Having the ability to recall email messages in Outlook can be a very useful feature. Many a time have I sent email messages and then almost immediately wanted them back. This can happen to any user especially when messages are written in the heat of the moment only to have the sender cringe later after realizing that his or her message was sent in haste or was “poorly” worded.

Luckily for end users of Outlook there is a functionality that exists which administrators can implement for the benefit of their end users. That embarrassment saving feature is the “Recall” function of Outlook. Specifically it is the Recall function available if you have installed Outlook option called the Corporate Workgroup/Other option.

If you are in a corporate environment then this has probably already been implemented as you are most likely using the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) services to communicate with the Exchange server. If you need to determine if a predecessor has already done this for you then you can go to the Help menu and click on the About Microsoft Outlook choice. If you have the corporate option installed then you will see the title “Corporate Workgroup”.

Also, for Recall to work both the sender and the receiver must be using Microsoft Exchange Server as their email server.

First let me give you the basics of how to use the Recall feature and then I’ll discuss some of the problems that can happen with Recall and the solutions to fix those problems.

To recall or replace a message, follow these steps:

1. Bring up the View menu and then click on the Folder List item.
2. From the Folder list you should then click on Sent Items.
3. Locate the message that you want to recall, replace or delete.
4. From the Actions menu click “Recall This Message”.
5. Next you have the choice of recalling or replacing the email message. Either choice will effectively delete the message. If you want to recall the message then click on “Delete unread copies of this message”. If you want to replace the message then click on “Delete unread copies and replace with a new message”. After either selection click OK or hit enter and then type your new message. Then send your new message.
6. If you want to be notified – as in get a receipt – that your message has successfully been recalled or replaced then click on the “Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient” check box.
7. Lastly, click OK or hit enter.

Now let’s discuss the possible reasons why recall will not work.

Unfortunately not everyone is using Outlook with the MAPI communications service. There are installations that are using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) as their email communications service. Others may be using the Post Office Protocol (POP) or the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) to access their mail box accounts on a mail server. If you find that your end users are unable to recall messages then you’ll need to verify which protocols are being used by the Outlook clients for both the sender and the receiver.

And if the receiver of the email in question is not using Outlook then the sender will probably need to start writing his “mea culpa” follow-up email to correct any misunderstandings created from his first email.

When a recall of a message does not work it can also be the case that the message has already been moved out of the recipients Inbox. The most obvious reason is that the receiver has already read or viewed the email. Even viewing the message in a preview mode will cause the mail message to be marked as having been read by the recipient. It is also possible that the receiver has created a filter for their email client which automatically moves or deletes incoming email messages that meet certain guidelines. Such messages to be automatically moved to specific folder could include messages based on who the sender is, where (what domain) the message came from and maybe even based on the recipients listed on the CC list.

Another reason for recall to not work is if the receiver is not logged on to their email service provider.

There are some situations where a recalled message can result in multiple notification emails reporting failed recalls. Again, an administrator will need to verify that the mail server is Microsoft Exchange server. But it is also possible that the number of failed recall notifications coincides with the number of recipients who have already opened the sent message. Another possibility is that the message is stuck in a queue and the server continues to send out the failed notification messages. An administrator should be able to check the queue for any failed messages.

Of course, the best way to protect users from having to recall messages is to encourage them to use some kind of time delay filter mechanism for questionably messages.