How to recall an email in Outlook

It’s the email equivalent of shouting “wait!” as someone walks away. Sometimes it works. Often it doesn’t, and knowing why saves a lot of panic.

How to recall an email in new Outlook and Outlook on the web

1. Go to Sent Items and double-click the message to open it.
2. Click the ⋯ (More actions) menu, or the Recall button if it appears in the ribbon.
3. Choose Recall message and confirm.

Outlook then sends a recall report telling you whether each recipient’s copy was removed.

How to recall an email in classic Outlook for Windows

1. Open the sent message from Sent Items.
2. On the Message tab, select Actions (it may appear as More move actions), then Recall This Message.
3. Choose to delete unread copies, or delete them and replace them with a new message.

Why recall often fails

• Different organizations. Recall generally works only between mailboxes in the same Microsoft 365 or Exchange organization. Emails sent to Gmail, Yahoo or another company usually can’t be pulled back.
• Personal accounts. Outlook.com, Hotmail and Gmail accounts used in Outlook don’t support recall.
• Already read. In many setups, a message the recipient has opened stays put.

Use “Delay send” so it never happens again

Outlook can hold your messages for a few seconds before they actually leave, giving you an Undo button:

• New Outlook / Outlook on the web: Settings > Mail > Compose and reply > Undo send, and choose up to 10 seconds.
• Classic Outlook: Create a rule under File > Manage Rules & Alerts to defer delivery by a minute or two.

Gmail has the same safety net under Settings > Undo send.

Need to send a copy of something you wrote in Word as a PDF first? See how to convert a PDF to Word for the reverse trip.