How to Remember an Email in Outlook (and When You Can’t)
If you’ve ever sent an email and then realized it was missing key details, contained too many details, or was too emotional, you’ve probably longed for a way to remove it from the recipient’s inbox before they can see it. This. Luckily, you can recall an email using Microsoft Outlook, but first you need to know how to recall it—and when it’s even possible, since it’s not a universal option.
How to recall an email in Outlook
How you remember an email in Outlook depends on whether you’re using a newer version of Microsoft’s classic Outlook. On the newer version, find Sent Items in the left folder pane, then double-click the message you want to recall. You’ll see a “Revocation Message” in your toolbar (you’ll recognize it by the capital letter symbol with two left-pointing arrows superimposed on it). Click that, then OK, and wait for the message revocation report to arrive in your inbox to serve as confirmation. There will be a link in this message and clicking on it will tell you whether your review worked, failed, or is still pending.
If you’re using classic Outlook, the steps are similar. You’ll still go to Sent and open a message by double-clicking it, but then you’ll look at the classic feed, find the Messages tab, and select Actions, then Recall this message. ” (If you’re using the Simplified Ribbon, it will be under the “More Commands…” section when you open the Message tab.)
When calling a message Outlook should work (and when it shouldn’t)
The great thing about recalled messages in Outlook is that if the recipient didn’t open them, they won’t see them. It will simply disappear from their inbox. But there are also unpleasant things here. For this to work, you need to send (and recall) an email to someone who has a Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange email account, you must have one of these, and you must be in the same organization. For example, you can’t recall a message to or from a Gmail account.
You should also pay attention to the message revocation report, which should be emailed to you about a minute after the revocation. While the revocation itself is quick, it may take a while for Microsoft to confirm that it was done, especially if you’re retracting a message from a group of people. If any problem occurs, Outlook will continue to try to recall the message for 24 hours, so keep checking the revocation status.