How to recall a sent email in Gmail

Did you just send out an email to your potential employer with an error that will surely spoil your first impression? Or did you inadvertently send an email to your boss that was meant for someone else? These situations can be embarrassing and can often put people in a place they would rather not be in.

We have all done this at some point in our lives. We have all been in a situation where we notice an unacceptable error only after hitting the dreadful ‘Send’ button.

But then, it’s not exactly something you need to worry about. There is a way you can save yourself from embarrassment the next time something like this happens. But even then, you must be quick as Gmail originally gives users 5 seconds to recall a sent email, but we can tell you how to extend that time up to 30 seconds.

But first let’s talk about what you can do to recall a sent email. You must have noticed that each time you send an email a box appears to notify that the email has been sent. If you use the old version of Gmail, then it would appear on the top, and if you have upgraded to the revamped version, it would appear on bottom left.

Right after you send the email this box will show you an option of ‘Undo’. You must click it within five seconds of sending the email in order to recall it.

But let’s face it. Five seconds are not always enough. Actually, it only works if you change your mind about sending the email the second you hit ‘Send’. And how many times does that happen?

So, if you think you would like to have an option of recalling emails on Google‘s popular email service even after five seconds are over, then here’s what you need to do:

1. Go to the gear icon on top right of the email page.
2. Scroll down to ‘Settings’.
3. Go down in ‘General Settings’ to ‘Undo Send.’
4. You would see a drop-box next to ‘Undo Send’ where the default option of 5 seconds would be selected.
5. Click on the arrow on the drop-box to select options that are more than 5 seconds. These include 10, 20 and 30 seconds.
6. Scroll down after selecting the option of your choice and press ‘Save Changes.’

After you do this, Gmail would get refreshed and you’ll be taken again to the main email page. But you don’t have to do anything else apart from this. The time to recall emails will be updated automatically. It is worth noticing that you can alter time to unsend emails on desktop only. In mobile settings, the option is not available.

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