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How to delete a message sent by mistake in Gmail? Step by step guide

You finished writing and you have sent the message to your Gmail email account, then you notice that you sent it to the wrong contact, but it also has some spelling errors that you should have corrected. This situation can happen to anyone, perhaps because they are doing a task against the clock.

It is an uncomfortable moment, which many think is impossible to correct. But there is a trick in Gmail that gives you the option to reverse the sending, returning everything back before it is read by the recipient, being able to edit it to send a quality email.

In this grade you will learn how to cancel a shipment in your Gmail account as well as the steps to cancel the action on a mobile device or from the computer.

Is it possible to delete or un-send a message in my Gmail account? It’s all about time

Send a message from Gmail

When you send an email, the “Undo” option is displayed in the lower left corner of the screen to cancel the shipment., which is only available for a few seconds. For this option to work, it is important that you know that the email must have the cancel sending box configured and that you only have a maximum of 30 seconds, time that should not be a problem because what we want is to cancel the exit as quickly as possible.

The 30-second period could change. There are already other messaging applications that offer the possibility of deleting messages for all users, giving longer periods of time. Nevertheless, When it comes to emails, this is the best you can get.

Learn step by step how to cancel the sending of a message sent by accident in my Gmail account

The function of undoing an email in Gmail has been available since 2015, although there are still those they do not know it exists or they have forgotten about it.

In the following lines we are going to show you how to activate this option in your account and how to use it:

On Android and iOS

Although the functionality of undo emails in Gmail took a while to reach mobile devices, is also available now and if you regret having sent a message, you can cancel it before it is received.

The steps to perform the action are as follows:

  • Enter the gmail app and write a new email.
  • Enter the recipient along with the content of the message.

Send a Gmail message from Android

  • Press the option “Send Message”.
  • By sending it, in the black bar at the bottom appears the word “Undo”.

Undo Gmail messages on Android

  • There you will have five seconds to reverse the action so that the mail does not leave your inbox.

Options extend the time to reverse the sending of mail can only be done from the web version of Gmail. We will explain this procedure in the next section.

In the computer

Now we will tell you how to run this function from a computer table.

To do this, you must have the Gmail email account open in the browser and perform the following steps:

  • Once you enter your account, click the settings symbol in the upper right.
  • Tap on “See all settings” to open the full menu.
  • Window “General” will open and among the first fields you will see is “Undo send”.

How to undo Gmail messages

  • In the box “Shipping cancellation period” You will see several times that go from 5 to 30 seconds. You have to choose one.
  • After you select, click on the button “Save Changes” which is located at the bottom of the page.

Save changes to Gmail settings

  • After the function is activated, every time you send a message you will see the option “Message sent” and right next to “Undo” and “See the message.”

Undo Gmail messages from the web

  • If you don’t want to send the message, you can click “Undo” and within the time that you have configured you will be able to delete the mail before the recipient reads it.

These tricks are undoubtedly valuable to know, especially when it comes to one of the most used messaging applications in the world. Taking this into account, You will already have a solution if you send an email in the wrong way to whom you should not. Just by using the option “undo” within the configured seconds, the message will be stopped.