enabled, both the original message and the message to recall the e-mail will be stored in the recipient’s inbox. Whether the recall works or not depends on whether the mail has been read.

Scenario 2: The “Automatically process meeting requests and responses to meeting requests and polls” feature is disabled.

If the recipient has not enabled the “Automatically process meeting requests and responses to meeting requests and polls” feature, both the original message and the message about the recall will be stored in the recipient’s inbox. Whether the recall is successful or not depends on which e-mail is opened first:

Scenario 3: An inbox rule moves the original e-mail to another folder.

Scenario 4: An inbox rule moves both the original e-mail and the recall e-mail to a different folder.

If the recipient has defined a rule stating that both e-mails should be stored in the same folder, then it depends which e-mail is opened first.

If an unfinished or error-filled e-mail can’t be recalled, e.g. because one of the above conditions isn’t met, then the mishap can usually be rectified by a follow-up message. Apologize for the mistake and send any missing content. Further tips for professional internet communication can be found in our article on e-mail etiquette.

Outlook: how to change your password for mail accounts, data files, and in the web app

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular client solutions for retrieving and managing e-mails. Using the software, multiple e-mail accounts can be easily combined and controlled through one interface. For this purpose, Outlook only needs information about the corresponding mail server and the respective log-in data. If you change these, you only have to adjust them in the client settings. But.

Outlook: How to use emojis in Outlook

A picture says more than a thousand words – this proverb also explains the immense popularity of emojis. Smileys, in particular, have long shaped digital communication and are a way for the sender to convey how they are feeling to the addressee. While they began their life in chat rooms and text messenger services, emojis have long since become a popular means of expression in Outlook and the.

Outlook in Offline Mode

You probably already knew that you can also work with your Outlook desktop application without an internet connection. But you still may not be familiar with the Outlook offline mode. Read our step-by-step guide – with pictures – and learn more, including how to start and stop offline mode.

How to add a new account in Outlook

To receive, manage, and send mails from a specific account using Outlook, you must first link that account to the Microsoft client. How the setup works exactly depends on both the provider of the e-mail account and the version of Outlook you are using. This article explains how to add a new account in the different editions of Outlook.

Recalling emails with Gmail: basics and instructions

In a hectic office environment, it’s not uncommon for emails to be sent to the wrong person at times. And who hasn’t forgotten to attach a document they mentioned in the body of an email before? This is especially irritating when the email contains sensitive information. With Gmail, wrongfully sent emails can be quickly recalled. Find out how it works and the prerequisites needed to recall your.

How to recall a message in Microsoft Outlook and unsend emails you’ve sent

Twitter LinkedIn icon The word «in».

LinkedIn Fliboard icon A stylized letter F.

Flipboard Facebook Icon The letter F.

Email Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url.

Having the ability to un-send an email is undoubtedly one of the best advancements in digital mailing. And like several other email clients, Microsoft Outlook offers this through its recall feature.

Message recall allows you to retrieve a message you’ve already sent from the recipients’ mailbox if they haven’t already opened the email yet. It’s perfect for when you’ve accidentally spelled someone’s name wrong or forgot to attach your attachment.

Unfortunately, it isn’t the most user-friendly. To recall an email in Outlook, both the sender and the recipient need to be Outlook email client users on an Exchange server, along with several other restrictions. So if you aren’t both using Outlook, the feature isn’t functional.

If these conditions apply to you, a workaround is to enter your settings and adjust the delay time on your email, so that Outlook performs a several-second pause before sending an email that you might want to reconsider.

For those who can use recall for an Outlook message, here’s how to do it.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

How to recall a message in Outlook

1. Click on the «Sent Items» folder in your inbox’s left sidebar.

2. Select the message you plan to recall.

3. Click the «Message» at the top of your message window.

4. Choose «Actions» from the dropdown.

5. Click «Recall This Message.»

6. A window will appear with recall options. Select «Delete unread copies of this message» or «Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.»

7. Hit «OK.»

8. If you opted to «replace with a new message,» compose your new message before clicking «Send.»