How to Recall an Email in Outlook?

This piece tells you how to recall an email, what you need to do to recall an Outlook email, and what could happen or take longer than expected during a recall. The steps in this piece work for Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2007, and Outlook for Microsoft 365.

How to Delete an Email in Outlook (and, if you want, Replace It)
When you try to take back an email, Outlook may tell the person who received it. To get Outlook to remember an email:

How to Recall Email in Outlook (and Replace It, If Desired)

When you attempt to retract email, Outlook may notify the recipient of the recalled email. To recall an email in Outlook:

Open Outlook and go to the Sent Items folder.
Double-click the sent message you want to recall to open it in a separate window.

The options to recall a message are not available when the message is displayed in the Reading Pane.
Go to the Message tab, select the Actions dropdown arrow, and choose Recall This Message.
In the Recall, This Message dialog box, select one of the following:
- Delete Unread Copies of This Message to recall the message.
- Delete Unread Copies and Replace With a New Message to replace the message with a new one.
If you want to receive notification of the results, select the Tell Me if Recall Succeeds or Fails for Each Recipient check box.
Select OK.
If you selected Delete Unread Copies and Replace with a New Message, modify the original message.
Select Send.
You’ll receive an Outlook notification message regarding the success or failure of your attempt to retract or replace the email.

Requirements for Recalling an Email Message

Some caveats apply when you want to recall an Outlook email message:

Both you and your recipient must have an Exchange server email account and use Outlook as the email client.
The recipient’s mailbox is open when you attempt to process a recall.
The original message is unread and is in the recipient’s Inbox.
The message was not touched by any process, such as a rule, spam filter, or add-in.

If any of these requirements are not met, your recall will fail.

Possible Results When You Recall Outlook Email

Trying to remember a message can have different effects depending on how the recipient’s email client is set up, if the original email has already been read, and a number of other things. Here are some of the things that could happen as a result of an Outlook recall.

If the receiver moves both messages to the same folder, either by hand or with a rule, the same things happen.If the recipient set Tracking to Automatically process requests and answers to meeting requests and polls, and the recipient has not read the original email, Outlook deletes the original message and tells the recipient that you deleted the message.

But if the original message has already been read when the recall message is handled, the person who received it will be told that you want to delete it. The original letter stays in the inbox of the recipient.

If the receiver manually or automatically moves the original message out of the inbox and into another folder, and the recall message goes to the inbox, the retraction fails, even if neither message has been read. The person is told that a return attempt did not work. The receiver can see both the original email message and the new one.

Also, if you use Outlook on a mobile device and try to remember a letter, it probably won’t work.

How to Delay Sending Messages

Sending the wrong email can be useless and even make you look bad.

Outlook’s remember feature might help you out in a pinch, but you can also reduce your stress by setting up an email to be sent later or delaying messages. This gives you time to check for mistakes or change information before your email gets to the person you’re sending it to.

FAQ

How Do I Resend an Email in Outlook?

In Outlook for Windows, go to File > Info > Message Resend and Recall to resend an email. Right-click on the message in the Sent folder in macOS and choose “Resend.” Right-click the message in Outlook.com and choose Forward. Then, remove Fw from the Subject line.

How Do I Encrypt An email in Outlook?

To encrypt an email in Outlook, go to File > Properties > Security Settings and check the box next to Encrypt message contents and files. Go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Email Security to encrypt all texts that are sent out.