# OH FUCK! I accidentally sent an e-mail to the wrong person! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 19, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200 "2003-11-19T23:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/21 "2003-11-20T17:00:46Z")
Thanks everyone, you have made me feel so much better. I have been fretting over it, but thank goodness you guys have given the best advice. You’re right, family comes first, and she was kind of stupid to be sending me such scathing e-mails about my own brother! It’s such a shame because she IS going around to all their mutual friends bad-mouthing him. It’s so sad, becaue they were best friends with a couple about to get married. My brother was friends with the guy first, then my SIL became good friends with the girl. Well now my SIL is telling horrible tales to the girl about my brother, and the guy has given my brother the cold shoulder. The couple is getting married soon in Cancun and my brother and SIL have been planning on going for months now, all the arrangements are made. Now my brother isn’t going to go on the trip because 1) his wife will be there and she hates him and 2) his good friend and his fiance are totally blowing him off. It’s so sad because he was really looking forward to it. And I think my brother is losing one of his best friends. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/22 "2003-11-20T17:08:38Z")
I once sent a text message ABOUT a guy TO him. No “recall” button on mobile phones either :o ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/23 "2003-11-20T17:34:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AHunter3 \* > \*\*I would assume that the Outlook “un-send” thingie would only work in a corporate environment where both you and the recipient are clients of the same Exchange Server. > > \*\* Bingo. Give the man a cigar. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/24 "2003-11-20T17:58:45Z")
I guess we don’t have a “recall” option at our office. I looked all through our Outlook and I don’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/25 "2003-11-20T18:18:45Z")
Back away. You should not be in the middle of your brother and your SIL’s divorce. Tell her you will not listen to any more bad-mouthing about your brother. Unless he his a real sleaze, you owe him your first loyalty. He’s blood. ---
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/26 "2003-11-20T18:35:08Z")
Your brother comes first. I assume that you will drop contact with the SIL after the divorce anyway, so who cares? Since your SIL is so cunning and back-stabbing, she is getting what she deserves. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/27 "2003-11-20T19:26:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pugluvr \* > \*\*I guess we don’t have a “recall” option at our office. I looked all through our Outlook and I don’t see it. \*\* Open a sent message and then check the Actions menu for the message. If available, you should see the option there. It only works for Outlook (not Outlook Express, which despite the name is actually the e-mail part of Internet Explorer and a different program), and both you and the recipient are using the same Microsoft Exchange service for e-mail. ---
**Author:** ![slu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@slu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slu)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/28 "2003-11-20T19:46:57Z")
I have never seen the recall function in Outlook work at all. Not over the regular internet, not in a corporate exchange environment. The only thing I ever see happen is another email is sent that says the the person wants to recall the message. But it is still there. Do not trust Outlook recall! ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/29 "2003-11-20T20:06:53Z")
Hey **Revtim** , since you were new to Outlook at the time, you probably didn’t realize that your boss read the email in his Deleted Items folder right after you left the room. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/30 "2003-11-20T20:21:14Z")
It’s possible **Taxguy**. But I think I probably knew about the deleted folder by then and had zapped it there too. But I’m not 100 percent sure… ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/31 "2003-11-20T20:33:37Z")
I worked at a company where a woman sent a nasty…really nasty e-mail about another co-worker. She accidentally hit “broadcast message” and everyone in the entire company got it. A brief, fearful apology followed. I believe they showed her the door. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/32 "2003-11-20T20:35:12Z")
Well, at least something like [this](http://www.snopes.com/risque/tattled/swire.htm) didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/33 "2003-11-20T20:55:14Z")
Alas, my Outlook has no “un-send” feature. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/34 "2003-11-20T21:02:39Z")
I once sent a stroppy email responding to an entire mailing list about sending me chain letters and hoaxes. Our mail servers spasmed and sent about thirty copies to each recipient. Nice. I’ve also sent an email to someone whose first name and surname were the surname and first name of the person I was trying to reach. The Outlook recall option isn’t fast enough, I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200/35 "2003-11-20T21:09:29Z")
I once sent a stroppy email responding to an entire mailing list about sending me chain letters and hoaxes. Our mail servers spasmed and sent about thirty copies to each recipient. Nice. I’ve also sent an email to someone whose first name and surname were the surname and first name of the person I was trying to reach. The Outlook recall option isn’t fast enough, I tell you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-fuck-i-accidentally-sent-an-e-mail-to-the-wrong-person/214200.md?page=1)