Think of all the times you were debating whether or not you should really send an email. right now. Maybe you’re afraid you’ll forget if you don’t do it at the right time, or contact someone in a different time zone, or in the middle of the night and you don’t remember something, or you’ve just written an angry email and I know you might regret it an hour later. Whatever the case, consider scheduling this email for later.
Gmail and Outlook give you the option to schedule your emails later that day, week, or year. Here’s how to do it.
Schedule emails in Gmail using your browser
Gmail makes this pretty easy.
- Once you’ve drafted your email, click the arrow next to the blue “Send” button.
- Click “Schedule Send”
- Click on one of the scheduling options
- If you select the “Select date and time” button at the bottom of the window that opens, you can set the date and time you want the message to appear. Then click “Schedule Send”.
Schedule emails in Gmail using your mobile app
You can also schedule emails in the mobile app:
- After typing your message, tap the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Select “Schedule to send” from the options at the bottom of the screen (iOS) or the drop-down menu (Android)
- As with the browser version, you can choose one of the times that Gmail suggests, or choose “Choose date and time” to choose your own date and time for when the email should arrive. Then tap “Save” in the upper-right corner of the pop-up (iOS) or “Schedule post” in the lower-right corner (Android).
Whether you are using your browser or the app, the email will end up in your Scheduled box. To edit it, you need to click the message and then click “Cancel sending”. This will return the email back to draft so you can make any changes. If you want, you can reschedule later.
Email scheduling in Outlook
For Outlook, you must use the desktop app; this feature is not available in browser or mobile versions.
- After starting a new message, click the Options tab at the top of the screen.
- Click on the three dots in the top bar
- Select “Delayed Delivery” from the drop-down menu
- Under “Delivery options,” make sure the box next to “Do not deliver before” is checked. You can use the drop-down options or simply type the date and time you want the email to go out. Click “Close” when you are done.
The email will arrive in your Outbox where you can make any changes, including setting the sending time.
The only downside is that you have to keep the Outlook app open for the email to go on time. If you close the app, it will send email the next time you open the app.
