Send an Accidental Email? Here's How to Unsend It on Your iPhone

You've probably been here before: You sent a quick email reply on your iPhone, only to realize the reply was either littered with typos, you didn't set your message to Reply All, or you did, and you didn't mean to. While most may believe that once you've sent the reply, that ship has sailed and you can't do anything about it, and in some instances, that'd be true. Luckily, there's an easy way to recall an email -- as long as you set it up first. 

The ability to unsend an email in the Mail app arrived with the iOS 16 update, adding a nice quality of life update to the already-solid email client. This feature was far from novel, as several third-party apps could already do this, but it was very welcomed in Apple's own app. When enabled, the Mail app will essentially delay sending the email so you recall it and make the changes you need to. 

Here's how to set up the send delay feature on your iPhone. For more, don't miss everything announced from Apple's September event and how the AirPods Pro will soon work as hearing aids. 

Before use unsend, check this first

For this feature to work, you must use the Mail app for sending and receiving emails. Unlike third-party standalone email apps, like Gmail, Apple's built-in Mail app allows you to manage all your email accounts from a single place, including:

• iCloud
• Microsoft Exchange
• Google
• Yahoo
• AOL
• Outlook

If you want to add your existing email account to Mail, open the Settings application and go to Mail > Accounts. Here you can add your account, which will then appear in the Mail app.

In the Mail app, go to the inbox of your chosen account (tap Mailbox to view all) and then create a new email. Draft your email as usual -- adding a recipient email address, subject, body and any attachments -- and then hit the blue button on the top-right to send your email. 

Once you do, you should be sent back to your inbox. At the bottom of the page, you'll see the words Undo Send in blue. By default, you only have 10 seconds to hit this button to unsend your recently sent email, or else it will irretrievably send and you won't be able to get it back. 

If you hit Undo Send, you'll be taken back to your email, where you can fix any mistakes or add any missing attachments, and then send it again. You'll have 10 seconds to undo the email if there is another error, just as before.

Change the amount of time to unsend an email on your iPhone

The way the unsend feature works is that instead of actually sending the email and then getting it back, it simply sets a buffer period between when you hit the send button and when the email is actually sent. The default time is 10 seconds, but you can go into your settings to increase this buffer.

In the Settings app, go to Mail > Undo Send Delay and then choose either delay time: 

• Off
• 10 seconds (default)
• 20 seconds
• 30 seconds
  

If you choose the Off option, you won't be able to use the unsend feature in the Mail app.

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