Advice
January 1, 2024

How to delete a sent email?

By
Guillaume De la Sablonnière
Content Factory Manager
We've all been there – one too many clicks, and you've sent an email by mistake. Oh, the horror! In that moment, you feel your life flash before your eyes... But don't panic just yet, because solutions are possible.

Whether it's on Gmail, Outlook, or any other email platform, it can be stressful not knowing how to unsend or recall a message. Fortunately, there are solutions to correct these mistakes. From activating the unsend option to retrieving sent emails, we guide you through the essential steps to effectively manage your emails.

Is it possible to retrieve a sent email?

The short answer: yes!

It is possible to retrieve or delete a message sent by mistake, but you need to act quickly. The recall function also varies depending on the provider of your email address.

Understanding how sending an email works

Sending an email may seem simple on the surface, but it's actually a fairly complex process that passes through several servers. When you click the "Send" button, the message leaves your outbox to be routed to your email provider's server (Gmail, Outlook, etc.). It then forwards the email to the recipient's server before it reaches their inbox. This transmission chain makes the magic of sending and receiving emails work, but it also makes the email cancellation process quite difficult.

However, some platforms offer features to delay sending or recall an email within a short window of time after sending. It's also important to know that specific protocols like SMTP, POP3, and IMAP govern how emails are sent and received, and they don't all work the same way. This, of course, adds another layer of complexity.

The good news is, you don't need too much technical knowledge, as these aspects are handled by the providers.

How to modify a mistakenly sent message?

To modify a sent message, you need to act quickly. Some email services like Gmail and Outlook offer options to cancel or recall a message shortly after sending it.

However, note that these options do not guarantee the modification or cancellation of the message, especially if the recipient has already opened the email. If modification isn't possible, the best course of action is to contact the recipient directly and explain the mistake (prepare your best bouquet).

Recalling a message in Outlook: Steps to follow

To recall a message in Outlook, follow these steps:

  1. Once your email has been sent, go to the "Sent Items" folder in your email.
  2. Then, locate and double-click on the message you want to recall to open it.
  3. In the menu bar at the top of your screen, select the "Message" tab.
  4. Then, click on "Actions" in the dropdown menu.
  5. Select the "Recall this message" option.
  6. You will then have two options: either delete unread copies of this message, or delete these copies and replace them with a new message. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do anything for copies of the message that have already been opened.
  7. Select the option that suits you and click "OK".

And you're done!

Canceling the sending of an email with Gmail

To cancel sending an email with Gmail, the first step is to make sure this feature is enabled in your settings.

  1. Go to the Settings tab by clicking the gear icon in the upper-right corner.
  2. Then, click on "See All Settings."
  3. Once in the General tab, you'll find a section called "Undo Send." Here, you can set the cancellation time that seems most appropriate, with a maximum of 30 seconds.
  4. Once you've saved the settings, the feature will be activated.
  5. After sending an email, a notification will appear at the bottom of the screen with the option to cancel the send and will stay displayed according to the set time.
  6. You’ll need to click "Undo" during the cancellation window to stop the email from being sent.

Can you cancel a sent email on Orange Mail?

On Orange mail, the cancellation of a sent email is unfortunately limited. Like most email platforms, the process of sending an email is almost instantaneous and irreversible.

Once the "Send" button is clicked, the message is directly transmitted to the SMTP server, which sends it to the recipient. The process is so fast that it generally doesn’t leave time to cancel the send.

In this case, two approaches are suggested, but unfortunately, they require some justification from your side:

  1. If you quickly realize your mistake, you can try contacting the recipient to ask them not to read or ignore the message.
  2. Another solution, although it doesn't revoke the initial message, is to send another email to explain the situation and correct the mistake.

For those using Orange Mail, it is recommended to always carefully check and proofread your message before sending it. It's a basic tip, but reading your email two or even three times rather than just once will help you avoid mistakes and sending it to the wrong recipient. Also, avoid responding to emails hastily, especially if they are sensitive or important. Take the time needed to write your response and ensure it's correct before sending.

Correcting an error after sending an email: tips and advice

Sending an email is a near-instantaneous and irreversible process. However, when a mistake is made, certain measures can be taken to mitigate its effects. The main tip is speed. The quicker you act, the less chance there is of your message impacting your recipient.

Here are the basic reflexes you should have in case of a mistake:

  1. See if there’s an option to cancel or recall your message via the integrated features of your email solution.
  2. Send a correction email, explaining your mistake and providing the correct information. Depending on your recipient's mailbox settings, this new email may also "bury" the previous one.
  3. Ask the recipient not to read or to ignore the message. Be cautious, as human nature being what it is, it’s likely that the recipient’s curiosity will be even more piqued. However, by doing this, you’ll have at least warned them about the erroneous information in your message.

Ultimately, we can only recommend carefully checking your email before sending it. We always think twice before speaking, so why not read an email seven times? Especially if its content is sensitive... Make sure the right recipient is selected, the content is correct and complete, you have the right email signature in place, and all necessary attachments are included.

That’s it for our tips! We hope they were helpful, and that you’ve been able to prevent a major blunder... If not, just remember that the embarrassment caused by such an error will always be a good learning experience for the future!

About the author
We've all been there – one too many clicks, and you've sent an email by mistake. Oh, the horror! In that moment, you feel your life flash before your eyes... But don't panic just yet, because solutions are possible.
About Letsignit
Letsignit is an email signature management solution that allows organizations to transform their employees' email signatures into a powerful 1-1 engagement medium for their brands and campaigns.

Questions
Fréquentes

1

Is it possible to track the number of clicks on email signatures?

Yes, with the 'Campaigns' offer, it is possible to track the number of clicks on the email signatures of all your employees in the 'Statistics' area of the platform.

You can then access a detailed or global view of the number of clicks on the email signatures of each employee. You can use the search option to target a specific signature or a given period. Finally, you have the possibility to export all statistics to an Excel document.

If you launch campaigns with banners inserted in your email signatures, you can also access their performance via this same space.

2

Can we add links to social networks, our website, and appointment-setting applications such as Calendly?

With Letsignit, you can easily add social network icons in your collaborators' email signatures and link to your company pages. Also, our "attributes" feature allows you to manage personalized URLs for each of your collaborators such as their individual LinkedIn profile.

And that's not all: you can add links to an appointment-setting application, allow your customers to leave reviews easily, and integrate our 'Chat on Teams' widget to let anyone start a discussion via Microsoft Teams chat.

3

Can employees update their signature information themselves (number, function, etc.)?

It’s up to you! As an administrator of the Letsignit platform, you choose whether or not to grant modification rights to your employees. These permissions are managed on an attribute-by-attribute basis, which means that you can decide to allow the employee to change their phone number, but not the address of your premises, for example.

This feature applies to all attributes in your directory, including custom attributes created on Letsignit. When your employees change one or more attributes, your directory is obviously not affected.

4

Why it is important to standardize our email signatures on a large scale to ensure our identity and brand image?

It often happens that employees make their email signature their own: custom format, bad fonts, colors inconsistent with the brand standards... all of this has an impact on your brand!

A consistent visual identity is considered authentic and outperforms a perceived weak one by 20%. And, your customers are 2.4 times more likely to buy your products.

With Letsignit, take back control over your brand identity by standardizing all your email signatures. Our tool has many features that allow you to customize your signatures by department, by audience or by subsidiary. Not to mention the possibility of carrying out campaigns within your email signatures thanks to our Campaign offer.

5

What is the user experience like for our employees?

What is the user experience like for our employees?

  • If you opt for the Letsignit Add-in for Outlook, they will have a dedicated space in their Outlook account where they will be able to view the signatures and campaigns assigned to them.
  • If you opt for the Letsignit Desktop APP, they will be able to preview all their signatures and campaigns in this space. If they want to change their default signature to another one when sending an email, this will be done in their signature library in Outlook.

In both cases:

  • They preview their signature before sending an email and choose from signatures assigned to them.
  • Based on the permissions granted, they will also be able to modify their personal information such as their name, position, or address in these spaces.

In short, they have autonomy in their email signature, but you keep control on the field, signatures, and banners they can edit or use.

6

Can my employees have multiple signatures available to them?

With our "multi-signature" feature, your employees can benefit from multiple email signatures. No technical manipulation is required. Thanks to our Add-in for Outlook or the desktop app, they can change their email signatures as they wish with just a few clicks.

Regarding the creation of email signatures, you can make several variations such as:

Everything has been thought of to go further in the personalization process based on the recipient of your emails.

7

Regarding “Green IT,” have you implemented measures to limit the digital footprint of email signatures?

If sending emails has an impact, non-optimized email signatures also have an impact. An unsuitable format or an image that is too heavy considerably increases the size of your signatures... and therefore, your emails.

As a responsible economic actor, we contribute to reducing our CO2 emissions and those of our customers in several ways:

  • Optimization of the weight of signatures and campaigns in emails.
  • Green features: lightening of signatures during response/transfer emails, possibility of not embedding images, implementation of lighter signatures for internal exchanges.
  • Integration of a 'Switch to Teams' widget to encourage your employees to continue their exchanges via chat, rather than email.

As we are increasingly involved in sustainability initiatives, our priority in 2023 is to develop even more green IT functionality.

8

Regarding “Green IT,” have you implemented measures to limit the digital footprint of email signatures?

If sending emails has an impact, non-optimized email signatures also have an impact. An unsuitable format or an image that is too heavy considerably increases the size of your signatures... and therefore, your emails.

As a responsible economic actor, we contribute to reducing our CO2 emissions and those of our customers in several ways:

  • Optimization of the weight of signatures and campaigns in emails.
  • Green features: lightening of signatures during response/transfer emails, possibility of not embedding images, implementation of lighter signatures for internal exchanges.
  • Integration of a 'Switch to Teams' widget to encourage your employees to continue their exchanges via chat, rather than email.

As we are increasingly involved in sustainability initiatives, our priority in 2023 is to develop even more green IT functionality.

Questions
Fréquentes

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