How to unsend a message on Gmail – essential tips to reclaim those embarrassing email blunders
Accidentally hit send too soon? Decided to send an angry message without waiting to cool down? Drunken emailing? Here’s how to fix it…
WE'VE all been there.
That stomach-churning moment where you hit send on an email and you instantly know you’ve made a mistake.
Luckily for you, Google released an “undo send” option on Gmail late in 2016, giving users an electronic eraser for their outbox.
Read on to see how it works...
How do I enable the Undo feature on Gmail?
In order to be able to retract your regretful messages you will need to enable the Gmail Undo feature.
It is one of Google’s opt-in, add-on features in Google’s Labs.
The option is available to all Gmail users accessing their inbox via the web.
Log into your Gmail account and click on the cog in the top right of the screen under your profile picture.
Select the “Settings” list and it will take you to a new screen with all of the options for your account.
Check the box next to “Enable Undo Send” and you can then also adjust the cancellation period from between five and 30 seconds.
IT’S YOUR WORST FEAR Think your Google history has been completely deleted? Think again…
How do I unsend an email on Gmail?
There are two catches now…
Firstly if you haven’t enabled the Undo feature in your settings then that email is gone.
Best to activate it now so that next time you’ll be ahead of the game.
Secondly, if you wake up with a raging hangover having sent a four page epic to your ex at 3am in the morning, there’s nothing you can do about that either.
The Undo send will only last for the length of time you selected in settings, so 30 seconds maximum.
It does however mean that you can quickly retract a message if you have instant doubts or if you spot a typo.
Once you have hit send a small yellow box will pop up at the top of your screen saying “Your message has been sent. Undo View message”
You can then click Undo but once that box disappears so do your chances of retrieving that email.
