Undo send message (Thunderbird)

[Neffscape]

It would be great if Thunderbird could offer the ability to undo the sending of an email for a few seconds after the actual sending, similar to what GMAIL does with the "undo send" feature.

This feature has saved my life several times over the past decade. Switching back from Gmail without this kind of feature would be a real step backwards for my sanity :-). Unfortunately, Thunderbird does not even have the ability to apply filters to outgoing messages, so it is not even possible to delay sending all messages as can be done with competing email clients (Outlook, for example).

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[KaiE]

What causes you to consider it wrong to have sent a message? Is it because you had entered wrong information, or is it because the message wasn't complete yet?

How do you usually notice it was wrong within a few seconds after sending? Can you give an example?

How would you want the user interface to look, which allowed you to undo sending a message? A message is being composed in a separate window, which is closed as soon as the message has been sent, so the undo command would probably have to be offered in the global message list window somewhere.

[Neffscape]

@KaiE oh, there are a lot of reasons that lead me (often) to abort sending an email after clicking the 'send' button. The truth is that I have the habit of rereading messages when 'it is already too late' and I realise that I have made spelling mistakes, forgotten attachments or have not entered the addresses of all the recipients correctly. Thanks to Murphy's law, this actually happens in proportion to the importance of the email I am sending. If the message I have sent is of vital importance, you can be sure that I will notice an error immediately after sending it, despite multiple checks. I'm sure it's a psychiatric problem, but apparently I'm not the only one who has it: Gmail has had this feature enabled for quite some time now!

As far as the user interface is concerned, there are several possibilities. One could implement the function with a text in the status bar and a nice red button to undo send. Gmail shows a notification bubble until the message is actually sent (see image).

Alternatively, the email could temporarily end up in an 'outbox' folder until it is sent. When I have to use Outlook at work, that is precisely what I do: I create a filter for all outgoing messages and delay the sending by one minute. That way I have one minute before the message is permanently unretrievable.
Unfortunately Thunderbird does not offer this possibility: filters can only be applied to incoming messages atm.

[MattAuSupport]

You could just use Ctrl+Enter to send and place the mail in the outbox.  You would have to send it later, or wait while it is done when you exit Thunderbird.  One way to ensure mail goes to the outbox is to place Thunderbird in offline mode.  You don't get email like that,  but it sure slows the sending.

[AlbertronicDev]

This would be a simple and fantastic option. I frequently have this. Most of the times, it turns out I send the email from the wrong email box (I have quite a lot for our company). The option for a custom delay, in other words, placing the e-mail in an outbox for x seconds can help. For example 10-15 seconds would be a good value.

[nose_gnome]

I would find this quite useful as well. +1

[hsh9544]

In my experience, I almost always see something that needs to be edited after hitting the send button (like forgetting to attach a file). This could be quite useful for me as well 🙂

[Sonique]

+1 that would be a great feature. I couldn't find an add-on that offer this option unfortunately. 

[emerkk]

+1

[AnneinKZN]

I agree 100% - I frequently spot something during the time I have just pressed sent and choosing where I will put the copy, which should give plenty of time to cancel it and change the email address, spelling mistake, correct something, add a recipient, change my signature (I have several, for different circumstances, personal, private, etc.)

If you want a reason, it is often because I need to send something urgently, and I haven't taken the time to check the email properly - my fault, but it would help to be allowed to retract the 'send'.

Anne Coventry

South Africa

[mathcow]

+1.

[Urek_Mazino]

+1

This is an essential feature now.

[marketing05]

+1

This would really help a ton!

[marjuanm]

+1 is good idea.

[agabalowrance10]

• ok