Ever heard the saying “It’s better to be safe than sorry”?
This comes up in a number of situations (saying something to a friend,
relative, or partner that you later regret, learning how to spend
conservatively, and so on), but the Web presents us with new “regrets” –
particularly when it comes to “letting someone have it,” telling them
everything we’re thinking and feeling.
I know, I know: we all say things in the moment that we wish
we could take back later. I’ve often sat at my desk, typing some angry email,
then placing it in draft and rereading it to myself before I decide to send it
(just to “doctor” it and remove the angry words). In some cases, I type it in
Microsoft Word and read it over, just to get out my anger with mean words
before I type the nice words in an official Gmail email.
Well, Google has now unveiled a way to “take back the email”
that could ruin your relationship with your spouse, your lifetime career, and a
business connection that could have implications for years to come. On the
company’s App Team blog yesterday, Mountain View announced
the happy news: “Previously a popular feature in Gmail Labs, and recently
added to Inbox by Gmail, today we’re adding ‘Undo Send’ as a formal setting in
Gmail on the web.”
“Undo Send” is space age tech; for years, we’ve lived in the
world of “once it’s out there, you can’t take it back.” Think of someone who
has sent an email to the wrong individual with confidential information that he
or she wants no one to know. For that individual, “Undo Send” will be a
godsend. The person who applies for a job but realizes after the fact that he
or she forgot to send his or her resume for the job will now be able to undo
the application in order to prepare that resume and increase his or her chances
for the position. This is a feature that will truly aid individuals in their
daily lives.
How to find the “Undo Send” feature in Gmail
Keep in mind that the “Undo Send” feature is only available
on the Web right now, so you’re going to be disappointed if you think the
mobile smartphone experience will provide it for you.
To find the “Undo Send” feature in Gmail on the Web, follow
the steps below:
Step 1. Go to the “wheel” icon at the top right of your
Gmail page in Chrome’s Web browser.
Step 2. Click it, and select “settings.”
Step 3. Scroll down the page and you’ll see “Undo Send”
beneath “Send and Archive.” Check the “Enable Undo Send” box and then select
how many seconds you want to have the privilege to take back the email: 5, 10,
20, or 30 seconds. Be sure to save your changes at the very bottom of the
settings form when you’re done.
That’s it!
The Undo Send button will be seen as an “Undo Discard”
feature after you send an email and receive the message “your email was sent”
in the yellow response box at the top of your Gmail email account. You can even
check to see if the email was sent; you’ll find Undo Send works perfectly. My
best advice is to set the response time to 30 seconds so that you don’t have a
dilemma of heart and mind when retrieving a sent message.
Have you tried the new feature yet? If so, feel free to let
us know. Did Undo Send save you from an embarrassing situation? Drop us a line
in the comments below.
