How to recall email in Outlook

We’ve all experienced that moment—you hit Send on an email too early, or worse, send it to the wrong person. Thankfully, Microsoft Outlook includes a feature that can help: the Recall Email function.

In this article, you’ll learn how to recall an email in Outlook, when it works, and what limitations apply.

What Does Email Recall Mean in Outlook?

The Recall Email feature in Microsoft Outlook attempts to retrieve a sent email from the recipient’s inbox, provided certain conditions are met. This tool has been available for years, yet many users are unaware it exists or misunderstand how it works.

Before you get too excited, it’s important to note that this feature does not guarantee your message will vanish without a trace from someone’s Inbox. When you try to recall an email, Outlook notifies the recipient that you’re attempting to recall a message. This means they may still read the original email, especially if they open it before your recall request is processed.

There are some constraints when trying to recall email using Outlook. The biggest one is that both yourself AND the recipient have to be using a Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange email account. If you are emailing someone using Gmail or any other email platform, which is NOT Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange, then sadly I have to say this won’t work and that email will be delivered to the recipient regardless of your efforts to stop it, that includes yelling at the computer (we’ve all tried it).

How to Recall an Email in Outlook

To use this function let’s send an email to a recipient as a test and we will then try to recall it.

1. Open Microsoft Outlook (I’m using Outlook 365)
2. With the Inbox displayed, click Ctrl + N on the keyboard to create a new blank email message
3. Enter a recipient name in the To field (I am sending from my Microsoft 365 email account to a person also using Microsoft 365)
4. Add a Subject and type a quick message into the body of the email

5. Click Send 
6. Now open your Sent Items folder
7. Double click and open the email message you have just sent
8. From the Ribbon, click the Actions button and choose Recall This Message

9. The Recall This Message dialog box will appear:

10. You can choose between two options here: Delete unread copies of the message, or Delete unread copies and replace with a new message
11. Leave the first option selected
12. Ensure the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient is selected and click OK
13. The email message should now display an information prompt letting you  know that you have tried to recall the message:

14. The Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange server will now be working to recall the message. Remember, if the email message has already been opened by the time you request the recall then the recipient will have read the email.

How to tell if the email recall was successful

Now the important part, was your recall attempt successful?

1. If the message was recalled successfully, you should receive an email notification to advise you.
2. Return to your Inbox and see if a successful message has been received, or instigate a Send/Receive by pressing F9 on the keyboard
3. If you see a message appear with the Subject: Message Recall Success then you can open the message

4.  The message will advise that the recall was successful

5. If I was to check the recipient’s inbox, no message is visible

How to tell if the email recall has failed

One common reason that a message cannot be successfully recalled may be that there was a time delay between the actual sending and the subsequent recall action. This may give the recipient enough time to open the email message which therefore cannot be recalled without their knowledge.

In the example below, I waited approx 1 minute before actioning the recall step. During that time the original email was opened by the recipient.

1. Because the recipient opened the email, my recall action is not successful and I receive a message with the Subject: Message Recall Failure

2. If I open the message failure notice I can see if that it was unsuccessful

The recall email feature in Outlook can be a helpful tool in certain scenarios, but it’s not foolproof. To reduce mistakes, always double-check the recipient list and content before sending your emails.

If you frequently deal with sensitive emails, consider using email delay rules in Outlook. Learn more about delaying emails in Outlook on the Microsoft Support site. If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below or explore more Microsoft Outlook tips and tricks here.