Summary

Scheduling an email lets you compose a message now and have Outlook send it at a future date and time. This is useful for reaching recipients in different time zones or timing announcements.

Before You Start

• A Microsoft 365 mailbox.
• Classic Outlook must be running at the scheduled send time (the email sits in your Outbox until then). New Outlook and Outlook on the Web send server-side regardless.

Instructions

1. Delay Delivery in Classic Outlook (Desktop)

Use the Delay Delivery option to hold a message until a specific time.

1. Compose a new email as usual (recipients, subject, body).
2. Click the Options tab in the message window.
3. Click Delay Delivery.
4. Under Delivery options, check Do not deliver before.
5. Set the desired date and time.
6. Click Close, then click Send.
7. The email moves to your Outbox folder and is sent automatically at the scheduled time.

Tip: Your computer and Outlook must be running at the scheduled delivery time. If Outlook is closed, the email will be sent the next time you open Outlook.

2. Schedule Send in New Outlook or Outlook on the Web

New Outlook offers a built-in Schedule Send button.

1. Compose a new email as usual.
2. Click the dropdown arrow next to the Send button (small arrow on the right side).
3. Click Schedule send.
4. Choose one of the suggested times, or click Custom time and set your own date and time.
5. Click Send. The email appears in your Drafts folder with a scheduled tag until it is sent.

Note: Schedule send holds one message for one future time and sends it once — there is no repeat option. For an email that has to go out every week or every month, see How to Schedule Recurring Emails in Outlook.

3. Delay Every Message You Send (Classic Outlook)

Create a rule that holds every outgoing message in the Outbox for up to 120 minutes before it leaves.

This is the "undo send" most people are reaching for: a few minutes of grace on everything, rather than a decision you have to make one message at a time.

1. In classic Outlook, click File > Manage Rules & Alerts.
2. Click New Rule.
3. Under Start from a blank rule, select Apply rule on messages I send, then click Next.
4. Leave every condition unchecked so the rule covers all outgoing mail, then click Next. If Outlook asks you to confirm that the rule applies to every message you send, click Yes.
5. In the action list, check defer delivery by a number of minutes.
6. In the lower pane, click the underlined a number of and enter your delay — anything up to 120 minutes — then click OK.
7. Click Next twice to pass the exceptions page, name the rule something like Hold sent mail for 2 minutes, and click Finish.
8. Click OK to close the Rules and Alerts dialog.

Every message you send now waits in Outbox for that long. To release one early, open it from Outbox, click Options > Delay Delivery, uncheck Do not deliver before, click Close, and click Send. To drop the delay for good, reopen Manage Rules & Alerts, select the rule, and click Delete — no message and no setting other than the hold itself changes.

Note: This rule is classic Outlook for Windows only. Microsoft's rule documentation lists defer delivery by a number of minutes among the actions available when you create a rule on messages you send, and that whole category exists only in classic Outlook — rules in New Outlook and Outlook on the web run against incoming mail. The nearest match there is Undo send, a countdown of a few seconds after you click Send. And because the rule parks mail in your local Outbox, classic Outlook has to be running when the delay expires, the same constraint as Step 1.

4. Cancel a Scheduled Email

Stop a message before it is delivered.

Classic Outlook:

1. Open the Outbox folder in the left sidebar.
2. Double-click the scheduled email to open it.
3. Click the Options tab > Delay Delivery.
4. Uncheck Do not deliver before and click Close.
5. Either click Send to send it immediately, or close the message and choose Yes to save it back to Drafts.

New Outlook / Web:

1. Open the Drafts folder.
2. Open the scheduled email (it shows a clock icon).
3. Click Cancel send at the top of the message.
4. The email returns to a normal draft that you can edit, reschedule, or delete.

Troubleshooting

INFO

In Classic Outlook, delayed emails require the application to be open at the scheduled time. For guaranteed server-side delivery without keeping Outlook running, use New Outlook or Outlook on the Web.

Symptom / Error	Potential Cause	Solution
Email stuck in Outbox	Outlook was closed at send time	Open Outlook and the email will send. To avoid this, use New Outlook or Outlook on the Web for scheduling.
Schedule Send option not visible	Using Classic Outlook	Classic Outlook uses Delay Delivery under the Options tab, not a dropdown on the Send button.
Email sent at the wrong time	Time zone mismatch	Verify your Outlook time zone under File > Options > Calendar > Time zones.
Every message you send sits in the Outbox for a few minutes	A defer-delivery rule is holding it	Open File > Manage Rules & Alerts, select each rule in turn, and read the Rule description pane — the one responsible shows defer delivery by # minutes. Lower the number or delete the rule (Step 3).

Related Articles

• How to Schedule Recurring Emails in Outlook
• How to Create Email Rules in Outlook
• How to Create an Email Signature in Outlook

Did this solve your problem?