How to Recall an Email in Outlook

To recall an email in Outlook, open Sent Items, double-click the message, choose Recall Message and confirm the request. Outlook will then send you a Message Recall Report showing whether the recall succeeded, is pending or failed.

Recall is designed for eligible Microsoft 365 work or school accounts inside the same organisation. It does not recall an ordinary email sent to an external address such as Gmail, Outlook.com or another company.

Use the steps for your Outlook version below. If the email went outside your organisation or contained sensitive information, skip to recall versus revoke for the options that may still be available.

Contents

• Check Whether Outlook Recall Can Work
• Recall an Email in Classic Outlook
• Recall an Email in New Outlook or Outlook on the Web
• Recall an Email in Outlook for Mac
• Why Outlook Recall Is Not Working
• What to Do After Sending an Email in Error
• Replace an Email in Outlook
• Delay or Undo Send in Outlook
• Outlook Recall vs Message Revoke

Can You Recall Your Outlook Email?

Check eligibility before relying on recall. Microsoft's cloud-based Message Recall is intended for messages sent between Microsoft 365 work or school mailboxes in the same organisation.

• Both mailboxes should be in the same Microsoft 365 organisation. Recall does not work across the internet or between organisations.
• Your administrator must have cloud-based recall enabled. If the command is missing, your account or organisation may not support it.
• You need a supported Outlook experience. Microsoft documents recall in classic Outlook, new Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook for Mac, subject to client and account requirements.
• The original message must still be reachable. Manually forwarded messages and messages forwarded or redirected by inbox rules are not recalled.
• Already-read messages depend on the organisation's recall setting. Microsoft says the cloud setting can permit their recall and is treated as enabled by default.

This last point explains why Outlook advice can appear contradictory. Some Outlook screens and Microsoft support wording still refer to deleting unread copies, but Microsoft's current Exchange guidance says that unread-only statement is no longer accurate for cloud-based recall. If an organisation disables cloud recall, the older recall behaviour applies.

Recall an Email in Outlook for Desktop (Classic Outlook)

If you use classic Outlook for Windows, follow these steps from Microsoft's current recall instructions. The labels can vary slightly depending on whether you use the classic or simplified ribbon.

Step 1: Open the Sent Message

Open Sent Items and double-click the email so it opens in a separate window. Selecting it only in the reading pane is not enough.

Step 2: Choose Recall This Message

On the Message tab, select Actions > Recall This Message. If you use the simplified ribbon, open More commands (...), point to Actions and then select Recall This Message.

Step 3: Choose Delete or Replace

Choose Delete unread copies of this message or Delete unread copies and replace with a new message, then select OK. If you choose replacement, compose the corrected message and send it.

The wording in this dialog comes from the older client experience. In cloud-based recall, your Microsoft 365 administrator's setting determines whether the service also attempts to remove messages that have been read.

Step 4: Check the Recall Report

Look for the Message Recall Report in your inbox and open its link to check each recipient's status. Results are normally available within minutes, although Microsoft can keep retrying for up to 24 hours.

Recall an Email in New Outlook or Outlook on the Web

The process is shorter in new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web.

Step 1: Open the Message from Sent Items

Select Sent Items, then double-click the message to open it in a separate window.

Step 2: Select Recall Message

From the ribbon, select Recall Message.

Step 3: Confirm the Recall

Select OK in the confirmation box.

Step 4: Review the Result

Open the Message Recall Report that arrives in your inbox. The linked report shows whether recall succeeded, is pending or failed.

Recall an Email in Outlook for Mac

Microsoft supports recall in Outlook for Mac version 16.94 or later for eligible Microsoft 365 work or school accounts in the same organisation.

1. Open Sent and select the message.
2. Choose Recall Message.
3. Select OK and check the Message Recall Report.

Microsoft's Exchange documentation also lists Outlook for Android and iOS as clients that can trigger cloud recall, while a separate public mobile support page still says recall is unavailable. Because that guidance is inconsistent, check your current app and organisation's support advice before relying on mobile recall.

Why Is Outlook Recall Not Working?

If the option is missing or the report shows failure, one of the following conditions is usually responsible.

The Recipient Is Outside Your Organisation

Cloud recall stops at the organisation boundary. It cannot retrieve an ordinary message sent to another company, Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com, Hotmail or another external service.

Recall Is Disabled or the Account Is Not Eligible

Your administrator can disable cloud recall. Classic Outlook also has account and profile limitations, including some configurations with multiple Exchange accounts or Online mode.

The Message Was Read

A read message is not automatically ineligible under cloud recall. Your organisation's administrator controls whether already-read messages are included. If cloud recall has been disabled and the legacy experience applies, unread status becomes more important.

The Message Was Forwarded or Redirected

Microsoft says manually forwarded messages and messages forwarded or redirected by inbox rules are not recalled. Automatic forwarding to another mailbox inside the same organisation may work, but forwarding outside it does not.

The Message Was Encrypted

Microsoft documents cloud recall for messages encrypted with Purview Message Encryption or Microsoft Information Protection labels only when the sender has the Premium Encryption service plan and starts recall in Outlook on the web or new Outlook.

What to Do After Sending an Email in Error

Act promptly, but do not treat the recall button as the whole response. The right next steps depend on the recipient, the information involved and what the recall report shows.

1. Start recall immediately if the message is eligible.
2. Check the Message Recall Report instead of assuming it worked.
3. Send a clear correction if the content or attachment was wrong.
4. Contact the unintended recipient through an appropriate channel if the message went externally.
5. Follow your organisation's incident process if personal, confidential or regulated information was involved.

"Recall is useful when a message stays inside the Microsoft organisation, but the report matters as much as the button. Teams need to confirm what happened and follow the right response process for the information involved."

Paul Holland, Founder and CEO, Beyond Encryption (Mailock)

This approach is especially important when a customer document went to the wrong address. A failed recall does not prove that the attachment was accessed, but it also does not remove the need to assess the situation.

Can You Replace an Email in Outlook?

Classic Outlook offers Delete unread copies and replace with a new message. Choose it in the recall dialog, edit the replacement and select Send.

In Microsoft's cloud service, the recall agent attempts to delete the original and Outlook sends the replacement through normal delivery. Check the recall report for the original rather than assuming the replacement removed it.

Can You Delay or Undo Send in Outlook?

A short delay creates a useful review window before a message leaves your control. It is prevention rather than recall.

Outlook.com can delay messages for 5 or 10 seconds through Settings > Mail > Compose and reply > Undo send. Classic Outlook can delay one message or apply a rule that holds outbound messages for a chosen period.

For the current steps across Outlook versions, use Microsoft's guide to delay or schedule email.

A delay helps with typos and last-second checks. It does not authenticate the person behind an address or provide control after the message has actually been delivered.

Outlook Recall vs Message Revoke

Recall and revoke solve related but different problems. Recall asks Microsoft 365 to remove an eligible email from a mailbox inside the organisation. Revoke closes future access to content that was sent through a protected-message service.

Microsoft therefore offers more than ordinary Outlook recall. Its Advanced Message Encryption revocation can remove access to certain external portal messages. It is not a general way to retrieve every email sent outside the organisation.

Where Mailock Adds Control

Mailock Message Revoke is part of a secure-email journey built for sensitive communications. The sender protects the message, can apply a configured recipient-authentication check, sees access activity in Message Tracker and can close future access if the message or circumstances change.

That makes Mailock valuable before as well as after a sending mistake. If a customer email is mistyped, the recipient check can add a barrier before the protected content opens. If an updated document needs to replace the original, Message Revoke can close access to the earlier secure message while the corrected version is sent.

"Mailock gives the sender a practical control path for sensitive customer email: authenticate access, see when the secure message is accessed and revoke it when the information should no longer be available."

Adam Byford, COO, Beyond Encryption (Mailock)

Mailock brings protected-message access controls into the sender's secure-email workflow.

No recall or revoke feature can recover information that a recipient has already saved outside the protected experience, such as a downloaded copy, photograph or screen capture. Revocation should be used alongside the organisation's response process.

For sensitive external communications, the strongest approach is to choose the right protection before sending and retain a clear action path if something changes afterwards.

FAQs

How Do I Recall a Sent Email in Outlook?

Open Sent Items, double-click the message, choose Recall Message or Recall This Message and confirm. Then open the Message Recall Report to check whether the request succeeded, is pending or failed.

Can I Recall an Email after It Has Been Read?

Possibly. Microsoft's cloud-based Message Recall has an administrator setting for already-read messages, and Microsoft says the default value is equivalent to enabled. Older Outlook wording still refers to unread copies, so check your organisation's configuration and the recall report.

Can I Recall an Outlook Email Sent Outside My Organisation?

No. Cloud recall does not work across organisations or over the internet. An eligible protected message may have a separate revocation control through Microsoft Advanced Message Encryption or a secure-email service such as Mailock.

Does Outlook Recall Work with Gmail or Outlook.com?

No. Ordinary Outlook recall does not retrieve messages from Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com, Hotmail or another external email service.

How Can I Tell Whether Outlook Recall Worked?

Use the Message Recall Report sent to your inbox. It shows the status for recipients and is more reliable than assuming the message disappeared.

Can I Recall an Email in Outlook for Mac or Mobile?

Recall is available in Outlook for Mac version 16.94 or later for eligible Microsoft 365 work or school accounts. Microsoft's public guidance for Android and iOS is currently inconsistent, so check the current app and your organisation's support advice before relying on mobile recall.

What Is the Difference between Recall and Mailock Message Revoke?

Outlook recall attempts to remove an eligible email inside the same Microsoft 365 organisation. Mailock Message Revoke closes future access to a protected Mailock message, including in an external customer journey. It does not recover copies already retained outside the protected experience.

References

How to recall an email in Outlook: Requirements, Limitations & Steps, Microsoft Support

Work with Cloud-based Message Recall, Microsoft Learn, 2025

Recall an email message in Outlook for Mac, Microsoft Support

Delay or schedule sending email messages in Outlook, Microsoft Support

Revoke email encrypted by Advanced Message Encryption, Microsoft Learn, 2026

Reviewed by

Sam Kendall, 16.07.26

This content is for general information only and is not legal advice. Product features, licensing and service descriptions can change.