How to recall an email in Outlook

Important Conditions for Recall to Work

First, for the recall feature to be successful, the following conditions must be met:

1. Same Organization: Both you and your recipient must be using a Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange email account within the same organization.
2. Outlook Desktop App: You must be using the Outlook desktop application for Windows. The recall feature is not available in Outlook for Mac or the web version of Outlook (Outlook.com).
3. Unread Email: The recipient must not have opened the email yet. If they have, the recall will fail.
4. Inbox Delivery: The email must be sitting in the recipient’s main inbox, not moved by a rule to another folder.

If these conditions are not met, the recall will not work.

How to Recall an Email in Outlook for Windows

Here are the steps to recall a sent message:

1. Open your “Sent Items” folder. You can find this in the folder pane on the left side of your Outlook window.
2. Double-click the email you want to recall. This will open the message in its own separate window.
3. Go to the “Message” tab. In the ribbon at the top of the new window, make sure you are on the “Message” tab.
4. Click on the “Actions” dropdown menu. In the “Move” group, you will see an “Actions” button. Click it.
5. Select “Recall This Message…”.
6. Choose your recall option. A dialog box will appear with two choices:
   • Delete unread copies of this message: This option will attempt to delete the email from the recipient’s inbox without replacing it.
   • Delete unread copies and replace with a new message: This option will delete the original email and open a new compose window for you to write a corrected message to send as a replacement.
7. (Optional) Check the box “Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient” to receive a notification about the outcome.
8. Click “OK”.

If you chose to replace the message, Outlook will open a new window with your original message for you to edit. When you click “Send” on this new email, the original message will be deleted from the recipient’s mailbox and replaced with the new one.

What Happens Next?

You will receive a notification email telling you whether the recall was successful or if it failed for each recipient.

• Success: This means the email was deleted from their inbox before they could read it.
• Failure: This usually means the recipient had already opened the email, or they are not on the same Exchange server as you (e.g., they use Gmail, Yahoo, or are outside your company). In this case, the recipient will receive a second email notifying them that you attempted to recall the first one, which can sometimes draw more attention to it.

What if You Can’t Recall the Email?

Since recalling has very specific limitations, it’s often not a reliable solution. If you send an email by mistake and can’t recall it, the best course of action is usually to:

• Send a follow-up email immediately. A simple, polite message like, “Please disregard my previous email, it was sent in error,” or “Apologies, I’ve sent an updated version with the correct information,” is often the most professional way to handle the situation.