Schedule Email, Unsend, Email Reminders: All the New Apple Mail Features – Cult of Mac

Email doesn’t often get new features. Sending an email still works the same way it has since the 90s. But nowadays people want modern features, like scheduling emails or unsending. In iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, Apple is bringing a bunch of new features to the Stock Mail app for the first time.

You can quickly resume an email if you forget to include an attachment or schedule an important email in advance. You can also get smart reminders to read emails later or alerts to send a follow up. If you see a typo right after sending an email or want to send an invoice at a specific date and time, both features will be available soon.

Read on to see how it all works.

How to Unsend, Schedule Emails, Smart Search and More in iOS 16 Mail

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iOS 16 and macOS Ventura are still in public beta. To get these features today, you will need to access the beta and install the software update. Otherwise, you can expect to get these features on your devices when they become available to everyone this fall. iOS 16 is expected in September, and macOS Ventura will likely arrive a few weeks later.

How to unsend an email

Undoing the send is quite simple. Right after sending an email, you will have up to 30 seconds to press Cancel send.

On iOS, the Cancel send The button is in the bottom toolbar. It stays there even after you switch to another app and come back. On macOS, it’s at the bottom of the sidebar.

Tapping Cancel send will instantly bring back the message for editing.

Unsend doesn’t actually delete the email from someone’s inbox – it just waits 30 seconds before Actually send the email.

How to Change the Delay (or Turn It Off Completely)

If you never make typos, like me, you might prefer to send your emails instantly. On the other hand, if you want more time, you can give yourself up to 30 seconds (compared to the default 10).

Go to Settings > Mail > Override send delay (at the very bottom). You can choose between Off, 10 seconds, 20 seconds and 30 seconds. There is no way to set a different timeout for different email accounts.

How to schedule an email to send at a specific time or date

Scheduling an email is easy. Tap and hold on blue ↑ send button. The default options are to send now, send at 9:00 p.m. tonight, or at 8:00 a.m. the next business day (Monday through Friday).

To specify your own time, press Send later…. This brings up a mini calendar and you can choose the exact time and date to send the email.

After tapping Done, you can view your scheduled email by going to Mailboxes > Send Later.

How to Edit a Previously Scheduled Email

If you scheduled an email but want to change the time or date, go to Mailboxes > Send Later and tap the email in the list. Then press Edit to change the date the email is sent.

Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a way to edit the email once it’s been scheduled. You must type Edit and Cancel Send Later to delete the email and compose it again. iOS 16 is still in beta, so that could change before its scheduled release in September.

How to set a reminder to reply to an email

If you receive an email that you cannot respond to immediately, you can simply mark it as unread, but a better way is to use the new Call me back characteristic.

To receive a reminder, swipe right on an email in your inbox and tap the purple Remind Me button that looks like a clock. You can choose a default time – a time, tonight or tomorrow – or you can select a specific date and time.

You’ll notice the email jump to the top of your inbox after the time is up. I don’t know if this feature is only half implemented – after all, iOS is still in beta – but I don’t get any sort of notification on my lock screen. I don’t really feel reminded.

How to Add Rich Links to an Email

Rich links are automatically generated when you paste a link into an email. It uses an image from the website to create a nice big button. This can help draw attention to a link you send. You should be familiar with rich links in Messages.

To preview the link or convert it to a regular text link, tap the rich link, then tap the right arrow. Faucet Convert to single link to get a text URL. You can change the text displayed – in the example above you can see I changed the link to say “Click here” and the link still works.

How to Get Reminders About Missing Attachments

If you compose an email that looks like it should contain attachments, Mail will ask you if you’re sure you want to send it if you don’t add any attachments – a long-time favorite feature of Gmail. Faucet Send anyway if you are sure, or touch to cancel to continue editing.

Press the < to display the format menu and tap the File icon to attach a file.

How to Use Smart Search in Mail

You may notice some improvements when searching for mail. If you make an obvious typo of an English word, like “kebyoard”, iOS will search for the correct term, “keyboard”.

You’ll also notice that when you tap the search bar, you’ll instantly see recently shared files and links as well as recent search terms. (Swipe left on these to clear them.)

Apple also says your search history and behavior will influence search results, likely to bring up emails similar to those you search for and open frequently.