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Jazbeck via Flickr/Creative Commmons

Don't panic: How to undo a sent email in Gmail

You’ll have to be quick though.

YOU CLICKED SEND. Oh crap.

When you send a no-take-backs email — maybe an admission to a secret crush, or accidental reply-all — there’s an instant pang of regret.

It feels like there’s no going back.

Meet Gmail’s Undo Send feature, a lifesaving little hack buried in the Gmail Labs settings.

It gives you a 10-second window to “undo” sending an outgoing email.

You just have to enable it first.

Here’s how it works:

1. Click the gear icon in the top right corner of your Gmail window and select Settings from the dropdown menu

image

2. Select Labs from the row of tabs

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3. Scroll all the way to the bottom where you see Undo Send and click Enable

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4. Hit Save Changes at the bottom

5. Breathe easy

Now when you send an email, the yellow dialogue that displays “Your message has been sent” will also give you the option to Undo.

image

Our tests consistently showed that you have about 10 seconds before the Undo option disappears. Click it, and the email will reopen, un-sent, in the composition window.

We weren’t the first to discover this cool trick. Jimmy Tomczak, founder of beach accessories company TOMBOLO, recently tweeted at me a link to an article by former Mashable editor and current Sprout Social editorial director, Samuel Axon. Gmail’s interface has changed since Mashable’s tutorial was published in 2010, so we updated the steps.

Note, features in Gmail Labs are experimental and may change, break, or disappear at any time. You’ve been warned.

- Melia Robinson

Google animation shows what happens when you send an email>
The 8 most mortifying pitfalls of your ‘Sent’ box>
Column: 9 email habits that could change your life>

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    Mute Dean
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    Aug 13th 2022, 8:40 PM

    Persecution mainly comes *from* religion. Adults need to call out religion for what it is.

    Religion and human rights do not go hand in hand.

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    Mute Niamh Hayes
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    Aug 13th 2022, 9:24 PM

    Great to see this article,very timely as what has happened in Iran over the last forty years is just starting in Afghanistan. Convert or die is basically what is happening .The separation of church and state is so important.

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    Mute ÓDuibhír Abú
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    Aug 13th 2022, 11:18 PM

    @Niamh Hayes: Born again Christians , say; ‘Turn or Burn’ in Hell obviously

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    Mute Ambrose O'Farrell
    Favourite Ambrose O'Farrell
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    Aug 13th 2022, 8:51 PM

    Lived in Shiraz just before the revolution
    The Bahai’s lived in a street that was completely burned and all murdered.

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    Mute John Mcmahon
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    Aug 14th 2022, 2:18 AM

    From reading this article
    I cant help but see the UN is in terrible need of reform
    It’s toothless organisation not fit for purpose
    Every aggressor from Russia,Saudi Arabia, Iran Israel and the USA just ignore it and its resolutions
    Time to disband the UN and start again

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    Mute Nicholas McMurry
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    Aug 14th 2022, 7:53 AM

    @John Mcmahon: The UN is certainly toothless and we do need more powerful (and democratically accountable) global governance. However the UN does do a lot of good. There are a number of countries that are unresponsive to the UN, another set that are responsive only within fixed areas, but most countries actually interact with the UN. For those countries the UN’s human rights bodies are invaluable. Some of the UN agencies like the UNHCR and the World Food Programme have undoubtedly saved millions of lives.

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    Mute John Mcmahon
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    Aug 14th 2022, 8:32 AM

    @Nicholas McMurry: I totally agree
    Sure keep the parts that work
    But as a Council for conflict resolution its a failure .
    And has been for decades

    13
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    Mute Gerard Ryan
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    Aug 13th 2022, 11:44 PM

    Somewhat ironic I think. I believe The Baha’í Faith originated in Iran, tho’ I may be wrong. I’ve found the Bahai’s that I’ve known to be quite good people.

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    Mute Christy Mc Carthy
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    Aug 13th 2022, 10:12 PM

    Yes stop the murder of Palestinian men women and children

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    Mute Colm Mcmahon
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    Aug 13th 2022, 10:27 PM

    @Christy Mc Carthy: yes,Hamas and Islamic jihad are killing and persecuting most of the people in Gaza.

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    Mute Lita Campbell
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    Aug 13th 2022, 10:49 PM

    @Colm Mcmahon: What planet do you live on!

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    JG
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    Mute JG
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    Aug 13th 2022, 11:20 PM

    @Colm Mcmahon: it’s a little bit of truth, thay lots of people don’t wnat to know about. Hamas are brutal against their own people if they happen to be different to what hamas accept as “right”.
    I despise what Israel does in Palestine but the other option isn’t great for freedom either.

    62
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