Gmail is among the most popular email platforms in the world. It's free and easy to set up, making it the go-to for personal accounts. As a key Google Workspace app, Gmail is also used by businesses of all sizes. And since there's a Gmail app for Android and iOS, you can easily keep track of your email messages on the go.

Convenience, however, comes at a cost. Using your phone's relatively small keyboard to quickly reply to an email is risky. No matter how often you proofread an email message before you press send, there's a good chance you'll miss a typo or accidentally add an unintended recipient. You can use the undo send feature to correct your mistake. In this guide, we'll teach you how to turn on and use Gmail's Undo Send feature.

What is Undo Send in Gmail?

Undo Send is a feature that lets you unsend your emails after you press the Send button. This feature started as a Gmail Labs feature but was rolled out to the public on the desktop in 2015 and Android users in 2018. It's available to regular and Workspace users, so anyone with a Gmail account can take advantage of it.

To use this feature, you'll activate it first and choose how long you want it to be available. After that, when you compose and send an email, you receive the typical "message sent" notification, but with an added "Undo" button that is available for the duration of time you specified.

The way this feature works is simple. Even though you pressed the Send button, Gmail holds your email for the time period you set. After that time frame passes, Gmail sends the email. Even though Google could program a way to take back sent emails on the Gmail server, it wouldn't work for recipients who use other email accounts like those from Microsoft and Apple. Therefore, holding the email is the best way to make sure you can use the feature correctly and double-check for mistakes.

How to activate Undo Send in Gmail

Before you can unsend an email in Gmail, you must create a delay between clicking the Send button and when Gmail sends the email. To begin, open your Gmail inbox in a browser and follow these steps:

  1. Click the Settings icon (shaped like a cog) in the upper-right corner to open Settings.
  2. In the Settings pop-up menu, click See all settings to open the full settings page.
    A Gmail inbox with the settings cog selected and see all settings button highlighted
  3. On the Settings page, go to the General tab, find an Undo Send option, and use the drop-down menu to change the cancellation period. You can adjust the time frame to wait before sending Gmail messages from 5 to 30 seconds.
    The Gmail Settings with the undo send option and associated dropdown to select a time highlighted
  4. After making the necessary changes to the Undo Send options, scroll down to the bottom of the Settings page and click Save Changes to save the new configuration.
    The Gmail Settings page with the Save Changes button at the bottom highlighted

After turning on a sending delay, you can unsend emails if you spot any mistakes. However, the maximum delay is only 30 seconds, so it's important to review emails carefully in that time. Nevertheless, this feature helps you catch missing attachments or major typos before sending the email.

How to unsend a Gmail message from your web browser

Let's look at how to use the unsend feature in Gmail now that you've set it up. You can use the feature on mobile and desktop versions of Gmail. To undo sending a Gmail email from a desktop browser, follow these steps after you click Send on your email:

  1. Create a new message in Gmail for the web and click Send.
  2. After you click Send, the message sent dialog box appears at the bottom of the page. You also see View Message and Undo Send options.
  3. Click the Undo button in the pop-up menu to cancel the email and return to the editor to correct your mistake.
    A Gmail inbox with a Message Sent dialog box and the associated Undo button highlighted

How to unsend an email in the Gmail app for Android or iOS

The Gmail mobile app is available in the Google Play Store for Android phones and tablets. There's also an iOS app for iPhone and iPad users. If you tend to send emails on the go, you've likely touched extra characters while typing on your phone screen. The process for unsending Gmail messages is as simple in the Gmail app as it is from a web browser.

  1. Compose a new email in the mobile app and tap Send.
  2. A small dialog box at the bottom of the screen confirms the email was sent. You'll also see an Undo option on the right in the pop-up menu.
  3. Tap the Undo button to unsend the email and return to the text editor.
    Screenshot highlighting the 'Undo' option after sending an email on the Gmail Android app

Make Gmail work for you

Gmail's undo send option is a useful feature that allows you to retract an email before it reaches the intended recipient. This feature is handy when you make an embarrassing typo, add the wrong person to the email, or forget to attach an important file. Additionally, if you're working late and don't want to disturb the recipient, you can schedule the email to be sent later. This gives you ample time to review and make any necessary changes before the email is sent.