Can you schedule an email in Gmail? Yes, here's how

Perhaps you want to ensure that your mom gets a Mother’s Day greeting while you’re on vacation. Or that your boss receives that important report on Friday afternoon when you’ve got a round of golf planned. Either way, it might help to know how to schedule an email in Gmail. We’ll run you through how it works.

How to schedule an email on Gmail web

Start on Gmail web by hitting Compose and writing your email as usual. Complete the subject line and add the recipient’s email address.

Next to the Send button, you’ll see an up arrow. Press this while being careful not to press the actual Send button.

A new option will appear above the Send button called Schedule send. Select this.

A popup window will appear, showing a few options for when you might want to schedule the email to be sent. You can select one of these, but if you have a different date and time in mind, click on Pick date & time.

Select the date and time that you want to schedule the email. When you’re happy, press Schedule send.

You’ll return to your inbox with a confirmation in the bottom left corner that your email has been scheduled.

How to schedule an email in the Gmail app

The process to schedule an email in the Gmail app is the same as on the web, but the buttons are in different places.

Start by composing your email on the app, adding the sender and the subject line.

In the top right of the screen, tap the three dots next to the Send button.

On the menu that comes up, tap Schedule send.

You’ll be presented with some preset options as on Gmail web. If none of these are right for you, hit Pick date & time.

Select the date and time you want to schedule the email on the next screen. When you’re done, hit Schedule send.

Your email is now scheduled to send at that date and time.

How to edit or delete a scheduled email on Gmail web

When you’ve scheduled an email on Gmail web, you’ll see a new folder on the left side of the screen called Scheduled. Click on it to see your scheduled emails.

If you hover the cursor over the email you want to delete, a few icons will appear, including a trash can. Click on this to delete the email without having to open it. It will not then be sent at the scheduled time.

If you instead want to unscheduled the email or edit it, click on the email to open it.

At the top of the email is a banner showing when it is scheduled to be sent. On the right of that banner is a Cancel send option. Press this to unschedule the email. It will be reverted to a normal draft.

If you still plan to send it scheduled then make any changes and follow the steps in the first section of this page again to reschedule it. Or you can click the trash can in the bottom right corner of the screen to delete the draft email.

How to edit or delete a scheduled email in the Gmail app

Again, the process for editing or deleting a scheduled email in the Gmail app is essentially the same on the web. You just need to know where the options are.

From your Gmail account, tap the folders button in the top left corner, represented by three horizontal lines.

If you have scheduled emails then you’ll see a Scheduled folder. Tap it.

Tap on the scheduled email that you want to edit or delete.

To delete the email you can tap the trash can icon at the top of the screen.

Like on the web version, you’ll see the banner above the email content showing when it is scheduled for, with a Cancel send option next to it. Hit this if you want to edit the email or schedule it for a different date and time.

The email will revert to a draft. To edit it, tap the pencil icon on the right of the screen. You can then reschedule it if you wish by following the process outlined above.

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