How to Recall an Email in Outlook

Sometimes, after hitting ‘Send’ on an email, you might instantly regret it. Whether it’s a typo, a wrong recipient, or sensitive information, Outlook offers a ‘Recall’ feature that can help. This guide will walk you through the process of recalling an email in Outlook.

Scenarios for Recalling an Email

There are several common situations where recalling an email can be a lifesaver:

1. Spelling Mistakes and Typos: We all make them. A quick recall can save you from embarrassment and ensure your message is professional.
2. Sending to the Wrong Recipient: Accidentally sent an email to ‘john.smith@company.com’ instead of ‘jon.smyth@company.com’? (This common typo scenario highlights the importance of professional email naming conventions and clear email address structure. When creating professional email addresses, following established email naming best practices can help prevent such confusion. For comprehensive guidance on creating effective email addresses, you can explore the complete email naming guide to ensure your organization’s email structure is clear and consistent. If you need help creating professional email addresses, you can use the email generator tool to generate appropriate email names based on your specific needs and preferences.)
3. Sensitive Information: If an email contains confidential data that shouldn’t have been shared, recalling it immediately is crucial to prevent potential information exposure.
4. Missing Attachments or Incorrect Information: You might realize you forgot to attach a crucial document or included outdated details. Recalling allows you to send a corrected version.

Conditions for Recalling an Email

While the recall feature is incredibly useful, it comes with certain conditions and limitations. For a successful recall, the following generally apply:

1. Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft 365 Account within the Same Organization: Both the sender and the recipient must be using a Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft 365 email account and belong to the same organization. Recalling messages sent to or from external email addresses (like Gmail or Hotmail) is not possible.
2. Outlook Desktop Version: The recall function is primarily available in the Outlook desktop application. It typically does not work with web-based versions (Outlook on the web) or mobile applications.
3. Unread Mail: The recall is most likely to succeed if the recipient has not yet opened the email. Once the email has been read, the recall attempt may still go through, but the recipient will likely be notified that you tried to recall it.
4. Email in Recipient’s Inbox: For a recall to be effective, the email must still be in the recipient’s inbox. If the email was automatically moved to another folder (e.g., through a rule or filter), the recall might not work as intended.

Steps to Recall an Email

If you find yourself needing to recall an email, here are the general steps to follow in the Outlook desktop application:

1. Open Your Sent Items Folder: In Outlook, navigate to your ‘Sent Items’ folder. This is where all your sent emails are stored.

2. Locate and Open the Message: Find the email you wish to recall and double-click it to open it in a new window. It’s important to open the message in a separate window, not just preview it in the reading pane.

3. Initiate the Recall Process:

   • For Classic Outlook: Look for the ‘Message’ tab in the ribbon. In the ‘Move’ group, click on ‘Actions’, then select ‘Recall This Message’.

   Watch the following video to see exactly how to recall an email in Classic Outlook:

   • For New Outlook: In the ribbon at the top of the message window, you should see an option like ‘Recall Message’. Click on it.

4. Choose Your Recall Option: A dialog box will appear, giving you options for the recall. You will typically see:

   • Delete unread copies of this message: This option attempts to delete the email from the recipient’s inbox if they haven’t opened it yet.
   • Delete unread copies and replace with a new message: This option attempts to delete the original email and allows you to send a new, corrected message in its place.

5. Confirm and Send: Select your desired option and click ‘OK’. If you want to be notified of the recall’s success or failure, you can often check a box like ‘Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient’ before confirming. The recall process will then be initiated.

How to Replace the Original Email

If you chose the option to delete and replace the original message, the process is straightforward:

1. Follow Steps 1-3 from Section III: Open your Sent Items folder, locate and open the original message you want to replace, and initiate the recall process.
2. Select the Replacement Option: When the recall dialog box appears (Step 4 in Section III), choose the option Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.
3. Compose Your New Message: After selecting this option and clicking OK, the original message will open for editing. You can now make your corrections, add missing information, or attach the correct files. This is essentially composing a new email that will replace the recalled one.
4. Send the New Message: Once you have finished editing, click the ‘Send’ button. This will send the new message and attempt to recall the original.

How to Check Recall Status

After attempting to recall an email, you’ll want to know if it was successful. Outlook provides a way to check the status of your recall attempt:

1. Look for the Message Recall Report: Shortly after initiating a recall, you should receive an email in your inbox titled something like “Message Recall Report for message [Original Message Subject]”.
2. View the Report: Open this report. It will provide an update on the status of your recall for each recipient. The report will indicate whether the recall was successful, is still pending, or failed.

Keep in mind that a successful recall is not always guaranteed, but this feature can be very helpful in correcting mistakes and managing your email communications effectively.