How to Recall an Email in Outlook

Most people have had that heartbreaking experience of sending the wrong message to the wrong person. Unlike email clients, most smartphone communication applications feature “Unsend” or “Delete for everyone” buttons.

Fortunately, the Outlook recall email feature enables users to resend emails in the event that they accidentally send one to the incorrect recipient. So, if you’re seeking for detailed instructions on how to recall an email in Outlook, keep reading.

Read More: How to Refresh Outlook

A Little About Outlook

Users may effortlessly manage their emails with Microsoft Outlook, a fantastic email client. Compared to other mailing applications like Gmail, it has a number of advantages.

It effortlessly interacts with Microsoft Office and has a user-friendly user interface with superb email management. As a result, it’s a fantastic productivity tool for remote work.

Additionally, Outlook is perfectly integrated with Teams, Skype, and To-Do. More than 400 million people have used it since its introduction in 2012.

Read More: How to Undo Send Emails in Outlook

How to Recall an Email in Outlook

Please take note that the web edition of Outlook is incompatible with these instructions for recalling a communication.

You and the recipient must both be using Microsoft Exchange or a Microsoft 365 account in the same organisation for this to work on a desktop client.

Emails from other organisations cannot be recalled using the Outlook capability. Therefore, its primary application is to enhance email communication at work.

Here is how to unsend an email in Outlook if it has you cursing the app and forcing it to close.

1. Step 1: Locate the email you wish to recall in the Sent Items folder. If you sent it recently, it ought to be near the top of the list. Click it twice.
2. Step 2: On the toolbar at the top, select the Message button. It will grow as a result. Take a peek at the Move area right now; you ought to see an icon for a letter and an envelope there. Clicking on that enables you to see more options.
3. Step 3: Additional choices ought to appear. There, select the Recall This Message button.
4. Step 4 Choose the Message tab, then, if your interface differs from mine, click the three dots, choose Actions, and then choose Recall This Message.A pop-up window should appear. There are two choices available to you: Delete Unread Copies of This Message or Delete Unread Copies and Replace With a New Message. You ought to have a choice that notifies you whether the procedure was successful or unsuccessful. Depending on your preferences, you can decide whether to allow it or disable it.
5. Step 5: Outlook launches a new screen so you can evaluate the message if you decide to send a replacement message. Outlook will bring up the previous email as you’re writing the new one. After making changes to the message, press the Send button.

NOTE: The recipient may need to first access the recall message if you use the Outlook recall message feature. Make careful to type something that will catch the recipient’s eye.

The recipient might not always be informed when the recalled communications are erased.

Even if the receiver is unable to view an abusive or pointless email correctly, there is still a probability that they will be aware that it was sent.

Read More:How to Archive Emails in Outlook

Variations Between Different Versions of Outlook

The alternatives for most Microsoft services are quite comparable. Although your Outlook version might have different settings, you can still follow the instructions above.

Follow the basic instructions carefully to reach the recall option whether you’re using Outlook 365, Outlook 2019, or an earlier version.

• If you can’t see it, test if your Outlook client is compatible.
• Conditions for Recalling an Email
• Both you and the recipient must be on an exchange server and use Outlook.
• You must not read the email.
• When you try the recall, the mailbox of the recipient must be open.
• The email sent prior to the recall cannot be interacted with by Span filters, rules, or add-ons.

Possible Outcomes for an Attempted Outlook Email Recall

• The recall will be unsuccessful if the recipient has viewed the email, and they will be made aware of the recall attempt.
• The email will be removed and the recipient will be told that you recalled it if they haven’t viewed it and it fits the other criteria.
• Recall will function even if the receiver opened the email, took a screenshot, and then marked it as unread.

How to recall an email in outlook on iPhone

Here you go with the steps;

• Open Outlook’s Sent Items folder, then double-click the message you want to recall.
• Select Recall This Message after clicking File,
• Select Resent And Recall
• Click OK to recall your email and decide whether you want to delete it or replace it with new text..

Alternatives to Recalling an Email

Outlook’s message recall feature is far from flawless and leaves a lot to be desired.

Don’t worry if you can’t remember your email because you can choose from a few alternatives. Let’s look at a couple of them.

Write an Apologetic Email

We all make mistakes occasionally, so you should always double-check to make sure your emails arrive to the proper person.

The best course of action is to just apologise to the recipient if you mistakenly sent the wrong email to the wrong person. An sincere apology never hurts and promotes respect and trust with your recipient.

If an essential email, such as another email, was attached to it, simply type a brief email of apology, explain what went wrong, and request that they delete the email.

How to Recall an Outlook Email by Adding a Delay

Your emails won’t go out right away if you add a delay. You might wish to apply a delay to your sent emails if you frequently respond to emails, send sensitive information, or simply lack confidence in yourself.

For help setting up delays for your sent emails, see the guidelines below.

1. Step 1: In Outlook’s upper-left corner, click File.
2. Step 2: Select “Manage Rules & Alerts” from the menu.
3. Step 3: A window that lets you set different rules will appear. Choose the New Rule option here. Choose “New Rule” from the menu.
4. Step 4: A new window will open on top of the previous one with a variety of categorised options. Press the Apply rule to communications I send button. To advance to the following page, click Next. Use the rule for the messages I send
5. Step 5: You can choose from a variety of conditions in the new window. Simply click Next as we don’t need to select any of them in this instance. There will be a confirmation screen. To confirm it, click Yes. After that, Defer delivery by a certain number of minutes should be an available option; check the box to the right of it to make it active. To continue, click the sentence’s centre hyperlink. Set the amount of time that must pass after the email has been sent. Postpone delivery for a certain amount of time
6. Step 6: After selecting Next, a new window will open up where you can add exceptions to your ruleset. In our instance, we were without any, but feel free to peruse and pick an alternative that might help you. If not, press Next to go to the finalisation page.
7. Step 7: In this window, you can give your rule a name and make a few last-minute adjustments. After finishing, click Finish, and your rule should be saved and turned on.

Why Recall Sometimes Doesn’t Work

Despite the fact that it might seem obvious, the recall feature isn’t always reliable. Thanks to today’s lightning-fast internet, your email may already be in the recipient’s inbox.

Here are a few things that could make it difficult for you to remember an email. Some of them are as follows:

Shared folders: Anyone with access can view the mails in public folders. If it is opened, the recall will be invalidated.

Redirected to a different folder: The recall will not work if the receiver has set up a rule that directs your email to a different folder. Therefore, if you make a mistake, you need to act quickly.

Opened message: You won’t be able to remember the email if the recipient has already opened it.

The recall option only functions with unread emails in the inbox, but the receiver will still be able to receive and read the recall message.

Various email clients If you use Gmail or another email messaging service, you’re out of luck because the recall feature only functions with Outlook.

Important FAQ’s

Why doesn’t email recall always work?

Even though it seems very simple, remembering an email won’t always function as you expect. Today’s internet speeds mean that mistaken email is likely already sitting in someone’s inbox, which causes a number of problems (unless you reside in a dead zone). Your attempts to remember an email will be hampered by a few key variables.

Can you recall an email after an hour?

An email can always be retrieved after one hour. Emails can be remembered as long as the receiver hasn’t opened them yet. The recall will be useless once the email is opened, thus it is important to move quickly.

Does the recipient know if an email is recalled?

No, the receiver won’t be aware that an email was recalled as long as the original message is never opened. Simply put, they’ll see the second email you send in place of the first.

Recalling opened messages:

You are unable to retrieve your original email if the receiver opens it. The first recall message is kept in the recipient’s Outlook mailbox, but they can still receive and view the second one. One motivation to move swiftly is because of that.

Redirects to other folders:

If your first message activated a filter and Outlook rerouted it to a specific folder, then your recall will fail. The recall option only affects emails that remain in the inbox. If the first message waits elsewhere, it won’t go away.

Redirects to other folders:

The recall is unsuccessful if someone reads your mail that was hiding in a public folder.

Other email clients:

With Outlook, the recall feature is functional. For instance, the recall won’t work if you send an email to a Gmail user.

Once more, recalls aren’t infallible, and your efforts can be derailed by circumstances beyond your control. However, we do hope that this tutorial was helpful.

Ending Notes

As you know that the Outlook feature does not allow for the recall of emails from other organizations.

As a result, its main use is to improve email communication at work. If sending an email made you want to scream at Outlook and close the programme, above we have told you everything. We hope that you like it.