At times, you may find that there was an error in the email you just sent due to the hit of the 'send'' button. One question that crosses my mind is
At times, you may find that there was an error in the email you just sent due to the hit of the ‘send” button. One question that crosses my mind is whether Will I be able to unsend this email. In most cases, the answer would be in the affirmative but how quickly they act would depend on the email service you are using. Different email service providers have different ways to deal with emails that have already been sent, these features should be learned to avoid making errors and causing embarrassment.
How to Unsend an Email in Different Email Services
Email services are created differently with each of them providing these recall features in different degrees of use and ways.
The ‘Undo Send’ is the way to unsend email in Gmail. Once you send an email a notification pops up at its bottom allowing you to click on ‘Undo’ for a short window of time when an email has been sent out. In most situations, this time is between 5 to 30 seconds before the email can be sent.
If you wish to recall any sent email in Microsoft Outlook, you will be able to find, the ‘Recall This Message’ action. Select Sent Items, double-click the item that you wish to recall, and then choose, Actions > Recall This Message. This is possible only when the email open initiation has not been done by the recipient yet and both the senders and the receiver are using Microsoft Exchange.
Yahoo Mail currently does not have an option that will allow a user to retrieve a message that has already been sent. Only a send a follow-up email or apology can be sent in case a mistake is made.
In Apple Mail, a feature called ‘Undo Send’ has to be activated in the Mail preferences to enable emailing. This feature only spares a time frame of, ten seconds, during which the receiver undoes the sending of the message. In Microsoft Exchange, it is possible to undo sending emails by recalling a sent message using the ‘Recall or Replace function, only if the email recipient never opened it.
What Happens When You Unsend an Email?
If anyone clicks the unsend button, an email message that has just been sent is typically suspended from reaching the address for which it is targeting, the address where the email is waiting to be delivered. It is however good to note a few things.
Please note that even if the recipient has not sent an email to him, he received an email that has been marked as unsent. This usually depends on the time. If they opened the email before you unsent it, they will see it. If they have not opened it yet, it might simply vanish from their inbox.
There are several limitations to unsending an email. For instance, if a different email is used by the recipient after sending and unsending the message, it will probably work. Also, how unending affects email notifications varies. Some email services will send a notification when an email is unsent and some will not.
Difference between recall and unsend: To begin with, for reasons of policy or because people change their minds, misaddressed emails can get ‘unsent’, which means preventing the email from reaching the recipient in the first place, whereas recalling attempts to take out the email from the recipient’s inbox. Unpredictable and normally wears best practices for retracting an email in most workplaces are even more so if there are multiple receivers.
Best Practices for Unsending Emails
Use the unsend feature appropriately so you do not land in trouble. Below are some tips for the correct use of the Undo Send feature:
By setting a longer undo time in Gmail, you can send the email that would have otherwise been sent and regretted. You can change this setting in the general tab of Gmail settings. It is advisable to send out emails only after reviewing them to avoid any errors and mistakes.
Instead of unending an appreciation email, there are several opportunities to avoid doing so, namely offering an apology or reviewing the appreciation email if it has already been sent. The best way to avoid email blunders is to prevent common email blunders by ensuring that what is written is read and also that attachments are checked before there is a click to send.
How to Unsend an Email on Mobile Devices
Unsend and sent message recall functions are also integrated into many mobile phone operating systems that are attributed to emails.
To unsend an email on the iPhone, you should open the Mail app and select the “Undo Send” function. Once the email is sent, look for an Undo button at the bottom of the screen. Undo Send is also an option available in the Gmail App for Android devices. Just tap on Undo after you have sent the email.
There is nothing difficult to use the Gmail app for undo sending of mails. Just ensure that the app is updated to the latest version available. Other mobile email apps that have unsend features are Outlook and Apple Mail. Because many people use their phones to check their emails, configuring the unsend feature in mobile settings will help you control your emails better.
Can You Resend an Email After It has been Opened?
What happens when the email is opened? If you send someone a message and they read it, you cannot retrieve the email, sorry.
There are limits to the amount of calls one can make to email servers where one retrieves a message especially if such messages have been read. How most email networks behave regarding unsent emails also changes from provider to provider. Some may delete the email transaction from the inbox, while others may not.
Where there is no option of unsending an email, one can consider recovering from such mistakes by composing and sending an apology or informing the reader of the misconception. A few apologies for sending such inappropriate emails are sometimes all that is needed to fix the problem.
Best Practices in Email to Avoid Mistakes
All the above features are great but are designed to be advanced measures that can only be employed if a mistake has occurred. The email delay send feature allows you to tentatively draft an email to be sent at a later time thereby preventing you from making ‘oops’ last-minute edits.
How to use the scheduled send option within Gmail is quite straightforward: draft your messaging, hit the down arrow on your send button, and click the “Schedule send” option. Another way of reducing email mistakes is to Embed email moderation options.
Some of the email applications include a feature whereby before an email is sent, a pop-up appears asking whether you would like to send the email or not. Grab your tools and plugins for preventing mistakes like Grammarly and Boomerang and help you send written articles at a later stage.
Options Other than Unsending an Email
In case you find that you can no longer unsend an email, you can look for other alternatives e.g., not sending the email. How to send a follow-up correction email is one solution you would like to know. However, there is a strategy that must be common to this email.
Great empathy in writing especially apologies goes a long way and would undo the hard feelings that were brought about by the mistake in the first place. Users with such a view make use of secure systems of emailing that facilitate recall of messages already sent for better management of messages once they leave the outbox. The use of disposable email addresses helps in eliminating this practice or helps to shield your email account from such errors.
It is also advantageous to schedule email messages for later delivery. One such enhancement allows you to take back a message.
The Importance of Email Unsend Feature
Whichever way it is spelled, Recall and Unsend are not the same feature. It prevents delivery of the email in the first place, while unsend seeks to eliminate the email once it has already been sent. The email recall feature may differ in how it is implemented depending on the platform; some applications such as Outlook have the capability of recalling emails while platforms like Yahoo do not allow the recalling of mail.
Like any other option in desktop email solutions, there are some pros and cons of email recall as well. While some people may find it useful, this may be counterproductive especially if the reader of the received email has already gone through it or if the person is using a different email provider altogether. Other than popular email services only a few offer the recall feature hence the reason why it is important to understand the limitations of the email service provider you are using. The reason why email recall may ignore some addresses tends to be dependent on how fast after an email is opened the user accesses it to read.
Conclusion: Is it Even Possible to Revoke a Sent Email?
Several email providers provide the functionality of recalling and despatched emails, but it is worth noting that such systems are not foolproof. However, it is important to know how to unsend an email and its limitations. It is possible to reverse mistakes if one acts swiftly and employs efficient email services. Nevertheless, bear in mind that the most effective way of avoiding having to recollect an email is to review the message constantly before sending it.
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