How many times have you written a pithy reply to an email, hit send confidently only to realize you called the original sender something along the lines of a male donkey? Normally there would be a mad scramble to stop the email from being sent, only to realize that once you have hit the send button, you can’t take it back. If you use Microsoft Outlook, you can put a delay on your email, giving you a chance to cancel sending it.
Below are instructions on how to delay emails in Outlook.
7-second tape delay for emails
It worked well for hockey commentator Don Cherry after a few unpopular comments landed his program, Coach’s Corner, in hot water. For emails, seven seconds is a bit short, we recommend delaying potentially inflammatory emails for 10 minutes, to give you time to review and possibly cancel if you notice mistakes. You can add a delay on individual emails in Outlook by:
- Clicking Options in the window you’re writing your email in and selecting More Options.
- Select Delay Delivery followed by Message Options.
- Clicking the box beside: Don’t deliver before and selecting the date and time to send the email.
You’ll be taken back to the message window after you’ve selected the delivery time, and pressing Send will put the email in the Outbox folder until the specified time. If you use a POP3 email account – if you’re unsure what you use, contact the administrator in charge of email – you will have to keep Outlook open.
There are many different reasons to use the delay function of Outlook, it’s especially useful if you often realize there are mistakes in your emails. You should still be sure to read over your emails and if it’s an angry reply or it contains negative information ensure that it carries a relevant tone and that you really want to send it. Has there ever been a time when you could have used this feature? Let us know.
