How to Recall an Email in Outlook: When It Works, the Steps, and Undo Send
You just sent the wrong email. Whether you can get it back depends on who received it and which account you sent it from. If recall can’t work, your next few minutes are better spent on a short correction.
In short: you can recall an email in Outlook only if you and the recipient both have Microsoft 365 work or school accounts in the same organization, and Microsoft’s support pages add that the recipient must not have opened it. Email sent outside your organization normally can’t be recalled, and personal accounts (Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook.com) can’t use recall at all. To try it, open the message from Sent Items, choose Recall Message (new Outlook, web), Recall This Message (classic Outlook) or Recall (Mac, iOS, Android), and check the Message Recall Report in your inbox. If it fails, send a short correction right away. Undo Send is a different feature: it holds a message for a few seconds, and it has to be on before you send.
Can You Recall This Email? Check First
These limits come from Microsoft’s recall article and its admin documentation for Exchange Online.
- Colleague in the same Microsoft 365 organization: recall can work.
- Anyone outside your organization: no. The one exception is two Microsoft 365 organizations where the recipient’s admin has added yours to an allow list. That is off by default, so don’t count on it.
- Personal account (Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook.com): no. Outlook.com has Undo Send instead.
- Already opened: Microsoft’s pages differ. The support pages say the recipient must not have opened it. The admin documentation says each organization’s admin decides whether messages already read can be recalled. Try it, but assume the email was seen.
- Forwarded: a copy forwarded by hand or by an inbox rule can’t be recalled.
- Turned off or too old: IT can switch recall off, and admins set a maximum age, 365 days by default.
- Outlook for Windows setup: recall doesn’t work in Online mode, or with several Exchange accounts in one Outlook profile.
What Changed in How Recall Works
Microsoft rebuilt recall for Exchange Online and calls it Cloud-based Message Recall. You start a recall the same way as before. A service on Microsoft’s side then tries to delete the original from each recipient’s mailbox, for up to 24 hours. Recipients are not told by default, though an admin can turn on a notification.
Recall and Undo Send in Each Outlook
| Outlook | Recall | Undo Send |
|---|---|---|
| New Outlook for Windows | Yes, work or school account | Yes, up to 10 seconds per Microsoft |
| Classic Outlook for Windows | Yes, work or school account | No. Use a delay rule |
| Outlook on the web (work or school) | Yes, see the note below | Not described by Microsoft for work accounts |
| Outlook.com (personal) | No | Yes, up to 30 seconds |
| Outlook for Mac | Yes, work or school account, version 16.94 or later | Yes, 5 to 120 seconds (Microsoft 365 subscription or Outlook.com) |
| Outlook for iOS and Android | Yes, work or school account | Not described by Microsoft |
How to Recall an Email in New Outlook and Outlook on the Web (Microsoft 365)
- Select Sent Items, then double-click the message to open it.
- On the ribbon, select Recall Message, then OK.
- Watch your inbox for the Message Recall Report.
If these steps don’t match your screen in Windows, you may be on classic Outlook. Microsoft mentions a replacement message for new Outlook but lists no step for it, so send any correction as a new email.
Microsoft’s article contradicts itself on the web: its classic section says “You can’t recall a message in Outlook on the web,” while its web section gives these steps and the admin documentation lists the web too. Try them with a work or school account.
How to Recall an Email in Classic Outlook
- Select Sent Items in the folder pane.
- Double-click the message to open it. Selecting it in the reading pane won’t work.
- On the classic ribbon, go to the Message tab, Move group, More Move Actions, Recall This Message. On the simplified ribbon, go to Message, More commands (...), Actions, Recall This Message.
- Choose Delete unread copies of this message or Delete unread copies and replace with a new message, then select OK.
- If you chose to replace it, write the new message and select Send.
If Recall This Message is missing, Microsoft says you probably don’t have an Exchange account, or the feature isn’t available in your organization.
How to Recall an Email in Outlook for Mac
Recall on a Mac needs Outlook for Mac 16.94 (Build 25010522) or later. Legacy Outlook for Mac doesn’t support it.
- Select Sent, then double-click the message to open it.
- On the ribbon, click Recall, then OK. If the button is missing, add it by customizing your toolbar.
- Open the link in the Message Recall Report in your inbox.
How to Recall an Email in the Outlook App (iPhone and Android)
- Open the message in your Sent folder.
- Tap the three dots, More options, at the top right.
- Tap Recall.
Microsoft’s Can I undo / recall a sent email? page says you will get an email telling you whether it worked.
How to Read the Message Recall Report
The report is an email with the subject “Message Recall Report for message” plus your original subject. Microsoft says in one place that it usually arrives within about 30 seconds, and in another within a few minutes.
- Select View Message Recall Report. It opens in your browser, and you may need to sign in.
- Read the status for each recipient: succeeded, pending or failed.
If a recall can’t run immediately, the system retries for up to 24 hours before marking it failed. If the mistake matters, don’t wait for a pending status to change. If no report arrives, IT can check whether mail from Office365Reports@microsoft.com was blocked.
How to Unsend an Email With Undo Send
Undo Send is how you unsend an email in Outlook without recall. It holds each message for a set time, and you cancel from a prompt. It only helps if it was on before you pressed Send.
- New Outlook for Windows: go to Settings > Mail > Compose and Reply > Undo send. Microsoft says the undo option shows for up to 10 seconds.
- Outlook.com: go to Settings > Mail > Compose, set a delay under Undo send (up to 30 seconds), and select Save. An Undo prompt then appears at the bottom of the message list after you send.
- Outlook for Mac: go to Outlook > Settings > Composing and set a delay from 5 to 120 seconds. Microsoft lists it for Microsoft 365 subscriptions and Outlook.com accounts.
- Classic Outlook: not supported. Use the delay rule below.
- Outlook on the web with a work account, and the phone apps: Microsoft’s pages cited here give no steps or length.
Set the longest delay your Outlook offers. For other settings worth changing, see these Outlook tips and tricks.
Delay All Mail So You Have Time to Catch Mistakes
In classic Outlook, a rule can hold everything you send for up to 120 minutes, following Microsoft’s delay or schedule article:
- Select File > Manage Rules & Alerts > New Rule.
- Under Start from a Blank Rule, select Apply rule on messages I send, then Next.
- Leave the conditions empty and select Next. When the confirmation appears, select Yes so the rule covers all your mail.
- Tick defer delivery by a number of minutes, select the underlined a number of, enter the minutes, then OK and Next.
- Select Next, name the rule, tick Turn on this rule, and select Finish.
Each message then waits in the Outbox. Outlook has to be running to send it.
For new Outlook and Outlook on the web, that article offers no such rule, only Schedule send for one message at a time, from the dropdown next to Send. In new Outlook it isn’t available for IMAP or POP accounts.
What to Do When Recall Fails
- Send a short correction now. Reply to the same people, with the fix in the first line.
- If it contained confidential or personal data, tell your manager or IT straight away.
- Turn on Undo Send or the delay rule for next time.
Two examples you can adapt:
- “Correction: the invoice I sent at 10:05 had the wrong total. The right one is attached. Please ignore the first. Sorry for the mix-up.”
- “I sent you the email below by mistake. It wasn’t meant for you. Please delete it and don’t forward it. Thank you.”
If you send notes like these often, save the wording as an Outlook template.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I recall an email sent to someone outside my organization?
Normally no. Recall works inside one organization. The exception is two Microsoft 365 organizations where the recipient’s admin has allow-listed yours, which is off by default. Send a short correction instead.
Can I recall an email after it has been read?
Microsoft’s support pages say the recipient must not have opened it. Its admin documentation adds that each organization’s admin decides whether read messages can be recalled. Try it, but assume the email was seen.
How do I unsend an email in Outlook?
Use Undo Send, which must be on before you send, then select Undo in the prompt. New Outlook: Settings > Mail > Compose and Reply > Undo send. Outlook.com: Settings > Mail > Compose. Mac: Outlook > Settings > Composing. Classic Outlook does not have it.
Why don’t I see the Recall option in Outlook?
In classic Outlook you must double-click the message to open it; the reading pane does not work. The command may also be missing without an Exchange account or if your organization doesn’t offer it. On a Mac, add the button by customizing your toolbar; legacy Outlook for Mac does not support recall.
Does the recipient know I recalled an email?
Not by default in Exchange Online. Recipient notifications are off unless an admin turns them on. Anyone who already read the email still knows what it said.