Have you ever accidentally clicked the send button in an email you weren't done writing? Or accidentally emailed the wrong person; the email for the boyfriend was sent to the boss? Luckily, you can now unsend emails if you use the right email service. Whether you're desperate to unsend an email or just want to get to know the technology, read on below to find out how.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Canceling Emails from Gmail
Step 1. Log into your Gmail account and click on the gear icon in the right corner of the browser
Navigate to Settings.
Step 2. Click the Labs tab in Settings
The icon is a green beaker.
Step 3. Scroll down and look for the Undo send box
Click Enable, instead of Disable.
Step 4. Hit the Save changes button at the bottom of the Labs tab
Step 5. Look for the Undo link every time you send an email
If you accidentally sent an email and want to cancel it, just click undo and the email will come back. Now you can edit the email as you wish before sending it a second time, or suspend it permanently.
Method 2 of 2: Canceling Emails from Outlook
Step 1. Open Microsoft Outlook and navigate to Tools
Step 2. Select Rules and Alerts
Step 3. Click New Rule then select Check messages after sending
Click Next twice to confirm the changes you want to make.
Step 4. On the Select Action(s) page, check the box that says defer delivery by a number of minutes
Step 5. Specify the number of minutes to delay sending the email
Outlook can delay sending emails by up to 120 minutes (if that's your thing), even if that means you'll be facing a lot of pending messages, or taking longer than usual to send.
Step 6. Click Next and select an exception for the rule
If you want messages marked "important" to be sent immediately, for example, specify them here.
Step 7. Check the outbox directory every time you want to unsend an email
This is where the sent email will wait to pass the send time threshold you set. In the outbox, cancel the email by either marking it as draft or deleting it.
