Recall or replace an email message that you sent in Outlook for Windows
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With message recall, a message that you sent is retrieved from the mailboxes of the recipients who haven’t yet opened it. You can also substitute a replacement message. For example, if you forgot to include an attachment, you can try to retract the message, and then send a replacement message that has the attachment.
Message recall is available after you selectSend and is available only if both you and the recipient have aMicrosoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange email account in the same organization. So, for example, a message sent to or from a Hotmail, Gmail, or live.com account can't be recalled.
Important:Steps may be different betweennewand classic Outlook for Windows. To determine which version of Outlook you're using, look forFileon the ribbon. Ifthere's noFileoption,follow the steps under the New Outlook tab. If theFileoption appears, select the tab for Classic Outlook.
New OutlookClassic Outlook
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Select Sent Itemsin the left folder pane, then double-click the sent message to openit ina separate window.
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On the toolbar, select
Recall Message, then select OK in the confirmation dialog box. -
Shortly thereafter, you'll receive a Message Recall Report in your inbox. Select the link in that message to see whether your recall has succeeded, is pending, or failed.
Recall Message, then select OK in the confirmation dialog box.To recall and replace a message
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In the folder pane on the left of the Outlook window, choose the Sent Items folder.
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Open the message that you want to recall. You must double-click to open the message. Selecting the message so it appears in the reading pane won't allow you to recall the message.
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If you have the Classic Ribbon, from the Message tab, select Actions > Recall This Message.
If you have the Simplified Ribbon, select the Message tab and then select More commands (...). Point to Actions and select Recall This Message.
Notes:
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If you don’t see the Recall This Message command, you probably don’t have an Exchange account or the feature isn’t available within your organization.
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You can't recall a message that's protected by Azure Information Protection.
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You can't recall a message in Outlook on the web.
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SelectDelete unread copies of this message or Delete unread copies and replace with a new message, and then selectOK.
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If you’re sending a replacement message, compose the message, and then selectSend.
To check on the recall
After submitting a recall request, usually less than 30 seconds later, youwill get an email notificationwith the subject "Message Recall Report for message [original message subject]".
Select theView Message Recall Reportlink to view the report in your browser. If you’re prompted, log in with your mailbox credentials to view the report.
Recall actions are usually quick, regardless of how many recipients are involved. But if the recall request can’t be executed right away for some reason (e.g., the recipient’s mailbox is temporarily unavailable) we'll continue to retry for up to 24 hours before marking the recall as failed.
Status updates are usually pretty quick as well but can sometimes take up to fiveminutes for a message with up to a few hundred recipients. For a large number of recipients (tens of thousands) the recall itself is still fast, but it can take up to thirtyminutes to retrieve the recall status for all recipients.
Recommended articles
Cloud-based Message Recall in Exchange Online - Microsoft Community Hub
Video: Recall or replace a sent email
Check if you have an Exchange account in Outlook
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