Gmail_logo.pngYou know the feeling — just after an email is sent, you realize you’ve made a huge error. Maybe it’s a typo. Maybe you sent the note to the wrong person. Maybe you just regret sending the email itself.

Luckily for Gmail users, there’s an extremely valuable add-on tool that allows you to undo sent emails. It’s something that is worth taking 30 seconds to enable — I’ve already used it a few times in the past month.

Here’s how it works:

1. Click on the gear logo on the top right of the Gmail interface, and from the drop-down menu go to “settings.”

2. Click on the “Labs,” link on the row of tabs.

3. Scroll down until you find “Undo Send,” by Yuzo F. Click enable.

4. Scroll down to the bottom and hit “save changes.”

Now, when you send emails, you’ll see an “undo” link that lasts for 10 seconds:

undosendYou can adjust the time that the “undo” link stays up — 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds — by going to “settings,” then to “Undo Send,” under the “general” tab.

This isn’t a new trick, but if you’re a Gmail user, it’s likely you didn’t realize that there’s a way to undo emails. Since this is a Gmail Labs tool, it could technically go away or change at any given time — for those of us who hit “send,” prematurely from time to time, let’s hope not.

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