Leadership

Retrieve Sent Emails with New Google Feature

By Jessica Stillman

Updated on: March 20, 2009 / 9:14 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

The Find: Another entry in the annals of good ideas from Google: Gmail's new ability to undo send and retrieve an email â€" possibly saving you embarrassment or your job.
The Source: Wired's Epicenter blog.

The Takeaway: Everyone's felt it: that wave of regret as soon as you hit the send button. You know you just made a fatal error (wrong recipient, wrong information, plain stupidity on your part) and now there's nothing you can do about it but wait for the fall-out. But thanks to Google's latest innovation there is a remedy, at least if you're a Gmail user. You can get it all back. Wired's Epicenter blog explains:

A new feature for Gmail aims to rid your life of that classic "Oh S**t" e-mail moment. "Undo Send" puts a five to 10-second hold on all outgoing messages. If you addressed an e-mail to the wrong person, let slip with an embarrassing typo or simply said something you really, really shouldn't have, Undo Send can be a lifesaver. Or, more accurately, a job-saver.

As with most enhancements to Google's free webmail app, Gmail users can enable the new Undo Send feature by going into their Labs settings and turning it on -- click on the little green flask at the top of the screen, or go to Settings and click on the Labs tab... Turn it on and every time you send an e-mail, you'll see an Undo link at the end of the confirmation message that appears at the top of your inbox.

Hallelujah. Now if only other email providers can get with the program.

(Image of Google logo warrentedarrest, CC 2.0)