How to delay sending emails or enable undo send feature in Gmail?

Other Questions Gmail
1

I’m looking for ways to prevent emails from being sent immediately in Gmail.

I need to set up some kind of timer or delay when I send messages through Gmail. Sometimes I realize I made a mistake right after hitting send, or I want to double-check something before the email actually goes out.

I’ve heard there might be an undo send option somewhere in Gmail settings, but I can’t seem to find it. Is there a way to configure Gmail so that emails don’t get delivered right away? Maybe like a 30-second or 1-minute delay where I can still cancel the message if needed?

Any step-by-step instructions would be really helpful. I’m using the web version of Gmail on my computer most of the time.

Thanks for any guidance you can provide!

2

yep, u can totally set up undo send! just hit the gear icon, go to settings, and find the “undo send” section. u can pick anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds. then when u send an email, a little pop up comes up to let u cancel it if needed.

3

The undo send feature is definitely available in Gmail and works quite well once you enable it. After you activate it in the settings, you will notice that every time you send an email, a small notification bar appears at the bottom left of your screen with an “Undo” button. This gives you the selected time window to cancel the message before it actually gets delivered. I have mine set to 20 seconds which has saved me multiple times from sending incomplete messages or catching typos. The feature works consistently and I have found it to be reliable for catching those immediate regrets after hitting send. Just remember that once the timer expires, the email is gone and cannot be recalled.

4

I’ve been using Gmail’s undo send for years and there’s actually another approach worth mentioning. Beyond just enabling the standard undo feature, you can also use the scheduled send option for more control. When composing an email, click the arrow next to the Send button and select “Schedule send” - this lets you delay messages by hours or even days. I find this particularly useful for work emails when I want to review them with fresh eyes the next morning. The combination of both features has practically eliminated my email regrets. The scheduled send is especially handy since you can go back and edit or cancel scheduled messages anytime before they’re actually sent.