Sending the wrong e-mail is easy, but recalling it can be tricky. If you’ve accidentally sent an e-mail with spelling mistakes or incorrect information, you know how frustrating it can be.

Fortunately, you can withdraw an e-mail in Outlook (in general cases) as long as the recipient hasn’t opened the e-mail yet.

How to recall a message in Outlook? You will get the specific steps in this post!

It’s time to start exploring to avoid awkwardness now!

How to Recall a Message in Outlook?

E-mail Withdrawal is available after you select Send and only if you and the recipient have Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange e-mail accounts in the same organization.

So, for example, e-mails sent to or from a Hotmail, Gmail, or live.com account cannot be withdrawn.

To withdraw an e-mail in Outlook, follow these steps:

Recall messages:

Step 1. Open Outlook. In the folder pane on the left side of the Outlook window, select the “Sent Items” folder.

Step 2. Open the message you want to withdraw. You must double-click to open the message. Selecting the message so that it appears in the reading pane will not allow you to recall the message. 

Step 3. If you are used to using the Classic ribbon, select Actions > Withdraw this message from the Messages tab.

If you are using the Simplified Ribbon, select the “Information” tab and then select “More Options (…)”. Click on “Actions” then select “Recall this message”.

Step 4. You will then have two options: “Delete unread copies of this message” or “Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.” After that, we are in the last step: select “OK”.

Check your action now

After submitting a withdrawal request, usually, in less than 30 seconds, you will receive an e-mail notification with the subject line “Message Withdrawal Report for Message [Original Message Subject].” 

Select the View Message Withdrawal Report link to view the report in your browser. If prompted, log in with your e-mail credentials to view the report.

Recall actions are usually quick, regardless of the number of recipients involved. However, if, for some reason, the recall request cannot be executed immediately (for example, the recipient’s mailbox is temporarily unavailable), You can continue to try again for up to 24 hours before marking the recall as failed. 

Status updates are also usually very fast but can sometimes take up to five minutes for messages with up to hundreds of recipients. For large numbers of recipients (tens of thousands), the recall itself is still fast, but retrieving the recall status for all recipients can take up to 30 minutes.

Why Can’t I Recall a Message in Outlook Fanally?

1. You are using Outlook Web or Mobile. You can only withdraw e-mail using the Outlook desktop application for Windows. E-mail Withdrawal is not available for Outlook Web, Mac, or mobile devices.
2. The e-mail has already been opened. If your recipient has already opened your e-mail, the withdrawal will not work. You can ask the recipient to ignore the e-mail. However, the e-mail will remain in their Inbox, and they will continue to have access to it unless it is deleted.
3. The e-mail has been reorganized. You will not be able to withdraw your e-mail if a filter has been activated in the recipient’s e-mail client to redirect it to another folder or if the recipient has moved it manually. E-mail Withdrawal only works with e-mails that remain in the recipient’s Inbox.
4. The recipient does not use Outlook. The recipient’s e-mail account must be an Outlook or Exchange server (Microsoft) account. There is no way to know this before a recall attempt is made. If your recipient uses Gmail, Yahoo, or Apple Mail, your e-mail recall will fail.

The Bottom Lines

How to recall a message in Outlook? With only 4 specific and easy steps, you will get rid of all your embarrassment! And if there are 4 reasons for the above, don’t be afraid to express apologies!

However, if your e-mail contains sensitive information, it’s especially important that you double-check all of the recipient’s information before you send it to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands or being shared further. It is also possible to completely undo secure e-mails with the plugin Mailock.