Time and again, you notice you have forgotten something or made a small mistake in an email just as you click “Send”? Find out here how to undo “Send” in Mail for Mac and recall emails for a few seconds.
First, Put Your Cans in the Cellar
Buy our cans and sardines, says one manufacturer not too surprisingly, then put them in the cellar (and go buy some more).
They have a point, of course: like many a thing worth preserving, canned sardines only improve with time. The meat acquires subtleties of taste over the years and develops silken softness to the bite. So I presume, for my sardines hardly last longer than the bread they so perfectly accompany…
Now, have Apple Mail put email you send in temporary storage as well—for they may not improve with a few seconds time, and then you can still recall them:
How to Undo Send for an Email in Apple Mail for Mac
Time needed: 1 minute
To undo sending an email with Mail for macOS on a Mac:
- Compose and send an email in Mai for macOS.
- Click Undo Send in the Mail sidebar.
No sidebar: If you do not see the Mail sidebar, select View | Show Sidebar from the menu; without the sidebar, you will not see Undo Send.
“Undo Send” keyboard shortcut: You can also press Command Z immediately after sending to unsend an email.
How long: By default, Mail waits for 10 seconds before it finally delivers an email, but you can prolong the interval (see below).
No undo: It is possible to disable unsending altogether; see below.
- The message you just sent will pop up again for editing.
Define the Interval During Which Unsending Is Possible
To choose how long Apple Mail on a Mac will wait before it delivers an email and unsending is no longer possible:
- Select Mail | Settings… from the menu in Mail.
- Go to the Composing tab.
- Choose the “Undo Send” waiting time under Undo send delay:.
- Close Mail settings.
How to Undo Send for an Email in Apple Mail for Mac: FAQ
Can I turn off unsending altogether in Mac Mail?
Yes.
To disable undo sending in Mail and have it deliver messages immediately:
- Open Composing preferences in Mail settings (see above).
- Select Off for Undo send delay:.
Can I undo sending for a scheduled email?
Yes, before its scheduled delivery.
To cancel (or change) delivery for an email scheduled in Apple Mail for macOS:
- Open the Send Later folder in Mail.
- Delete an email to cancel its delivery altogether.
Keep draft: Move the message to the Drafts folder instead to cancel delivery and keep the draft. - Open the message and click Edit to change the delivery time and date.
In Apple Mail for Mac, you cannot cancel delivery for a scheduled email at or immediately after its delivery time, though (during the undo send delay).
(How to undo send for an email in Apple Mail for Mac tested with macOS Sequoia 15.0, Sonoma 14.2 and Ventura 13.1; first published December 2022, last updated October 2024)