Gmail’s “Undo Send” feature is much-loved here at How-To Geek, but you can get the same option in Outlook.com and the Microsoft Outlook desktop application. Here’s how to set them up.
The option in Outlook.com and Microsoft Outlook works the same as in Gmail: When you enable it, Outlook will wait a few seconds before sending emails. After you click the “Send” button, you have a few seconds to click the “Undo” button. This stops Outlook from sending the email out. If you don’t click the button, Outlook will send the email out as usual. You can’t undo sending an email if it’s already sent.
How to Enable “Undo Send” on Outlook.com
Outlook.com, also known as the Outlook web app, has a modern version and a classic version. Most users of Outlook.com should have the modern look and feel for their email account now, which by default shows an all blue bar.
If you’ve still got the classic version, which a lot of enterprise versions (the work email provided by your company) are still using, it’ll show a primarily black bar by default.
Either way, the process is generally the same, but the location of the settings is slightly different. Whichever version you’re using, the “undo sending” functionality works the same way. This means that during the period Outlook is waiting to send your email, you must keep the browser open and your computer awake; otherwise, the message won’t be sent.
In the modern view, click the Settings cog and then click “View all Outlook Settings.”
Switch to the “Email” settings and then click “Compose and reply.”
On the right-hand side, scroll down to the “Undo Send” option, and move the slider. You can select anything up to 10 seconds.
When you’ve made your choice, click the “Save” button, and then you’re done.
If you’re still using Outlook.com’s classic view, click the Settings cog and then click “Mail.”
Switch to the “Mail” options and then click “Undo sending.”
On the right-hand side, turn on the “Let me cancel messages I’ve sent for” option and then select a time in the drop-down menu.
When you’ve made your choice, click the “Save” button.
You might notice that in the classic version you can select up to 30 seconds, compared to only 10 seconds in the modern version. Some users will still have the “Try the new Outlook” button in the top right, which if you click will change Outlook to the modern version
The 30-second limit still works in the modern version, but if you try to change the setting in the modern version, it reverts to 10 seconds with no way to change it back to 30 seconds. There is no way of knowing when Microsoft will “fix” this discrepancy, but at some point, all users will be moved to the modern version, and you should be prepared to have a 10 second maximum “undo sending” time when that happens.
How to Enable “Undo Send” in Microsoft Outlook
This process is more complicated in the traditional Microsoft Outlook client, but it’s much more configurable and flexible. That’s Outlook in a nutshell.
Not only can you choose whatever period you want, but you can also apply it to one email, all emails, or specific emails based on filters. Here’s how to delay sending messages in Outlook. Once you’ve set that up, you have a certain amount of time to cancel sending the message in Outlook.
Or, in a Microsoft Exchange environment, you might be able to use Outlook’s recall feature to recall a sent email.
RELATED: How to Schedule or Delay Sending Email Messages in Outlook
Can You Undo Sending In The Outlook Mobile App?
As of June 2019, Microsoft’s Outlook mobile app doesn’t have the Undo Send functionality, whereas Gmail offers it on both their Android and iOS apps. But, given the fierce competition between the major mail app providers, it’s only a matter of time before Microsoft adds this to their app as well.
