This is you, but Gmail could fix that./shutterstock
You sent an angry email. You send an email to the wrong person. You hit the dreaded reply-all button, and now everyone knows what you really think of Dave in accounting. We've all done it, sure, but Google may have just created a way to take back those mistaken emails, at least during that brief spasm of realization and cringey shame that comes right after you hitting send when you shouldn't have.
Google, via its experimental Gmail feature site Labs, has just rolled out 'Undo Send' in Gmail, an opt-in option that allows you to delay the actual sending of an email for up to 30 seconds, giving you the time to look upon the travesty of an email you just sent, cancel the sending, and go back in to correct it. As Megan Logan notes on Wired, it "doesn't exactly let you pluck an email from a user's inbox if you encounter regret," but it's better than nothing.
To enable the feature, simply click on 'Settings' in Gmail (which is hiding in the gear-looking icon under your profile photo in the top-right area), then, under the 'General' tab, you'll find the option to 'Enable Undo Send' and set a timer for the 'cancelation period' for emails.
Screenshot via author
Unfortunately, the 'Undo Send' option is not yet available for mobile, but Google is working on it.
And while this seems like an idea a Google employee came up with after sending a drunken email to an ex, the idea of a take backsies option is appealing one to any person who has realized their error just seconds after hitting send, which is basically everyone who has ever used email. This way you can at least have a small chance to pull yourself back from the brink of email embarrassment, even if its true that Dave in accounting is an idiot.