How to Undo Actions in Gmail

Easily reverse moving, labeling, or even sending messages

By

Heinz Tschabitscher

Updated on May 20, 2021

Reviewed by

Jon Fisher

Email

What to Know

Undo action: Quickly select the Undo button in the lower-right corner of Gmail. The Undo button disappears after 10 seconds.
Change Undo timing: Go to Settings > See all settings > General. Next to Undo Send, choose 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds.

You can undo most actions in Gmail, including deleting a message, moving a message to a different folder, marking a message as read, adding a label to a conversation, and sending a message. Here are instructions for how to undo some common actions using the desktop or web version of Gmail.

Undo Actions in Gmail

Selecting the Undo link at the bottom of the screen takes back a variety of actions. You have about 10 seconds before it disappears. There are some variations on this method, so see below for specific instructions on each action.

If you enabled shortcuts in Gmail, pressing Z on the keyboard will also undo the last action. This method only works for the same period that the Undo link is visible.

Undo Deleting a Message

Use the following steps to undo moving a message to the Trash folder (deleting a message).

If you delete a message from the Trash folder or the Spam folder, you can't undo that action. The message is gone forever.

After you delete an email, it's sent to the Trash folder, and a Gmail message appears: Conversation moved to Trash. The message is followed by a link: Undo.
To retrieve the email you deleted, select Undo.
The message is removed from the Trash and restored to the folder where you initially deleted it.

Messages in the Trash and Spam folders are automatically deleted after 30 days. If there is something in one of those folders that you want to keep, move it to another folder before 30 days pass.

Change Undo Timing

Adjusting a setting enables you to customize the amount of time the Undo option appears.

In the upper-right corner of the Gmail screen, select the Settings (gear) icon and choose See all settings.
Go to the General tab.
Next to Undo Send, use the drop-down menu to select the number of seconds you'd like to have to undo a sent email. You can choose 5, 10, 20, or 30. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save Changes.

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