How to Recall An Email In Outlook? [UNSEND Email] 2022

Outlook comes with numerous advantageous and unique features to make things easier for the users on both personal and professional front. Whether you want to configure your other email accounts like Gmail or Yahoo Mail or wish to schedule an email or create/manage rules, Microsoft Outlook has almost all the options to carry out your email related task with the utmost ease. One of the best features that you would find in Outlook is the option to recall emails. Yes, you read it right.

Microsoft Outlook comes with an amazing option that allows you to recall or unsend an email if you ever send it to a wrong recipient or forgot to add some important information in it. Well, not only you can recall an email using your Outlook program but you can also substitute a replacement email. For example, suppose you forgot to include an attachment with the email, in such case, you can try to call back the email and then send a replacement message after including the attachment. If you are using the Microsoft Outlook email program and need to unsend or recall an email in your Outlook account, you can do so easily by following the information provided below.

Guide to Recall an Email in Outlook

In order to recall an email sent through the Outlook program, you can follow the below-mentioned steps. However, it is suggested to follow the instructions as per the Outlook version installed on your system.

Steps to Unsend Email in Newer Version of Outlook

To begin with, you will first need to launch the Outlook email program on your computer. Once you have opened the Outlook app, you will need to go to the folder window located on the left-hand side of the Outlook window.
From the Folder window, you will need to select the Sent Items This will direct you to the Sent Items folder of your Outlook program.
Once you are in the Sent Items section, you will need to find and open the message which you wish to recall. In order to open the email, you will need to double-click on that particular message. If you will just select the email, it will only make the message appear in the reading window and will not allow you to recall the email.
Now, after you have opened the email in the Sent Items section that you wish to recall, you will need to go to the Message tab located on the top left corner of the Outlook window and click on the Action option located in the right-hand side of the Outlook window in the menu section.
As you will click on the Action option, it will open a drop-down menu on your screen. From the drop-down menu, you will need to select the Recall This Message….

NOTES:

In case the “Recall This Message” option is not located in the drop-down menu, it means that you probably do not have a Microsoft Exchange account or the feature is not available in your organization.
If the email you are trying to recall is protected by Azure Information Protection, you will not be able to call it back.
If you are using Outlook on the web and wish to unsend an email, you will not be able to do so.

As you will click on the “Recall this Message” option, it will open a “Recall This Message” box on your screen. In the box, you will be given the following two options:

Delete unread copies of this message
Delete unread copies and replace with a new message

Depending on your preference, whether you wish to just recall the message or also want to replace it, you will need to select “Delete unread copies of this message” or “Delete unread copies and replace with a new message”.

NOTE: if you select the second option – “Delete unread copies and replace with a new message” option, Make sure to select the checkbox next to “Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient” option.

Once you select the “Delete unread copies and replace with a new message” option, you will need to replace the message, compose it, and then click on the Send

Now, if you wish to know the success or failure of a message you recalled, well, it depends on the settings of the recipient’s Outlook program. Below are the five different situations that will have different outcomes in the Outlook program. Depending on the situation in your case, you can expect the result accordingly.

ACTION

OUTCOME

When you send an email to a recipient and you recall and replace the original message with a new one.

On the computer of the recipient, in the Tracking section, the checkbox next to “Automatically process requests and responses to meeting requests and polls” is selected.

NOTE: Go to File > Options > Mail option to view the settings. In the Mail option, scroll to find the Tracking section.

Both the original email and the recalled email will be received in the inbox of the recipient.

Considering that the original email has not been read, the original email will be deleted and the recipient gets notified that you (or the sender) deleted the email from his/her mailbox.

NOTE: In case the original email is marked as read (not considering the scenario of viewing the message in the Reading Pane is not reading) when the recall email is processed, the recipient gets notified that you (or sender), wish to delete the email, however, the email will be stored in the Outlook folder of the recipient.

When you send an email to someone. You unsend the original email and replace it with a new one.

On the computer of the recipient, in the Tracking section, the checkbox next to the “Automatically process requests and responses to meeting requests and polls” option is not selected.

NOTE: Go to File > Options > Mail option to view the settings. In the Mail option, scroll to find the Tracking section.

Both the original email and the recalled email will be received in the Inbox folder of the recipient.

One of the following results will occur on the computer of the recipient.

· If the recalled email is opened by the recipient first the original email will be deleted, and the recipient gets notified that you (or sender) have deleted the email from their mailbox.

· If the original email is opened by the recipient first, the recalling fails and both the original and recalled emails are available.

When you send an email to someone and you recall the original email and replace it with a new one.

On the computer of the recipient, either by the recipient’s rule or action, the original email is moved out of the Inbox to another folder and recall email stays in the Inbox (or even if it is moved to another folder).

When you send an email to someone. You recall the original email and replace it with a new one.

On the computer of the recipient, either by the recipient’s rule or action, both the emails

are moved to the same folder. This leads to behavior like the one which occurs when Outlook isn’t set up to process emails automatically.

If the recall email and original email exist in different folders, the recipient receives a notification that says that the recall attempt failed. This happens irrespective of the configurations and reads the status of the email in Outlook.

Both the original email and the new emails are available to the recipient.

One of the following outcomes will occur on the computer of the recipient:

· If the recalled email is opened by the recipient first the original email will be deleted, and the recipient gets notified that you (or sender) have deleted the email from their mailbox.

· If the original email is opened by the recipient first, the recalling fails and both the original and recalled emails are available.

When you send an email to a public folder. You recall the original email and replace it with a new one.

One of the following outcomes will appear:

· The recalling of the email will be successful if the recipient reads the recall email read access to all the items in the public folder but did not read the original email, and only new email remains. You (or sender) receive an email which says that the recall succeeded.

· The recalling of the email fails if the recipient has already marked the original email as read. The recipient is also notified that the recalling failed and only the recalled email is deleted.

The recalling process fails in case a user who is having any other public folder rights opens the recall email. Also, the user will receive a notification that says that the recall failed. Both the new and old emails remain in the public folder.

· In case the recipient reads the original email but marks it as unread, it will be considered never read and the recalling process will be a success.

· It is the rights of the reader and not the senders in the public folder that determine the success or failure of the recall.

Steps to Unsend Email in Office 2007

Open Office 2007, go to Mail option and click on the Sent Items in the Navigation
Next, you will need to open the message which you wish to recall and replace.
Then, you will need to go to the Message tab and click on the Other Actions option in the Actions group.
From the drop-down menu that appears on the screen, you will need to click on the “Recall This Message” option.
Now, you will need to click on the “Delete unread copies and replace with a new message” or “Delete unread copies and replace with a new message” option.

NOTE: In case you are sending the email to a large number of people, you would want to clear the checkbox next to “Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient” option.

In case you are sending a replacement email, you will need to compose the email and then click on the Send

NOTE:

In case you do not see the “Recall This Message” option, it means that you probably don’t have a Microsoft Exchange Server account or maybe you are not using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. In order to use the recall feature, you must have both the option.

To know the type of email account in your Outlook profile, you will need to check the Account Settings dialog box.

On the Tool menu, you will need to click on the Account Settings option.
Next, go to the E-mail tab where you will see that the Type column lists the type of account for each entry.

To Check the Recall Messages

The success or failure of the recalling process depends on the settings configured in the Outlook program of the recipient. Below are the scenarios that show what could be the result in different situations.

ACTION

OUTCOME

When you send an email message to a recipient and you recall and replace the original message with a new one.

On the computer of the recipient, in the Tracking section, the checkbox next to the “Process requests and responses on arrival” option is selected.

NOTE: Go to Tools > Options > E-mail option to view the settings. In the E-mail option, click on the Tracking options.

Both the original email and the recalled email will be received in the inbox of the recipient.

Considering that the original email has not been read, the original email will be deleted and the recipient gets notified that you (or the sender) deleted the email from his/her mailbox.

When you send an email to someone. You unsend the original email and replace it with a new one.

On the computer of the recipient, in the Tracking section, the checkbox next to the “Process requests and response on arrival” option is not selected.

NOTE: Go to File > Options > Mail option to view the settings. In the Mail option, scroll to find the Tracking section.

Both the original email and the recalled email will be received in the Inbox folder of the recipient.

One of the following results will occur on the computer of the recipient.

· If the recalled email is opened by the recipient first the original email will be deleted, and the recipient gets notified that you (or sender) have deleted the email from their mailbox.

· If the original email is opened by the recipient first, the recalling fails and both the original and recalled emails are available.

When you send an email to someone and you recall the original email and replace it with a new one.

Both the original email and the new emails are available to the recipient.

NOTE: In case the recipient reads the original email and then marks it as unread, the Outlook program is going to consider is as never read and lets it get recalled successfully.