How to Recall an E-mail in Microsoft Outlook

Red-faced about an embarrassing e-mail you sent to your boss by mistake? Or perhaps you noticed a dumb misspelling just as you clicked the Send button. If you and your recipient are using Microsoft Outlook 97 or later, there's still a chance you can recall that message.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Go to the Sent Items folder in Outlook and open the message you want to recall.
2. Click on Recall This Message in the Tools menu.
3. If your message hasn't already been opened by the recipient, either delete the message or replace it with a new message.
4. If there are multiple recipients, you can request notification of whether the recall succeeded or failed for each one (at least you'll know whom to apologize to). Even if you successfully recall a message, the recipient may still know that you sent a message and then recalled it. So if you didn't replace it with a corrected message, you'll need to get your story straight as to why you recalled it.

Tips & Warnings

• Never send "loaded" e-mail messages immediately after you write them. Save them in a draft folder, then review them one more time before sending. Some e-mail programs also let you queue messages so that they're sent after a slight delay.