How To “Unsend” An Email
The moment you click big “Send” button on Outlook, you realize that
1) You sent the email to wrong person;
2) You said something you shouldn’t have said.
Your regret could be caused by either or both reasons. We humans make mistakes. What could be done to mitigate the damage?
Some people include a lengthy signature announcing legal consequence unintended recipients may have. The intimidated unintended recipients may just delete the accidental email as your signature asks. This may or may not work, it’s out of your control anyway.
Can I recall an email I just sent?
We get this question often from our customers. The answer is, you guessed right, it depends.
In general, sending email is one way flow, like an arrow, it can’t be pulled back. However you might be lucky, if:
- You and the recipient are in the same organization;
- Your work email system is Office 365 or conventional on premises Exchange;
- The accidental email is not read by the unintended recipient yet.
In these circumstances, you can initiate the recall.
Steps:
- In Outlook, go to Sent Items folder, find the email you intend to recall, double click, open it.
- Make sure the ribbon is showing Message tab.
- Find the Move group.
- Click More Move Actions button, select Recall This Message.
- A window pops up, asking your options: Delete unread copies of this message or Delete unread copies of this message and replace with a new message.
It’s straightforward from here.
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