How to recall an email in Outlook

IT’S ONE of the most common office faux pas – sending an email only to quickly realise you’ve made a mistake.

Fortunately for trigger-happy typists, Microsoft lets you recall messages sent on Outlook in a few easy steps.

What is an email recall?

An email recall can stop the recipient from seeing the message that you sent in error.

However, for you to take advantage of this handy electronic eraser, the recipient must also be an Outlook user in the same organisation.

Once a message is recalled the recipient will no longer be able to access the content or any files that were attached.

This means a colleague – or worse, the boss – who also works on a desktop computer with the same Outlook software as you.

How to recall an email in Outlook

There are seven simple steps to turn back the clock and snatch back that pesky rogue email.

The message can be retrieved from the mailboxes of the recipients who haven’t yet opened it. 

1. Log on to your emails and click on the Sent Items folder, find the email you want to recall, and double-click on it.
2. Next, click the message tab at the top of the screen on the toolbar, and click on the Move section.
3. Then click the More Move Actions button, which looks like a letter and an envelope.
4. A drop-down list will appear showing recall this message – click that option.
5. A window then appears with two options – delete unread copies of this message, or delete unread copies and replace with a new message. Select whichever option you want.
6. If you did choose to send a replacement message, a second window will appear where you can reverse the message.
7. Finally, press Send on your revised message. Outlook will also send you a notification that tells you if the recall has been successful or has failed.

What do I need to recall an email on Outlook?

To access the Outlook message recall option, you will have to be using a computer within your organisation’s hub.

Other emails outside of your organisation do not have this function.

Users with email addresses ending in @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, or @msn.com do not have message recall. 

This means that Outlook will be a desktop program on either a laptop or computer that allows the user to access emails without logging into the web.

So, if you are looking to delete that embarrassing, incorrect or incomplete email make sure you access the email on your company computer.

And then follow the simple steps listed above to delete or resend a replacement message.

Now, blow out your cheeks, mop your brow and crack on with your day job.

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