Many situations require suspending the sending of an email that has already been sent. Fortunately, this feature is available in Gmail and Outlook. Here’s how to activate it.
It’s a great classic. In the middle of writing an e-mail, in a hurry, it can happen to accidentally hit a key which accidentally sends the missive, unfinished or full of spelling mistakes, to the wrong recipient.
A situation for the less embarrassing that it is fortunately possible to repair by simply canceling the sending of the message. A feature available within the Gmail and Outlook messaging services as well as iOS.
Unsend email in Gmail
On Gmail, interrupting the sending of an email is child’s play. To do this, simply click on the “cancel” button in the box located at the bottom left of your screen, which appears immediately following sending the message.
Please note: you have five seconds by default to recall your e-mail message. A very short withdrawal period that it is however possible to extend to bring it up to 30 seconds maximum. For that:
- Click on the cogwheel at the top right of the screen and select “See all settings”
- Go to the “Cancel sending:” section and select the delay for canceling sending from 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds
Unsend an email in Outlook
Like Gmail, Outlook allows you to hold an email while it is being sent. This option is valid provided that your recipient has not yet opened your message.
- Click on the cogwheel icon at the top right of the screen
- Select the “Show all Outlook settings” section
- Go to the “Mail” category on the right of the screen. Then press “Dial and reply” in the side columns
- Go down to the “Cancel sending” section and choose the waiting period: 5 or 10 seconds and validate by clicking on “Save”
Unsend an email on iOS
The procedure is the same if you are using Apple’s Mail app on iOS. When sending, the “Cancel sending” button appears at the bottom of the screen for regarding ten seconds.
To increase the delay:
- Go to the settings then “Mail”, and click at the bottom on “Delay for cancellation of the sending”.
Some e-mail services do not offer the possibility of recalling an e-mail. Yahoo is one of them. It’s only possible to delete it from your own “Sent” folder, but your recipient still receives it.
