Gmail 101: How to increase the time you have to unsend an email

If you’ve ever hit “Send” on a Gmail email and regretted it ten seconds later, you’ll know how useful, if not necessary, a delayed send feature can be. It could be the sudden realization that you accidentally hit ‘Reply All’, or the feeling that maybe you sent it to the wrong contact, or that there is a spelling mistake somewhere in there. – or, worse yet, knowing that you just sent an angry letter that you probably shouldn’t have. Either way, a few seconds of stopping that email could keep your day from imploding.

(Gmail, of course, isn’t the only email app with this capability; other apps offer it as well.)

Gmail offers a standard five-second window for you to change your mind and cancel sending the email, but if you think you need a little extra time, you can organize it. I find it helpful to allow myself more time to rethink an email; While I’ve only had to stop an email from going out a few times, those few times have probably saved me, at the very least, from having to send an apology follow-up.

You set it up using the web version of Gmail:

• Click on the “Settings” cogwheel in the upper right corner, then click on “View all settings”.
• Under the “General” tab, search for “Cancel Shipment.”
• Choose how long you want Gmail to give you to change your mind: you can select five seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, or 30 seconds.
• Scroll down to the bottom and click “Save Changes”.

When you click send you will see an option in the lower left corner to “Cancel” your email which will last as long as you set it; it will also be available in the mobile application. If you wish, you can click “Cancel” and you will be taken back to your draft email.