Oops! Sorry You Sent That Email?

Did You Ever Send An Email That You Wish You Hadn’t Sent?
All Gmail users

Let’s face it, EB and I exchange a lot of emails. Hers are often nasty and degrading and first reaction is to fire back with a volley of vitriol to burn her gnarly eyes. As soon as I send it though, I realize I’m just feeding the flames of unproductivity. I have work to do and I don’t have time to engage EB in war or words – where she as one hand tied behind her back.

I found a way to Undo Send in Gmail – so I can get the satisfaction of firing off a salvo of carefully chosen colorful words and send it then bring it back before it hits its target – EB. It’s like email attached to a rubber band. You get all the satisfaction of composing and sending a fiery email without any of the consequences.

I see some of scoffing. You’re shaking your heads, rolling your eyes, you would have no use for this tip. No reason to Undo sending an email. You’re perfect. Scoff if you will – there will come a day you’ll wish you had it and because you scoffed and turned up your nose today, you won’t have it. But you’ll vaguely remember that good ole TC wrote about this and you’ll search frantically for this tip. By then, of course, it will be too late for you. So scoff if you want – someday you’ll wish you would’ve listened to me, I tells ya.

Consider EB. She scoffed when I told her how to undo sending an email until one day she decided to write the Internal Revenue Service a rather colorful letter:

Dear IRS,

I am sorry I don’t have the money to pay you the taxes you say I owe you. I might be able to come up with it in six months or so, but I’ll have to let you know on that. You do realize I have more important people to pay like my manicurist, my hairdresser, my chauffer, and the bank that holds the mortgage on my summer home on Cape Cod. So you’ll just have to wait. Besides it looks to me like you have enough money to buy bombs and stuff and give those worthless members of congress full health insurance coverage and raises every six months! And if you do run short, you don’t have pick on people like me – you can borrow money from China.

Anyway, I have to run, I’m going out to dinner and a concert – my chauffer is honking the horn. I’ll write you back in six months or so and let you know how much I can pay you then – if anything – but don’t hold your breath.

Toodles!

Darcy

Don’t you think EB wished she would have listened to me when she sait that missive? The fireworks started almost immediately. if only she’d had time to think about it after she pushed the send button and had the undo send option – she could have saved her mansion and her summer home on Cape Cod. She could have kept getting her nails done and her hair colored. She could have afforded to eat something besides Ramen noodles. But nnnooooo – she didn’t listen to me. So you go ahead and scoff at this tip if you want – someday, like EB, you’ll wish you hadn’t scoffed.

For those of you who hear my voice, I’m going to show you how to set up Undo Send in Gmail and how to configure so you have up to 30 seconds after you push the Send button to bring it back before it gets to the recipient(s):

Fire up Gmail – that’s right – fire it. Click on the settings icon – it looks like a gear and it’s near the top-right of the page. Still can’t find it? See below:

Now click on Settings – see? It’s highlighted above. Now look the menu across the top – and click on Labs. See?

Now about two-thirds of the way down that page you’ll see “Undo Send” by Yuzo F. Enable it by ticking the box next to Enable. See?

Now be sure to save the changes by clicking ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom of that page:

Now click on the General link on the menu:

Now scroll down the page that opens and you’ll Undo Send and you will see the option to change the amount of time in second you will have to stop the sending of an email. If you take a while to decide things, better set this to 30 seconds.

After you’ve configured this the way you want it, don’t forget to save your changes. All the way down at the bottom, click the Save Changes button.

Now when you send an email you’ll see this popup:

And if you decide after you’ve sent an email you really don’t want to send it after all – you’ll have up to 30 seconds to pull it back before it gets to the recipient(s). Scoff all you want. It’s better to have it and not need it than need it than not have it. Just ask good ole EB.