Scheduled send is an email and messaging feature that holds a finished message and delivers it automatically at a date and time you choose. Scheduled send is built into Gmail, Outlook, and Slack, and is commonly used to reach people during their working hours or to avoid sending late-night messages.
How scheduled send works
You write the message, choose a send time instead of sending, and the service stores it until then. In Gmail, the arrow next to Send offers Schedule send, and scheduled messages wait in a Scheduled folder where you can edit or cancel them. Gmail allows up to 100 scheduled emails at a time and notes they may go out a few minutes after the chosen time.
When scheduled send helps
- Reaching someone in another time zone at the start of their day.
- Working late without training your team to answer at midnight.
- Queuing a follow-up that should arrive in three days.
- Timing an announcement to go out at a set hour.
Scheduled send vs. undo send
Both delay a message, but for different reasons. Undo send holds a message for a few seconds so you can take it back. Scheduled send holds it for as long as you choose so it arrives at the right time. A scheduled message can still be canceled up until it goes out.
One catch: a scheduled follow-up still goes out if the other person replies first. Check the thread before the send time, or use a tool that reads the thread. Synced lets you schedule approved replies; the steps are in schedule a message.
- Gmail Help: Schedule emails to send later (checked 2026-09-13)