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Outlook and email7 min read

How to Recall an Email in Outlook (and What to Do When You Can't)

Step-by-step ways to recall or replace a sent email in new Outlook, classic Outlook and Outlook on the web, why recall sometimes fails, and how Undo Send and delayed delivery stop the problem before it happens.

How to Recall an Email in Outlook (and What to Do When You Can't)

To recall an email in Outlook, open the message in your Sent Items folder and choose Recall message. In classic Outlook for Windows that's File → Info → Message Resend and Recall → Recall This Message. Outlook then tries to delete the copy from each recipient's mailbox.

It only works in specific situations, though: you and the recipients need work or school accounts in the same Microsoft 365 or Exchange organization, and the recipient usually must not have opened the message yet. If you've sent a Gmail address or a personal Outlook.com account the wrong email, recall can't reach it.

Your situationCan you recall?
Work or school account, recipient in your own organization, not read yetYes
Recipient outside your organization (Gmail, Yahoo, another company)No
Personal Outlook.com or Hotmail accountNo
Recipient has already opened the messageUsually no
Outlook mobile app on iPhone or AndroidNo, use a computer or Outlook on the web

Recall an email in new Outlook or Outlook on the web

The new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web (outlook.office.com) use the same steps:

  1. Go to Sent Items in the folder list.
  2. Double-click the message you want to recall so it opens in its own window.
  3. Select Recall message. If you don't see it, look under More actions (the … menu), then Advanced actions.
  4. Confirm with OK.

These versions delete the unread copy; they don't offer to replace it with a new version. If you need to send a correction, send a new email afterwards.

A few moments later you'll receive a Message Recall Report email. Open it to see, recipient by recipient, whether the recall succeeded, is still pending or failed.

Recall or replace an email in classic Outlook for Windows

Classic Outlook can also replace the message with a corrected one:

  1. Open Sent Items and double-click the message to open it in its own window. (Recall isn't available from the reading pane.)
  2. Go to File → Info → Message Resend and Recall → Recall This Message. In some versions it's also on the Message tab under Actions → Recall This Message.
  3. Choose one of the two options:
    • Delete unread copies of this message to remove it.
    • Delete unread copies and replace with a new message to remove it and send a corrected version.
  4. Leave Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient ticked if you want a report.
  5. Click OK. If you chose to replace the message, a copy of the original opens. Edit it and click Send.

Classic Outlook Recall This Message dialog with the options to delete unread copies or delete unread copies and replace with a new message, and a checkbox to be told whether the recall succeeds for each recipient

Recall an email in Outlook for Mac

In the new Outlook for Mac, recall is available for Microsoft 365 work or school accounts. Open the message from Sent Items in its own window and look for Recall Message in the message window's toolbar or menu. As on Windows, it only reaches recipients in your own organization.

Why your recall failed

When the Message Recall Report says "failed", it's almost always one of these:

  • The recipient already opened it. By default, Microsoft 365 won't remove a message that has been read. Your organization's admin can change this, but most leave the default.
  • The recipient is outside your organization. Recall only works inside the same Microsoft 365 or Exchange organization. Once an email reaches Gmail, Yahoo or another company's server, it's out of your mail system's reach.
  • You use a personal account. Outlook.com, Hotmail and Live accounts don't support recall.
  • A rule moved or forwarded the message. If the recipient's rules forwarded the email or moved it to another folder, the original or its forwarded copy may stay put.
  • The message was opened on a phone first. If someone read it on their mobile, it counts as read and won't be removed.

What the recipient sees

With today's Microsoft 365 recall, the message is removed in the background, even if the recipient's Outlook is closed. Depending on your organization's settings, recipients may get a notice that a message was recalled, so it's best to assume the person may know you tried.

If the recall fails, a short, honest follow-up usually works better than silence: "Please ignore my previous email; the figures in it were wrong. The correct version is below."

Stop it happening again: Undo Send and delayed sending

Recall is unreliable by design, so the best fix is a few seconds or minutes of delay before each email actually leaves.

Turn on Undo Send in new Outlook and Outlook on the web

  1. Go to Settings (the gear icon) → Mail → Compose and reply.
  2. Under Undo send, drag the slider to the maximum, 10 seconds.
  3. Click Save.

After you click Send, an Undo button appears for those 10 seconds. Click it and the message comes back as a draft.

Delay every message in classic Outlook with a rule

Classic Outlook has no Undo button, but a rule can hold every message in your Outbox for a few minutes:

  1. Go to File → Manage Rules & Alerts → New Rule.
  2. Under Start from a blank rule, select Apply rule on messages I send and click Next.
  3. Leave the conditions empty and click Next. Confirm that the rule should apply to every message you send.
  4. Tick defer delivery by a number of minutes, click a number of, and enter 1 or 2 minutes (up to 120 are allowed).
  5. Click Finish.

Your messages now wait in the Outbox for that time, and you can open and fix them before they go. Outlook needs to be running and online for them to send.

Delay one important message

For a single email you want to double-check, or send later, use Options → Delay Delivery in classic Outlook, or the arrow next to Send → Schedule send in new Outlook and Outlook on the web.

If you also use Gmail

Gmail has a similar setting: Settings → See all settings → General → Undo Send, with a cancellation period of up to 30 seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to recall an email in Outlook? There's no fixed time limit, but it only works until the recipient opens the message. In practice that can be seconds, so act immediately.

Can I recall an email sent to a Gmail address? No. Once a message reaches a server outside your organization, Outlook can't remove it.

Will the recipient know I recalled the email? They may. Depending on your organization's settings, a notice can appear that a message was recalled, and if the recall fails they'll still have the original.

Why don't I see the Recall option? You're probably using a personal Outlook.com account, a non-Exchange email account (such as IMAP), or the reading pane in classic Outlook. Open the message in its own window from Sent Items, and check you're signed in with a work or school account.

Can I recall an email from my phone? No. The Outlook mobile app doesn't support recall. Use Outlook on the web in your phone's browser, or a computer.

Is Undo Send the same as recall? No. Undo Send stops the email before it leaves your outbox, so it always works within its time window. Recall tries to delete an email that has already been delivered.

Get it right before you hit Send

Most recalls happen because an email went out a little too fast: a wrong figure, a missing attachment, a tone that reads harsher than intended. CoreGPT for Outlook drafts replies from a one-line instruction, rewrites a message to sound clearer or more polite, and summarizes long threads so you don't miss what was already agreed, all inside Outlook. It's free to start.

Try it: CoreGPT for Outlook

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