If you’re wondering if you can unsend an email in Gmail, the short answer is:
Yes!
In case you sent an email with typos or forgot to attach a PDF document, you can quickly unsend the message like nothing happened.
As long as the recipient has not opened or read the received email.
You can simply undo a Gmail message by clicking “Undo Send” if you decide to recall an already sent email.
There is, however, a time caveat to this.
So, it’s not like you can unsend a Gmail message 10 minutes after sending it when the recipient has already clicked on it.
Below, we’ll show you how to undo a sent email and how you can access it on your desktop or mobile phone by answering the following questions:
- How Does Gmail’s “Unsend” Feature Work?
- How Can I Unsend a Gmail Message?
- How Can I Set a Recall Time For My Gmail Message Beforehand?
- How Can I Unsend A Gmail Message From My Desktop?
- How Can I Unsend A Gmail Message From My Mobile? (Android, iPhone, and More)
- Why Can’t I Change The Unsend Time Settings On My Gmail Account?
- Can I Recall An Email I Sent On Outlook?
Here’s what you need to know.
How Does Gmail’s “Unsend” Feature Work?
The Undo send is a default feature in Gmail in case you want to recall the email.
But if you’re wondering how it works, exactly, here’s a quick breakdown of the technical side.
- Your email is held on Google's servers until the default time (7 seconds) elapses.
- Clicking Undo will cancel the send and allow you to further edit your message, such as include an additional attachment or edit your typo.
- After the 7 second delay, your message is released from Google's servers and is actually sent.
- Gmail creates draft messages at intervals as you type. So, when you hit send, it gets released from Google's servers.
- As we’re about to show you below, you can edit the time delay to be 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds.
Let’s take a look.
How Can I Unsend a Gmail Message?
The Undo or Undo Send function is the only feature on Gmail that expressly allows you to retract an already sent message.
All other features allow you to create, delete, or format and send bulk or simple messages at a time without limitations to the number or size of messages you can send.
As with any other messaging service, there’s always the likelihood of sending a message to the wrong address, attaching the wrong document in a message, or a simple typo that you notice once you’ve already hit the send button.
The Undo function is, in essence, a delay feature on Gmail, and as such, it only works to recall a sent email within a limited time frame.
If you are constantly sending Gmail messages, you can make good use of this feature by setting a time limit for unsending your messages if and when you need to.

How Can I Set a Recall Time For My Gmail Message Beforehand?
Gmail allows you to easily set an “Undo Send” time limit on your Gmail account.
This customization function is only available on your desktop and the time adjustment is not applicable on the mobile version of Gmail.
Here’s how to set a recall time delay when unsending your Gmail messages:
- Log in to your Gmail account on your desktop.
- On the top right side of your screen, click on the Settings button.

- On the options on the pull-down menu, click on the See All Settings option.

- Click on the General tab on the options panel that appears on your screen.

- Scroll down to the Undo Send option and on the Send Cancellation Period tab, choose between 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds as your email recall time limit.
How Can I Unsend A Gmail Message From My Desktop?
If you wish to retract a Gmail message that you have wrongfully sent on your desktop, you can do so within a window period of between 5 to 30 seconds, depending on your time delay settings.
Here’s how to undo an email you just sent from your desktop browser. This works regardless of your browser, operating system, and so on.
Immediately after you send a message, a pop-up bar appears on the lower left side of your screen, notifying you that the message has been successfully sent.
The pop-up bar also gives you the option to Undo the sent message or View the message.

To recall an already sent Gmail message, click on the Undo message immediately after sending the Gmail message or within the set Undo Send window period.
The Undo feature recalls your Gmail message and brings you a new window to compose your email afresh.