Does deleting an email unsend it in Outlook?

You have some advantages over standard Outlook account users if your company uses Microsoft Outlook on the collaborative communications server, Microsoft Exchange Server, such as the ability to search multiple mailboxes, increased security features, and the ability to recall or even replace an email message. You may “unsend” emails using the latter, which is useful if you forget to include essential information, make a mistake in a message, or accidentally press the dreaded “Reply All” button on a private email. You may also use a modified version of the recalled message to replace it. However, unsending and recalling an email won’t change the fact that an email has been sent and you may think deleting an email might just delete from everywhere like a linked file on SharePoint, being deleted from every location it’s synced. However, that’s not the case and simply deleting your email from your sent inbox won’t delete from the user. Even if you are super fast and use lightning speed to go and delete the sent mail, it won’t work as the mail sent is now mail sent. You can, however, “unsend” an email, where you will be given a specific amount of time to undo mail sending.

In this blog, we will be looking at how to unsend an Email in Outlook as an alternative to the inability to delete sent mail to unsend an email. Follow the step-by-step process below to see how you can unsend an Email in Outlook.

Step by step process – How to “Unsend” an Email in Outlook

  1. Firstly, open Microsoft Outlook.
  2. After that click “Mail” located on the left.
  3. Now select the “Sent Items” folder.
  4. The email you want to recall is “unsend”, double click on it.
  5. After that click on “Actions”.
  6. Now choose the “Recall this message” option.
  7. Now select the “Delete unread copies of this message” option.
  8. After that ensure the “Tell me if recall succeeds…” box is checked.
  9. Finally, click on “OK”.

Once the method above has been completed, the email that shouldn’t have been sent will be deleted from the recipient’s mailbox, barring of course the fact that the mail hasn’t been opened. Before the intended recipients get a chance to see your emails, Outlook allows you to withdraw or recall them. Recall an email if you unintentionally sent the wrong email to a customer or failed to attach essential papers to an email you sent to your workers. You may either remove the email from the recipient’s inbox or replace it with a fresh one. Only recipients who use Microsoft Outlook can use the recall function. Additionally, email recall is not always successful and is dependent on the recipient’s Outlook settings.

You have no control over an email that has been sent

An email isn’t like a website remark, which you may delete or modify later since it’s saved in a single location that enables modification — the website itself. When you send an email, your email software copies the message and sends it to everyone you’ve ever emailed. It is received by their email server and shown in their email client.

There is no way to undo an email that has already been sent. The copy is on someone else’s mail server, and you have no control over it.

In some situations, Microsoft Outlook has a “Remember” function that allows you to recall email messages. Other email programs, like Gmail’s “Undo Send” experimental feature, also enable you to “undo” an email you’ve previously sent, but this is merely a gimmick.

How Does Outlook’s Recall Work?

Only a few situations in Microsoft Outlook enable you to recall or retract messages. You must be using a Microsoft Exchange email system and connected to the recipient’s Exchange server. This functionality may work while contacting coworkers, but it will not work when emailing someone with a personal email account or sending emails to addresses outside of your company.

If the receiver has already seen your message, it will not be deleted; however, the recipient will be notified that you wish to delete it. Both the email and the follow-up request to remove it may be displayed in a person’s inbox if you send a really humiliating email. If your initial email had a funny typo or error, the follow-up request to erase it may make the situation even funnier.

While you may use this function to remove messages with typos or other problems and send an updated copy to your coworkers’ inboxes, you can’t rely on it to retract emails you wish you hadn’t sent.

In Outlook, create a compose and respond rule to postpone the email

If you don’t think you need to send an email right now, the method provided above is the simplest way to relay it or add a scheduled approach to it. There is another option: you may physically delay the email sending for up to 10 seconds after pressing the send button. You’ll need to establish a write and respond rule to do this, which will allow you to set a time limit on the email you’re sending. To discover how you may delay the email sending, follow the instructions below.

Step by step process – How to use the compose and reply rule to add a delay to emails.

  • First, sign in to Office 365 using your sign-in details.
  • Navigate to “Outlook” using the “app launcher”.
  • Click on “Settings”, gear icon.
  • Click on “View all outlook settings”.
  • Under “email”, click on “compose and reply”.
  • Scroll to the section which says “Undo send”.
  • Then click on “Save”

Any messages you send will now be delayed by 10 seconds. You may specify the delay for certain mailboxes or even specific emails that you can compose and send directly from this window. However, completing the steps above will cause the email to be delayed for 10 seconds.

When you send an email, this window will appear for 10 seconds. If you immediately click “Undo,” the email will not be sent. You’ll then be sent to the compose page, where you may make changes to the email or even delete it.

The procedures outlined above are intended to serve as a failsafe in the event that the letter you’re sending is erroneous or goes to the wrong recipient. You have some time to think about how you’re going to send an email before actually sending it, which is why putting this in place, especially for people who aren’t members of your organization, is critical to keeping your data in the right hands.

Step by step process – How to “Unsend” an Email in Outlook

  • Firstly, open Microsoft Outlook.
  • After that click “Mail” located on the left.
  • Now select the “Sent Items” folder.
  • The email you want to recall is “unsend”, double click on it.
  • After that click on “Actions”.
  • Now choose the “Recall this message” option.
  • Now select the “Delete unread copies of this message” option.
  • After that ensure the “Tell me if recall succeeds…” box is checked.
  • Finally, click on “OK”.

That’s it for this Blog thank you for taking time out to read our content, please feel free to email our team about how it went if you followed the steps or if you need more help with the questions we answered in this Blog.

Saajid Gangat

Saajid Gangat has been a researcher and content writer at Business Tech Planet since 2021. Saajid is a tech-savvy writer with expertise in web and graphic design and has extensive knowledge of Microsoft 365, Adobe, Shopify, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and more! You can connect with Saajid on Linkedin.

Recent Posts