How to Recall a Message in Outlook: Step-by-Step Guide

Download Article

Learn how to unsend an email in any version of Outlook with this guide

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: April 1, 2026 Fact Checked

Download Article

• Undoing Send in New Outlook
|
• Recalling Emails in New Outlook
|
• Recalling Emails in Classic Outlook
|
• Recalling Emails in Outlook 2007
|
• Create a Delay Rule
|
• Video
|
• Q&A
|
• Tips

|Show more |Show less

Did you hit the send button too soon? If you're using Outlook to send email within your organization, you may be able to recall and replace the message. This wikiHow guide will show you how to recall an email message in any version of Outlook. We'll also show you how you can delay sent messages in the future to avoid embarrassing mistakes, as well as how to enable the "undo send" button in the new Outlook.

Recalling an Email in Outlook

• In the new Outlook, you can enable "undo send" to stop a message within 10 seconds of sending it.
• If you have an Exchange account, double-click the sent email in new Outlook, Outlook for Mac, or Outlook for the web and click Recall message.
• In classic Outlook, double-click the sent email and click ••• > Actions > Recall this message.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:

Undoing Send in New Outlook

Download Article

1. 1
   Open your Outlook settings. If you're using a personal Outlook account, you can't recall emails in the new Outlook. Your two options are to enable the undo send button, which allows you to click an "undo" button for a few seconds after you send an email, or to switch to Classic Outlook. Unfortunately, you must have "undo send" set up before you send the email.

   • To open Outlook's settings, click File in the upper-left corner, then click Settings.
   • These steps work for both personal and Exchange accounts.
2. 2
   Enable undo send. Here's how to do it:

   • Click Mail in the left-hand sidebar.
   • Click Compose and reply.
   • Scroll down to the "Undo send" header.
   • Choose how many seconds you have to click "Undo send." Outlook recommends only going up to 10 seconds, but you're able to select up to 30 seconds.
   • Close the settings window once you've set your undo send settings. Your settings save automatically.
   Advertisement
3. 3
   Click Undo in the bottom-left corner after sending an email. If you send an email accidentally or you forgot to attach something, click on Undo in the bottom-left part of Outlook. You'll only have a few seconds to click this button, so you'll need to click fast to stop it from being sent.

   • When you use "undo send," the email will stay in your drafts. You can continue to edit the email before sending it for real.
Advertisement

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:

Recalling Emails in New Outlook

Download Article

1. 1
   Click Sent Items in Outlook's left-hand sidebar. These steps work for the new Outlook desktop app, Outlook for Mac, and Outlook on the web, but only if you're using an Exchange account. Personal accounts can't recall emails in new Outlook or on Outlook.com.
2. 2
   Double-click on the message you want to recall. You can only recall emails sent to other Exchange accounts in your organization. Double-clicking the message you want to recall will open it in a new window.
3. 3
   Click Recall message. It's in the ribbon at the top of the message screen.
4. 4
   Choose your recall message settings. You can choose to only recall the message, or you can choose to recall the message and open it as a draft.

   • After choosing your desired option, click OK.
5. 5
   View your message recall report. After submitting the message recall request, you'll get sent a link to your message recall report. Here you can monitor to make sure the message recall is successful.
Advertisement

Method 3

Method 3 of 5:

Recalling Emails in Classic Outlook

Download Article

1. 
   1
   Click Sent Items in the left panel of Outlook. Selecting this folder displays all of your recently sent messages.

   • It's not possible to recall Outlook messages on the web.
   • If the recipient has already opened the message, has an email filter that instantly moved your message to another folder, or it's been longer than 120 minutes since you sent the message, you won't be able to recall it.
2. 2
   Double-click the message you want to recall. The message will open in a new window.
3. 
   3
   Click the Message tab. You'll see this at the top of Outlook. It should be the default tab selected when you open the message.
4. 4
   Click the ••• button. If you don't see this option, click the down arrow on the far-right side of the ribbon, then click Simplified Ribbon.
5. 5
   Hover Actions. A contextual menu will pop up.
6. 
   6
   Click Recall This Message. As long as your organization uses Exchange or you have a Microsoft 365 account and the message is not protected by Azure Information Protection, you'll have the option to recall the message.
7. 
   7
   Choose what to do with the message. When you recall a message, you can choose to Delete unread copies of this message or Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.

   • If you don't want to compose a replacement message, choose the first option.
   • To write a new message that replaces the previous message, choose the latter option.
8. 
   8
   Choose whether to receive a confirmation. If you want to know whether the message was successfully recalled from all recipients' mailboxes, check the box next to "Tell me if a recall succeeds or fails for each recipient."
9. 
   9
   Click OK. If you're not sending a replacement message, this last action will recall the message from all mailboxes.

   • If you do want to compose a message, compose your replacement message now and click Send.
10. 10
    View your message recall report. After submitting the message recall request, you'll get sent a link to your message recall report. Here you can monitor to make sure the message recall is successful.
Advertisement

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:

Recalling Emails in Outlook 2007

Download Article

1. 
   1
   Click Sent Items in the left panel. This displays all of your recently sent email messages.

   • You can only recall a message you've sent in the Outlook desktop application for Windows and macOS. It's not possible to recall Outlook messages on the web.
   • If the recipient has already opened the message, has an email filter that instantly moved your message to another folder, or it's been longer than 120 minutes since you sent the message, you won't be able to recall it.
2. 
   2
   Click the message you want to recall. The message will expand in the reading panel.
3. 
   3
   Click the Message tab. You'll see this at the top of Outlook.
4. 
   4
   Click Other Actions. This icon is in the Actions group in the toolbar at the top of Outlook.
5. 
   5
   Click Recall This Message…. A pop-up window with a few options will appear.

   • This option will not be available if your organization does not use Exchange and/or the email is protected by Azure Information Protection.
6. 
   6
   Choose what to do with the message. When you recall a message, you can choose to Delete unread copies of this message or Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.

   • If you don't want to compose a replacement message, choose the first option. Once you select this option, the message will be recalled.
   • To write a new message that replaces the previous message, choose the latter option. If you choose this option, type your replacement response and click Send.
Advertisement

Method 5

Method 5 of 5:

Create a Delay Rule

Download Article

1. 1
   Open the rules interface. If you find yourself frequently recalling sent messages, you can create a rule that delays sending messages in case you change your mind. To do this, click the ••• button in the ribbon, hover over Rules, and click Manage Rules & Alerts.

   • Delay rules are not supported in the new Outlook or in Outlook on the web.
2. 
   2
   Click Add new rule or New Rule. A list of email rules will appear.
3. 
   3
   Select "Apply rule on messages I send" and click Next. Another set of options will appear.
4. 
   4
   Click Next. Now you'll see several sending rules.
5. 
   5
   Check the box next to "defer delivery by a number of minutes." This option is at the bottom of the list.
6. 
   6
   Choose the number of minutes to delay the message. To do this, click the blue text link in "defer delivery by a number of minutes," enter the number of minutes to delay before sending, and then click OK.

   • You can delay messages up to 120 minutes (two hours).
7. 
   7
   Click Next and then Finish. Now that you've created this rule, you'll have extra time to return to your Sent Items folder and edit your message before it's ever sent to the recipient(s).
Advertisement

Community Q&A

Search

Add New Question

• Question

  How do I recall an email in my MSN email?

  

  Community Answer

  Once the email has been sent, the recipient will definitely receive it.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 2 Helpful 26
• Question

  How long does it take to know if an email recall has been successful?

  

  Community Answer

  You will know immediately if the recall worked, since the email will cease to send and will open in a new window as a draft.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 9 Helpful 2

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Video

Tips

• If the recipient is using the tracking feature and has enabled "Automatically process requests and responses to meeting requests and polls," the recipient will receive both the original and recalled message.
  Thanks

  Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If the recipient has already opened the message before you recall it, they'll receive a message that lets them know you've tried to recall it.
  Thanks

  Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Advertisement