How to recall and replace an email message in Microsoft Outlook

We had covered how to delay sending an email in Outlook and add a digital signature to Outlook, but we missed an important development – the Recall feature in Outlook. The feature recalls and replaces an email message that you sent accidentally or unintentionally. However, the feature is available only for Windows clients. It is available on Microsoft Outlook and Outlook 365. Outlook for other platforms such as Mac does not support this feature.

Individuals working in an organization, having an Office 365 or Microsoft Exchange email account can configure Outlook to recall and replace a message. The reasons for exercising this option can be many and range from an embarrassing typo to anger, only to be regretted later. Whatever the case is, you can undo the ‘Send’ option in Outlook 2019/2016/2013/2010. Here’s how to recall an email.

Recall and replace an email in Outlook

Many times, we review a message after it has been sent and realize there’s a mistake. This makes us think there should be a way to recall or replace the message. Fortunately, Microsoft’s Outlook email client offers an option to recall and replace a message. To do this:

Open Outlook and go to Sent items
Switch to the ‘Actions’ tab
Access the Recall this message option.

This facility is not available in Outlook for the web. Also, the Recall This Message command may not be available if you don’t have an Exchange account.

Recall and replace a message

Open your Microsoft Outlook account. From the left sidebar menu, select the “Sent items” folder.

Then, go to the ‘Move’ section. Under it, find the ‘Actions’ menu.

Hit the ‘Actions’ menu drop-down arrow and select any one of the following options from the list:

Recall this message
Resend this message

Do you want to see a window appear on your computer screen prompting you to take one of the following actions?

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

Select the message you want to send and click “Send”. If you want to send a replacement message, compose the message and then click “Send”.

Now the success or failure of a message recall depends on the Outlook settings configured by the recipient. The possible scenarios are as follows.

It is also important to note that the sender cannot choose to recall a message that is protected by Azure Information Protection. The success or failure of a message recall also depends on the recipients’ settings in Outlook.

If you have an incomplete or missing message, simply recall the original message and replace it with a new one.

In such a scenario, both the original message and the recall message are pushed to the recipient’s Inbox. If the ‘Automatically process requests and responses to meeting requests and polls’ checkbox under the ‘Tracking’ option is selected by the recipient, then the original message is deleted and the recipient is informed that the sender has deleted the message from his or her mailbox.

One of the following things can occur on the recipient’s computer if the same checkbox has no checkmark against it.

The original message has been deleted from your mailbox. The sender has informed you that they have deleted the message from your mailbox.
The recall fails if the recipient opens the original message first, and both the original and recall messages are available for the recipient’s view.

You can recall a message after you click Send, as long as the recipient has an Exchange account within the same organization.