Outlook How To Recall An Email You Sent

You just sent an email that shouldn't have gone out, and you need to pull it back before the recipient sees it. This feature relies on your specific account type, so if you don't see the option, your email account likely isn't configured for Exchange or Microsoft 365 server-side recall.

Account Requirements

Recall only works on Microsoft 365 or Exchange business accounts. It will not function for POP, IMAP, or personal accounts like outlook.com, hotmail.com, or live.com.

Why recall fails

Even if the button is present, the action will fail if the recipient is outside your organization or has already opened the email.

Steps

1. 01
   Open your Sent Items folder and double-click the email you need to retract.
2. 02
   Click the three dots in the ribbon to open the menu, select Advanced Actions, and choose Recall Message.
3. 03
   Select either Delete unread copies of this message or Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.
4. 04
   Click OK to execute the command.
5. 05
   Check your Inbox for a Recall Report sent by the server, which will confirm whether the message was successfully pulled back or if the attempt failed.

Still not working?

If the Recall Message option is grayed out despite having an Exchange account, contact your IT administrator to check if your organization has restricted this feature. If you need to prevent these mistakes in the future, set up an 'Undo Send' delay rule in your Outlook settings, which holds outgoing mail in your Outbox for a set period before sending.

Frequently asked questions

Will the recipient know I tried to recall an email?

Yes, if the recall fails or if the recipient has specific Outlook notification settings enabled, they may receive a notification that you attempted to recall or replace the message.

Does this work if I sent the email to a Gmail address?

No, recall only works for recipients within your same Microsoft 365 or Exchange organization.

Why is the Recall button completely missing?

The button only appears if you double-click the email to open it in a new window and your account is set up as an Exchange or Microsoft 365 business account.