How to Retrieve an Unread Email That Has Been Sent

Once you send an email in most systems, it can't be retrieved.

When you accidentally send an email to the wrong recipient, forget to include an attachment or include the wrong information, more often than not, you're out of luck. Most email systems do not offer a recall feature, including most online systems, such as AOL and Hotmail. Only two major email systems allow you to recall a message once it has been sent. Microsoft Outlook provides an option where you can recall an email at any time, but to recall in Google, you must realize your mistake quickly.

Instructions

Microsoft Outlook

1. Click on the "Sent Items" icon in the navigation pane to open the sent items folder in Outlook. Double-click the message in the sent items folder that you want to attempt to retrieve.

2. Go to the "Actions" menu, and select the "Recall This Message" option. The "Recall This Message" dialog box appears on the screen.

3. Choose "Delete unread copies of this message" in the "Recall This Message" box by clicking the radio button next to the option. If you want notification as to whether or not the recall is successful, click the box by "Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient," and then click "OK" to recall the message. Microsoft Outlook attempts to recall the message from each address to which the email was sent and sends you an email notification about the success or failure of each recall attempt.

Gmail

1. Click the "Settings" link while logged into your Google account. Click the "Labs" link in "Settings" to view the Google features available in Google Labs.

2. Scroll down the page to the "Undo Send" option. The labs are in alphabetical order, so "Undo Send" appears toward the end of the list.

3. Click the radio button by "Enable" in the "Undo Send" section to engage the function. Then, click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom or top of the page to make the "Undo Send" function available for later use in Gmail.

4. Use the "Undo Send" function whenever you send a message if you realize that you sent the wrong things. Once the "Undo Send" function is enabled, each type you send an email in the Gmail system, an "Undo Send" button pops up on the screen for five seconds. If you click the button within that time frame, the message does not send.

References

• Microsoft: How Message Recall Works
• PC World: Hands On With Gmail's New 'Undo Send' Feature