Recalling and Replacing an email in Outlook's Desktop Version

Introduction

With Microsoft Outlook’s recall and replace email feature, you can recall and replace your earlier email automatically with a newly drafted one.

Procedure

Tip: If you can't follow the steps below, you may not be using new Outlook for Windows yet. Try following the steps under the classic Outlook instructions below.

To recall a message in the new Outlook for Windows

1. Select Sent Items in the left folder pane, then double-click the sent message to open it in a separate window.

2. From the ribbon, select the Recall Message, then select OK in the confirmation dialog box.

3. 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.

To recall and replace a message (Classic Outlook)

1. In the folder pane on the left of the Outlook window, choose the Sent Items folder.
2. Open the message 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.
3. If you have the Classic Ribbon, from the Message tab, select More Move Actions> Recall This Message.
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   • If you have the Simplified Ribbon, select More Commands (...) point to Actions> Recall This Message..
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   • Notes:
     • You can't recall a message that's protected by Azure Information Protection.
     • You can't recall a message in Outlook on the web.
4. Select Delete unread copies of this message or Delete unread copies and replace with a new message, and then select OK.
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5. If you're sending a replacement message, compose the message, and then select Send.

To check on the recall

After submitting a recall request, usually less than 30 seconds later, you will get an email notification with the subject "Message Recall Report for message [Original Message Subject]

Select the View Message Recall Report link 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. However, if the recall request can't be executed right away for some reason (e.g., the recipient's mailbox is temporarily unavailable), Microsoft will continue to retry for up to 24 hours before marking the recall as failed.

Status updates are usually quick but can take up to five minutes for a message with up to a few hundred recipients. For may recipients (tens of thousands), the recall is still fast, but it can take up to thirty minutes to retrieve the recall status for all recipients.