You can unsend emails in Gmail — here's how to do it

Impact

There are two big rules when it comes to email: Always proofread and never send an email when you're upset. I've learned these lessons the hard way. I've sent angry emails that I've immediately regretted. I've sent emails to the wrong people. I've sent important emails with typos in them, completely embarrassing myself.

Stop living in fear. There's an undo button on Gmail, and I'm going to show you how to use it.

If you're in your Gmail inbox, go to the top right corner of the screen and hit the gear button, where you'll see the following options:

Mic/Gmail

Hit Settings and scroll down until you see Undo Send. There, you can check the box that says Enable Undo Send. You can also choose how long you want the cancellation period: 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds. The longer you choose, the longer you'll have to decide if you want to unsend an email after you've pressed send.

Alexis/Gmail

Make sure you scroll down some more and hit Save when you're finished. Once you've done this, you'll start seeing an Undo option after you've sent an email. Here's what that looks like:

Mic/Gmail

If you want to unsend an email, quickly hit Undo, and your email won't be sent. You feel that? That's what relief feels like.

Sign up for Tech Yeah! — your biweekly digest with a helpful and hilarious tech tip for upgrading your life. Yes, there's a hack for that.