How I Avoid That "OH ****!" Moment By Undoing Sent Emails in Gmail

OH $%&#!!!

That’s precisely what I scream after sending an email with an error. You know, stupidemail mistakessuch as:

Clicking send before the email is finished

Spelling or grammar mistakes

Accidentally clicking“reply all” when I meant to hit “reply”(and theneveryonegot that funny-but-NSFW picture instead of your one coworker)

Are theseemails embarrassing? Absolutely. But that’s not the worst part. They could lead to something far more destructive, such as:

The loss of a sale

The loss of a client

Or even worse, the loss of a job

Email is a powerful tool. So unless we control our email, it can control us.

But there’s good news — wecancontrol this situation.

All by learning this simple Gmail hack that will undo ANY sent email.

Save yourself the embarrassment. Learn how to reverse an accidential email.

Here's how to activate the "undo send" feature in 60 seconds.

Step 1: Activate “undo send” in the Labs section.

Editor's Note: For some users, the "undo send" feature is already activated. If you don't see it in Labs, skip this step and move on to Step #2.

First click on the gear iconin Gmail in the upper-right corner, then clickSettings:

Next, navigate to theLabstab:

Then type “undo send” into the Labs search bar, clickEnable, then hitSave Changesat the bottom of the page:

Step 2: Change undo send time to 30 seconds.

The default setting is 10 seconds to undo a sent email. That means you REALLY have to hustle to catch your mistake. And if you spot it 11 seconds later, it’s too late.

So let's maximize our cushion to catch that error by keeping the undo button active for up to 30 seconds. To adjust this, go back toSettings:

Now in theGeneraltab, scroll down until you see the "Undo Send" section. Now change the send cancellation period to30 seconds. ClickSave Changesat the bottom of the page:

Step 3: Test an undo email send.

Now that the undo send functionality is activated, we can test “undoing” an email.

Compose a test email (or holdCommandand pressCif you activated theGmail shortcuts) and send it to yourself:

If it works, you’ll see a little pop-up that looks like this. Click theUndolink when it shows up ...

... Then you'll receive a confirmation message:

And congratulations, you've now officially un-sent an email in Gmail.

Never again feel that regretfulOH$%&#feeling. Because you now have thepowerto reverse those accidental emails. (And here'show to recall emails in Outlook.)