# GMail adds an UnSend feature. Happy dance! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587 "2013-12-05T17:03:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/1 "2013-12-05T17:03:24Z")
Every GMail user needs to get this enabled. ASAP. So it can be used whenever needed. I’m pretty careful about what I say in email anyhow. Never curse or write anything I wouldn’t say to my pastor. 🙂 But reply to group has burned me a few times discussing projects. An unsend would be helpful. Now if Outlook would just add this feature life would be good. 😛 > **[No more regrets! Now you can UN-SEND incriminating emails from Gmail](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2518644/Revealed-The-hidden-feature-lets-UNSEND-Gmail-quick.html)** > > The tool is hidden away among other settings of Gmail's 'Labs' section and gives users a 30 second window of opportunity to unsend emails. > [@](#): > > The handy tool that could spare people blushes is buried in the ‘Gmail Labs’ section of Google’s email service and has to be enabled before the unsend action can be used. > > To find the feature, people with Gmail accounts should go into their inbox as usual and look for the cog icon in the top right corner of their computer screen. > > Clicking on the icon allows a user to select the ‘settings’ option and then pick ‘Labs’ from the horizontal toolbar that appears. > > To find the unsend feature, users have to scroll almost all the way to the bottom of the products listed to enable the function, which is simply called ‘Undo Send’. > > The description says: ‘Oops, hit “send” too soon? Stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button.’ > > Once the user has enabled the feature, they need to save it by pressing the ‘Save Changes’ button at the very bottom of the page. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/2 "2013-12-05T17:14:13Z")
Nice! I don’t use Gmail, but maybe this will catch on. Looks like they really make you dig for it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/3 "2013-12-05T17:25:51Z")
I just setup the option on my work email. It works. I see the undo for a few seconds after an email is sent. ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/4 "2013-12-05T17:59:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Now if Outlook would just add this feature life would be good. 😛 Find the message in your Sent Items folder, open it, and under Other Actions, you have a couple choices for recalling a message: [http://www.groovypost.com/howto/unsend-email-outlook-2013-2010-recall/](http://www.groovypost.com/howto/unsend-email-outlook-2013-2010-recall/) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/5 "2013-12-05T18:10:18Z")
I wouldn’t count on it. If the recipient has already opened his mail, you won’t be able to recall it. Or, even if he shares a server with you, you might be able to recall it, but that’s of limited use if he has already read and/or printed it out and/or stored it somewhere else. I had this happen to me recently, when the sheriff’s office emailed me a bunch of public accident records, then frantically tried to recall them because they had forgotten to redact the personal information. Too late; I already had them. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/6 "2013-12-05T18:10:40Z")
This has been available for ages. We’ve had it set up on our work email (a skinned Gmail account) for at least a year IIRC. Quite useful. **Musicat** - it’s not a “recall” function, it’s an “undo sending” function, so the recipient can’t have read it already. The email delays sending for 10 seconds or so after you hit “send”. You can hit “Undo” during that time and the email never gets sent at all. The downside is the slight delay in sending, but the upside is that you always seem to notice that glaring typo or missed attachment just moments after you hit “Send”. This feature rescues you. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/7 "2013-12-05T18:15:23Z")
Completely worthless feature, IMO. I have regrets about emails I sent years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/8 "2013-12-05T18:22:33Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Completely worthless feature, IMO. I have regrets about emails I sent years ago. Well, that’s the thing. It only delays the actual send function for 10 seconds or so. It’s no different than if you sat back and thought “do I really want to send this?” which is something you should always do with email messages in the first place. Especially after midnight on the weekend, for example. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/9 "2013-12-05T18:36:31Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Especially after midnight on the weekend, for example. 😉 Gmail Labs used to have an option to set certain times of the day/week where you were asked to solve simple arithmetic problems before the email would send 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/10 "2013-12-06T14:40:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Completely worthless feature, IMO > [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, that’s the thing. It only delays the actual send function for 10 seconds or so. It’s no different than if you sat back and thought “do I really want to send this?” which is something you should always do with email messages in the first place. Yeah, a 10 second “un-send” feature really isn’t much of a help. But wouldn’t it be great if ,when Google glasses hit the market, they include a brainscan feature that will let you delete info from the wearer’s brain.? Call it the “un-see” feature. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/11 "2013-12-08T04:03:57Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > This has been available for ages. We’ve had it set up on our work email (a skinned Gmail account) for at least a year IIRC. Yeah, I first set that up on my Gmail a little over a year ago. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-adds-an-unsend-feature-happy-dance/675587/12 "2013-12-08T04:09:52Z")
My technique is to avoid putting the recipient’s email address in the To field until I’ve written everything out and double-checked it. That goes in last. So if I hit Send by accident, it won’t go anywhere. I can’t see how this feature would be better.