Outlook: Delay outbound mail

(adapted from the PC Guru newsletter, 20 Sept 2007 http://www.pcguru.com.au)

One of the risks of email is the inability to recall an email after it’s sent. However, in Outlook you can implement a safeguard by using the Defer rule to delay the sending of any email you’ve written. This rule pauses all message delivery for a few minutes after you click the Send button, thus giving you a chance to stop any email before it leaves your computer.

To create this rule in Outlook 2003:

1. Select Tools > Rules and Alerts from the menu, and then click the New Rule button.
2. Select the Start from a blank rule option, then select Check messages after sending. Click Next.
3. Click Next again on the Which conditions do you want to check screen. Click Yes on the message box tells you the rule will apply to all messages.
4. On the next screen (What do you want to do with the message), select the defer delivery by a number of minutes check box, then click the a number of link in the bottom section. Change the value to 5 minutes (or whatever number you like), then click OK.
5. Click Next, then click Next again.
6. Give the rule a name—preferably something memorable so you’ll recognize it in the list—then click Finish.

Now when you send messages, they’ll sit in the Outbox for the number of minutes you set. If you want to stop a message from going out, just delete it from the Outbox.

Of course, if you know a bit about Outlook’s rules, you can modify any of these settings so that you only delay certain messages, such as those to specific people—like your boss!

[This article was first published in the December 2007 CyberText Newsletter; link last checked January 2008]