How to Recall an Email in Outlook? Step-by-Step Guide 2024

  

Rollins Duke   
Published: October 3rd, 2024 • 7 Min Read

In this guide, we will explore how to recall an email in Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, etc easily in multiple ways. Recalling a message in Outlook means, requesting to retrieve an email that you have sent. This feature is typically helpful when you have made a mistake, such as sending an email to the wrong person including incorrect information, or forgetting to attach a necessary file. To overcome this mistake we have explained how to recall a message in Outlook step-by-step.

If you have sent some important emails and later realized that it includes embarrassing errors. The situation becomes worse when you hit the Reply All button to send a private Outlook email to your workplace. Sometimes, you forget to include an attachment to the corresponding email. Later, you try to recall an email in Outlook.

Well, undoing the damage may take some time, but still, you have a solution for the recipients who haven’t read your email. Some built-in features in Outlook could help you to recall a message in Outlook and save you from situations where you discover an error in the message and want to recall it for modification. In this write-up, we will describe how to quickly unsend an email in Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010 versions. Moreover, we have also provided steps to set Undo Send for Outlook web. So keep reading.

How to Recall An Email In Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, & Earlier?

Below you can find the possible ways to unsend a message in Outlook:

Note: The following instructions will work out when in the Outlook you have hit the Send tab. Also, both the sender and receiver must have an Office 365 or Microsoft Exchange Server email account.

1. Recall a Message in Outlook Using the Recall Option

1. Open MS Outlook and click on the Sent Items folder in the left panel of Windows. Search the email to recall with a double-click on the desired email to open.
   
2. In the toolbar section, go to the Message tab to recall an email in Outlook.
3. Choose the Actions button and pick the Recall this message option.
4. Now, once you click on this option, a pop-up window will appear on the screen. It will show two options:
   • Delete Unread copies of this message – To Recall an email in Outlook.
   • Delete Unread Copies and Replace them with a new message – To replace the desired message with a new one.
5. If you want to know whether the processing to recall a message in Outlook is working or not, enable the checkbox saying Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient check box. Once you have selected the option, now you click on the OK button.
   

Undo an Email in Outlook Using Undo Command

The undo command in Outlook is designed to quickly reverse the recent actions. Just after sending an email, you instantly press it to recall an email in Outlook. Therefore, in the latest versions of Outlook, you can also press CTRL+Z.

Set Undo Command in Outlook

To add the Undo option to the ribbon in Outlook in order to recall an email in Outlook, follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook and go to the top left corner.
2. Click on File and select Options from the menu.
3. In the Options window, choose Customize Ribbon from the left panel.
4. Look for the drop-down menu labeled Choose commands from and set it to All Commands.
5. Scroll down through the list until you find Undo to recall a message in Outlook.
6. Click on Undo, and then press the Add button to move it to the right-side panel (the ribbon).
7. Hit OK to save the changes to recall an email in Outlook.

Set Undo Send on Outlook Web to Recall an Email

1. First, click on the gear icon (settings) at the top right of your Outlook window.
2. Then, scroll down and click on “View all Outlook settings.”
3. In the new window, go to the “Mail” section, and then select “Compose and reply.”
4. Look for the “Undo send” option, and choose how long you want the delay to be (like 5 or 10 seconds).
5. Finally, click “Save” to lock in your settings.

Key Facts:

To recall an email in Outlook, a few things need to be in place:

• Everyone must be using Microsoft 365 or Exchange and belong to the same organization.
• The recipient must not have read the email yet. If they’ve already opened it, you can’t recall it.
• There’s no set time limit, you can try to recall it at any time as long as it’s still unread.
• When you recall a message in Outlook, the recipient will see a notification that you attempted to recall it.
• The recall feature is only available on Outlook for Windows. It won’t work on the Outlook web app.

Summing Up Together

It seems embarrassing whenever you have forgotten to include some important information in your email. Moreover, if you have sent the wrong email to someone it is nonproductive. How to recall an email in Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, etc has been a frequent query that can be easily resolved by following the right steps.