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Quick Answer

Open Sent Items, double-click the message to open it in its own window, go to the Message tab, click Actions, and select Resend This Message. A fresh copy opens with the original recipients, text, and attachments ready to edit.

How to Resend a Message in Outlook ​

Applies to: Microsoft 365 (classic Outlook for Windows); new Outlook and Outlook on the web (workaround in Step 5)
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-07-29

Summary ​

Resending sends a fresh copy of a message you already sent — same subject, same text, same attachments, no FW: prefix and no quoted reply framing. It is the cleanest way to chase a message that got no answer or to include someone who was left off the first time. This article covers resending in classic Outlook, editing before you send, and what to do in versions that lack the command.

Prerequisites ​

  • Classic Outlook for Windows with any account type (Steps 1 to 4).
  • A copy of the original message in your Sent Items folder.
  • No admin rights required.

Instructions ​

1. Resend a Message from Sent Items ​

The command sits two levels deep in a menu most people never open, which is why the feature goes unnoticed for years.

  1. Click Sent Items in the folder pane on the left.
  2. Find the message you want to send again and double-click it. It opens in its own window. This matters: the command does not appear when the message is only selected in the reading pane.
  3. Click the Message tab on the ribbon of that window.
  4. In the Move group, click Actions. A short dropdown opens.
  5. Select Resend This Message.

Note: Some classic Outlook builds put this on the File menu instead. If Actions is not on the ribbon, click File > Info > Resend or Recall > Resend This Message. Both routes do the same thing.

Verification: A new compose window opens titled with the original subject. The To line already holds the original recipients, the body holds the original text, and any attachments are still attached. The original message stays in Sent Items, untouched.

2. Edit the Recipients or the Text Before Resending ​

The resend window is an ordinary compose window. Everything in it is editable before you click Send.

  1. Change the recipients in the To and Cc lines. Delete anyone who already replied so they do not get chased twice, and add anyone new.
  2. Edit the subject if the original was unclear. Leaving it unchanged keeps the message threaded with the original in the recipient's inbox, which helps them find the context.
  3. Add a short line at the top of the body, above your original text — something like Resending in case this got buried — I still need an answer on the date by Friday.
  4. Check that attachments are still listed under the subject line. They carry over on a resend, so remove any that are now out of date and attach the current version.
  5. Click Send.

Tip: Write the new line at the top as a separate paragraph, then leave the original text below untouched. The reader gets your nudge first and the full original underneath, without having to work out what changed.

3. Know How Resending Differs from Forwarding ​

Forwarding a message back to its original recipient is what most people do instead, and it works — but it reads differently, and the difference matters when you are chasing silence.

  • The subject line. A forward becomes FW: Q3 budget sign-off. A resend stays Q3 budget sign-off. That keeps the message findable under the same subject when the recipient searches later, and keeps it in the same conversation thread.
  • The body. A forward inserts a header block above the original text listing From, Sent, To, and Subject, then quotes everything beneath it. A resend has none of that. The recipient sees the message exactly as it looked the first time.
  • The tone. A forward carries a visible trail: it announces that this message went somewhere before and is being passed along. A resend reads as a clean copy, which avoids the implication that the recipient dropped the ball, even when they did.
  • What it does not do. Resending does not remove the first copy from anyone's inbox. Recipients who kept the original now hold two copies of it.

4. Add Someone Who Was Missed the First Time ​

This is the most common reason to resend, and it saves the awkwardness of forwarding a message that reads as though it was written for someone else.

  1. Open the message in Sent Items and select Actions > Resend This Message as in Step 1.
  2. Delete every address from the To and Cc lines except the person who was missed.
  3. Leave the subject and body exactly as they were.
  4. Click Send.

The person receives the message as if they had been on the original send, with the full context and the attachments, and nobody else gets a duplicate.

Verification: Open the new entry in Sent Items. The To line lists only the person you added, and the subject carries no prefix.

5. Work Around the Missing Resend Command in New Outlook and on the Web ​

New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web have no resend command. Three approaches get you the same result.

  1. Clean up a forward. Open the message in Sent Items and click Forward. Delete FW: from the front of the Subject box, then delete the quoted header block from the top of the body. Add the recipients and click Send. The result is close to a resend, and it keeps the attachments.
  2. Copy into a new message. Open the sent message, click into the body, press Ctrl + A to select everything, then Ctrl + C to copy. Click New mail, click into the new body, and press Ctrl + V. Retype the subject, add the recipients, and reattach any files by hand — attachments do not travel with a copy and paste.
  3. Switch to classic Outlook. Turn off the New Outlook toggle in the top-right corner of the window. Outlook restarts in the classic version, where Step 1 works. Understanding Outlook Versions — Classic vs. New vs. Web covers what else changes when you switch.

6. Recall the Message Instead When You Need It Pulled Back ​

Resend and recall solve opposite problems, and picking the wrong one wastes time.

  • Resend when the message was fine and the outcome was not — no reply, a missing recipient, an inbox that swallowed it.
  • Recall when the message itself was the mistake — wrong recipient, wrong attachment, a sentence you regret. Recall attempts to remove the original from unread inboxes inside your organization, and it can replace it with a corrected version in the same action.

Full steps for that are in How to Recall or Replace a Sent Email in Outlook, including the Undo send option that covers the first few seconds in new Outlook and on the web.

Troubleshooting ​

TIP

Before you resend a chase message, check the timing. A message sent at 7pm on a Friday competes with a weekend of mail on Monday morning. How to Schedule an Email to Send Later in Outlook shows how to have the resend land at 8am on a working day instead.

Symptom / ErrorPotential CauseSolution
"Resend This Message" is missingMessage not open in its own windowDouble-click the message in Sent Items to open it in a separate window first (Step 1). The command is not available from the reading pane.
No Actions button on the ribbonBuild places it under FileClick File > Info > Resend or Recall > Resend This Message.
Nothing in Sent Items to resendSaving sent items is turned offClick File > Options > Mail, scroll to Save messages, and tick Save copies of messages in the Sent Items folder. Future sends are saved.
Attachments missing from the resent copyMessage was copied and pastedCopy and paste carries text only. Reattach the files by hand, or use the forward-and-clean-up method in Step 5.
Recipient says they got it twiceOriginal was never deletedResending never removes the first copy. Say so in the line you add at the top so the duplicate reads as deliberate.
Resent message still gets no replyMessage buried or misdirectedChange the subject to something specific with the ask in it, put one clear question in the first line, and send it to one person rather than a group.