Bryley Basics: Recall sent emails in Microsoft Outlook

Anna Darlagiannis and Gavin Livingstone, Bryley Systems Inc.

Microsoft Outlook’s Recall This Message tries to stop delivery and, optionally, can replace a recalled email message.   Recall This Message requires that the sender’s Outlook is using an Exchange Server; it stops email messages sent, but only if the recipient is using Outlook, and it works best with email sent internally within your organization.  Also, the recall depends on the recipient’s settings in Outlook:

• If Automatically process requests… is enabled, recall will be successful.
• If disabled, the recipient will receive both the original email and the recall request; the original email is deleted only if the recipient opens the recall message first.

The recall procedure:

• Open your Sent folder
• Open the sent email that you wish to recall
• Select Actions from the menu and then select Recall This Message
• Select either Delete unread copies… or …delete and replace unread copies…
• Select OK

For more information, please view the Microsoft articles Recall or replace an email message that you sent and How to use the recall feature in Outlook.

Given the limitations of Recall This Message, your best option is to avoid recalling a message by:

• Double-checking the To, Copy, and BCC recipients,
• Ensuring that you have attached the desired file (if any), and
• Giving yourself enough time to cool off before sending a heated email.