Even with diligent double-checking, it’s easy to send an email and immediately realize you made a mistake. Maybe you forgot to add an attachment you referenced, made a stupid typo, or left out someone in the CC field. While these mistakes can be embarrassing, it’s possible to recall a sent email in Gmail and save yourself the humiliation.

We’ll show you how to unsend an email in your Gmail account so you can rewind mistakes before they happen!

How to Unsend an Email in Gmail

Recalling emails in Gmail used to be an experimental feature, but it’s now available for everyone by default.

To recall a message, start by sending an email from Gmail in your browser like you usually would. After sending the message, you’ll see a small box in the corner that says Message sent. Click Undo on this banner to stop sending the email and recall it before the other person receives it.

Gmail Undo Sending

Undoing the sent email will reopen the draft, allowing you to make the necessary changes or scrap it altogether.

You can instead click the X to dismiss the box, or View message to look at what you sent. But neither of these will recall the message, so make sure you click Undo as soon as you realize the mistake.

The undo process is the same on Android and iPhone. Just tap the Undo button that appears after sending to recall the message.

How to Adjust the Undo Send Time in Gmail

By default, Gmail only lets you undo sending for a few seconds. If you’d like to change this time period, you can do so in Gmail’s settings.

Open Gmail in your browser, then click the Settings gear icon at the top-right. Click See all settings from the menu that appears.

Then, on the General tab, find the Undo Send item. There’s a dropdown box here with four options: 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds. For maximum safety, it’s a good idea to choose 30 seconds. This will delay all messages by half a minute, but that’s worth the grace period when you need to recall an email.

Gmail Undo Send Time Period Option

Click Save Changes at the bottom to apply the tweak. Though while you’re here, it’s worth exploring other Gmail features you didn’t know about.

Undo Your Email Mistakes

There aren’t many places in life where you get an undo button, so you should take advantage of the opportunity in Gmail. Next time you realize you phrased something poorly or need to make an adjustment, recall the message and tidy it up before you send it.

Speaking of which, it’s worth brushing up on proper email etiquette so you don’t offend anyone you contact.