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How to Schedule Emails in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail

To schedule an email, write it as usual, then open the menu next to the Send button and pick a future date and time. In Gmail and the new Outlook, that option is called Schedule send. Classic Outlook for Windows calls it Delay Delivery, and Apple Mail calls it Send Later. What matters more is where each app keeps the message until it goes out. Gmail holds it on Google’s servers, so your laptop can be off. Apple Mail keeps it on your device, so a dead iPhone battery can hold it back.

Why Schedule an Email Instead of Sending It Now

Scheduling lets you write an email at any hour and have it arrive during the recipient’s working day. A message written at 11 PM and set to arrive at 10 AM doesn’t suggest that you expect a late-night reply. It also skips the pile of email that builds up overnight, so it’s more likely to be read and answered.

Timing studies agree on the best window:

A Yesware study of reply rates found the best time to send is between 10 AM and 1 PM in the recipient’s time zone. Replies peak around 10 AM, with a second spike near 1 PM after people get back from lunch.
A MailerLite study of more than 2.1 million email campaigns found Tuesday open rates of 47% to 48% between 7 AM and 1 PM, peaking at 48.7% at 10 AM.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the strongest days, and Tuesday leads across industries. For business email, the best window is Tuesday to Thursday, 10–11 AM in the recipient’s time zone.

Late-night and weekend emails tend to get buried in Monday morning’s backlog.

How to Schedule Emails in Gmail

Gmail added Schedule send in April 2019. Before that, you needed third-party extensions to do it. It works on the web, Android, and iOS, and you don’t need to set anything up first.

Schedule an email in Gmail on desktop

Click Compose and write your email.
Click the small downward arrow next to the blue Send button.
Select Schedule send.
Choose a suggested time (Tomorrow morning, Tomorrow afternoon, or Monday morning), or click Pick date & time to set your own.

Gmail stores the message on its servers, so it sends even if your computer is off or your phone has no connection at the scheduled time. You can schedule up to 49 years ahead. Each account can hold up to 100 scheduled emails at once, and a slot opens up each time one sends.

Schedule send on the Gmail app (Android and iOS)

Tap Compose and write your email.
Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
Tap Schedule send.
Choose a suggested time, or tap Pick date & time.

Where to find scheduled emails in Gmail

Scheduled messages go into the Scheduled folder (Gmail calls it a label) in the left sidebar on desktop. In the mobile app, tap the menu icon (three lines) in the top-left corner, then tap Scheduled. Emails you schedule on your phone show up there on desktop too, and the other way around.

Edit, reschedule, or cancel a scheduled email in Gmail

Open the Scheduled folder and click the email.
Click Cancel send. The email goes back to being a draft.
Make any changes.
To set a new time, click the arrow next to Send, choose Schedule send, and pick a new date and time. To send it right away, just click Send.

Gmail has no button that only changes the time. You always cancel and schedule again.

How to Schedule an Email in Outlook

If you’ve ever looked for Schedule send in Outlook and couldn’t find it, you were probably using classic Outlook for Windows. Microsoft offers two different features, and which one you get depends on your version of Outlook.

New Outlook and Outlook on the web: Schedule send

Create a new email and write your message.
Click the dropdown arrow next to Send.
Choose Schedule send and set the date and time.

Your message goes to Microsoft’s servers, so it sends even if your computer is off. Until the scheduled time, it waits in the Drafts folder, not the Outbox. This option only works with Microsoft 365, Exchange, and Outlook.com accounts. If you added a different provider’s account to Outlook over IMAP or POP, you won’t see Schedule send for that account.

Classic Outlook for Windows: Delay Delivery

Write your email.
On the Options tab of the ribbon, open Delay Delivery. Depending on your layout, it’s under More commands or behind the small arrow in the Message Options group.
Check Do not deliver before and set the date and time.
Close the dialog and click Send.

The message waits in the Outbox until the time you chose. Delay Delivery runs on your own computer, so Outlook must be open and online at that moment. If Outlook is closed or the computer is off, the email stays in the Outbox and only sends the next time you open Outlook.

Delay every email you send in classic Outlook

Classic Outlook can hold back all of your outgoing mail for up to 2 hours. Many people set a 1–3 minute delay so they have time to catch a typo or a missing attachment after clicking Send.

Go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts > New Rule.
Choose Apply rule on messages I send.
Select the action defer delivery by a number of minutes and enter how many minutes to wait.
Finish and turn on the rule.

The new Outlook doesn’t support this kind of rule for all outgoing mail.

How to Use Send Later in Apple Mail

Apple added Send Later to Mail with iOS 16 (September 2022) and macOS Ventura (October 2022). Older versions of Mail can’t schedule emails. It works with any account you’ve added to Mail, including iCloud, Gmail, and Outlook.

On a Mac

Write your email.
Click the small arrow next to the Send button.
Choose a suggested time, or click Send Later to pick your own date and time.

The email goes into the Send Later mailbox in the Mail sidebar. To change the time, double-click the email there and click Edit in the top-right corner. To stop it from sending, select it and click the trash button.

On an iPhone or iPad

Write your email.
Press and hold the blue Send arrow until a menu appears.
Tap Send at 9 PM tonight, Send at 8 AM tomorrow, or Send Later to choose your own time.

Scheduled messages appear in the Send Later mailbox in your list of mailboxes.

Apple Mail works differently from Gmail and the new Outlook. It keeps scheduled emails on your device, not on the mail server. Your Mac or iPhone has to be on and online at the scheduled time. If it’s offline, Mail sends the email as soon as the device reconnects. On a Mac with Power Nap turned on, scheduled emails still send while the Mac is asleep. Scheduled emails also don’t sync between devices. An email you schedule on your Mac won’t appear on your iPhone.

Gmail vs. Outlook vs. Apple Mail at a Glance

	Gmail	New Outlook / web	Classic Outlook	Apple Mail
Feature name	Schedule send	Schedule send	Delay Delivery	Send Later
Where it waits	Scheduled folder	Drafts	Outbox	Send Later mailbox
Stored on	Google’s servers	Microsoft’s servers	Your PC	Your device
Device must be on?	No	No	Yes, with Outlook open	Yes (or Mac asleep with Power Nap on)
Delay all outgoing mail	No	No	Yes, up to 2 hours	No
Account limits	Up to 100 scheduled emails	Microsoft 365, Exchange, and Outlook.com only	None listed	Works with any account; needs iOS 16 or macOS Ventura or later
Time zone used	Your Gmail settings	Your Outlook.com / Microsoft 365 settings	Your Windows or Mac settings	Your device’s time zone

Time Zones: Where Scheduled Emails Go Wrong

None of these apps converts the time to the recipient’s time zone. If you schedule an email for 9 AM, it goes out at 9 AM where you are. A client in London would get your “9 AM” New York email at 2 PM their time. A colleague in Los Angeles would get it at 6 AM.

Convert the time yourself. To reach someone in Chicago at 10 AM while you’re in New York, schedule it for 11 AM.
Check which time zone your app uses. Gmail uses the one in your account settings. Outlook on the web uses your Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 settings. Classic Outlook uses your operating system. Apple Mail uses the device you schedule from.
Watch for daylight saving time. A message scheduled months ahead can arrive an hour off if your clocks change in between. In the fall, the UK and EU set their clocks back one week before the US and Canada. For that week, London is only 4 hours ahead of New York instead of 5.
Avoid sending exactly on the hour. A send time like 10:13 instead of 10:00 can reduce competition with the wave of emails that arrive right at the top of the hour.

Common Myths About Email Scheduling

“Outlook doesn’t have Schedule send.” It does. Classic Outlook calls it Delay Delivery and puts it on the Options tab.
“The email arrives in the recipient’s time zone.” It doesn’t. The time is always based on the sender’s settings.
“Once it’s scheduled, I can shut down my computer.” That’s true for Gmail, the new Outlook, and Outlook on the web. It’s not true for classic Outlook or Apple Mail.
“It goes out at exactly the time I chose.” Google says Gmail may send scheduled emails a few minutes late.
“The recipient will see that I wrote it at midnight.” They won’t. An email’s Date header shows when the server sent it, not when you wrote it.
“I can set a weekly repeat.” Gmail and Outlook only schedule one-time messages. Neither has a built-in repeat option.

What to Do If a Scheduled Email Doesn’t Send

Wait a few minutes. Gmail can send slightly after the scheduled time.
Check where the email is waiting. Look in Gmail’s Scheduled folder, Drafts in the new Outlook, the Outbox in classic Outlook, or the Send Later mailbox in Apple Mail.
Classic Outlook: open Outlook and make sure it’s online. Emails held by Delay Delivery only send while the app is running.
Apple Mail: turn on the device that scheduled the email and connect it to the internet. Mail sends it as soon as it reconnects. Remember that you can only see it on that one device.
New Outlook: check what type of account it is. IMAP and POP accounts can’t use Schedule send.
Check the time zone and daylight saving time. An email that seems an hour late may have sent exactly when your settings told it to.
Gmail: check whether you’ve hit the limit of 100 scheduled emails.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I schedule emails on my phone?

Yes. In the Gmail app on Android or iOS, tap the three-dot menu while writing your email and choose Schedule send. In Apple Mail on iOS 16 or later, press and hold the blue Send arrow. Gmail sends from its servers. Apple Mail needs your phone to be on and online at the scheduled time.

Does Outlook need to be open for a scheduled email to send?

Only in classic Outlook for Windows with Delay Delivery. If the app is closed, the email stays in the Outbox until you open Outlook again. The new Outlook and Outlook on the web schedule emails on Microsoft’s servers, so you can close the app or turn off your computer.

Can I schedule recurring emails in Outlook or Gmail?

Not with built-in features, since both only schedule one-time messages. In Outlook, one workaround is to save the email as a template (.oft) and set a calendar reminder to send it each time. Another is to build a recurring flow in Microsoft Power Automate.

Can I delay every email I send in Outlook?

In classic Outlook for Windows, yes. Create a rule under File > Manage Rules & Alerts that delays all outgoing mail by up to 2 hours. A 1–3 minute delay is a popular way to catch mistakes. The new Outlook doesn’t offer this.