How to Recall an Email in Outlook 365

Recalling an email in Outlook (on Exchange and Microsoft 365)

1. Open your Sent Items folder
2. Double-click on the email you want to recall (to open it)
3. Go to File > Info
4. Click on Message Resend and Recall > Recall This Message
5. Select the option you want from:
   1. Delete unread copies of this message, which 'recalls' the email by deleting it from the inbox
   2. Delete unread copies and replace with a new message, which 'recalls' unread copied by deleting them and sends a new email to recipients
6. Tick the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient box to know whether your email was deleted or not
7. Select OK

Why recalling an email in Outlook doesn’t always work

Recalling an email in Outlook only works under the following combined specific conditions:

• You and your recipient(s) are all on Exchange or Microsoft 365
• You are all in the same organization
• A recipient has not read the email

If these and other conditions are not met, then Outlook will default to sending a recall email, which is a separate (new) email that lists the email you would like to recall. This does not delete or replace the email in a recipient's inbox. This means under the following circumstances an Outlook recall won't work:

• You are not on Exchange or Microsoft 365
• Some or all of your recipients are not on Exchange or Microsoft 365
• The recipient(s) is external to your organization
• The recipient has read the email
• The original email has been moved to a folder that is not their inbox, for example due to a rule within the recipient's mailbox (in this case, both the original message and the recall notification email will be available to the recipient)
• You are using Outlook Web Access (OWA)