Google Gmail email service is the most widely used, popular, secure, and fast email service. Whether through a computer web browser or a mobile phone, sending and receiving emails is a straightforward process. However, being human, we may sometimes make mistakes like sending emails to the wrong person or with the wrong content. Thanks to the feature of recalling emails, which many Gmail users may not even be aware of, you can minimize such errors. When you recall a sent email in Gmail, the recipient won’t receive any notification. However, this action must be taken within a specific time frame. By default, this option is set to 5 seconds. If you feel this duration is too short, you can adjust it in the settings. Let’s see how to do it.
Gmail Email Recall
The following steps are described for web browsers. The time you set here will also apply to your Gmail account on your mobile phone.
- Open your web browser and log in with your Google Gmail account information.
- Click on the gear icon or settings icon located in the top right corner of the screen.
- From the drop-down menu, click on “See all settings.”
- In the new window that appears, you will see the “Undo Send” option. By default, this feature is set to 5 seconds. Google Gmail allows you to set the “Send cancellation period” to 10, 20, or 30 seconds. I recommend choosing the 30-second option.
Now, let’s send a test email and see how to cancel the sent email.
- When you send an email, the “Undo” option will appear in the bottom left corner of the screen. When you click the “Undo” button, the sent email will be saved in the “Drafts” folder and won’t be delivered to the recipient.
Just a reminder! Since we selected 30 seconds, you have that much time to undo the sent email. The “Undo” option will remain on the screen for 30 seconds. If you don’t take any action, the email will be sent and disappear from the screen.
Here’s how the system works: When we set the “Undo Send” time to 30 seconds, the sent email is held in the servers for 30 seconds before being delivered to the recipient. So, when you click the “Send” button, the email will be sent to the recipient after a 30-second delay.
