How to Schedule an Email in Gmail: Send It Later on Desktop, Android, and iPhone
CodexFuse Team · 2026-10-28T01:44:10.633Z · 13 min read
Schedule an email in Gmail on desktop, Android, and iPhone — the exact steps, the 100-email cap, the timezone rule, and how to edit or cancel a send.
You finished the email at 11:40 PM on a Sunday, but sending it now would land in your hiring manager's inbox in the middle of the night. Learning how to schedule an email in Gmail solves that: you write the message when it suits you, pick the time it should go out, and Gmail sends it on its own, even if your computer is off.
The feature is called Schedule send, and it works on desktop, Android, and iPhone. This guide shows you all three, plus how to edit or cancel a scheduled email, the 100-email limit, and the timezone rule that catches people out. If you already sent something by mistake, that is a different feature, covered in our guide to how to unsend an email in Gmail.
How do you schedule an email in Gmail?
Write the email as usual, click the small arrow next to the Send button, choose Schedule send, and pick a date and time. Gmail moves the message to the Scheduled folder and sends it automatically at the time you chose. The whole thing takes under a minute, and it works the same way on a personal Gmail account and on Google Workspace.
- Click Compose and write your email, with recipients, subject, and any attachments.
- Click the small down arrow next to the Send button at the bottom left.
- Click Schedule send.
- Pick one of Gmail's suggested times, or click Pick date and time to set your own.
- Click Schedule send to confirm.
That is the desktop path. The mobile path is nearly identical: in the Gmail app on Android or iPhone, tap the three-dot menu at the top right of the draft and tap Schedule send. The sections below give the exact steps for each platform, because the button names and the folder names differ slightly between them.
How to schedule an email in Gmail on a computer
On a computer, you schedule from the compose window in Gmail on the web. Sign in to your Gmail account, click Compose, and write the email as usual, with recipients, subject, and attachments.
Do not click Send. Instead, click the down arrow next to the Send button at the bottom left of the compose window, then click Schedule send.
Gmail offers a few suggested times, such as Tomorrow morning, Tomorrow afternoon, and Monday morning. The suggestions change depending on the time of day, and if you have scheduled an email before, Gmail also offers your last scheduled time.
To choose your own time, click Pick date and time, set the date and time, and click Schedule send. The email moves to the Scheduled folder, and Gmail sends it at the time you picked, whether or not you are online.
Two details matter here. First, Gmail schedules the email using the timezone of the device you are on when you create the schedule, so if you are traveling, double-check the delivery time before you confirm. Second, Google notes that a scheduled email may go out a few minutes after the scheduled time, so leave a margin for anything with a hard deadline.
How to schedule an email in Gmail on Android
On Android, you schedule from the Gmail app, and the steps mirror the desktop version with one difference: the Schedule send option lives behind the three-dot menu. Open the Gmail app, tap Compose at the bottom right, and write your email. Then tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and tap Schedule send.
Pick one of Google's suggested times or tap Pick date and time to set your own, then tap Schedule send. Your email stays in the Scheduled folder until Gmail sends it automatically. You can find it later by tapping Menu in the app and then Scheduled.
How to schedule an email in Gmail on iPhone
On iPhone and iPad, scheduling works the same way as on Android. Open the Gmail app, tap Compose at the bottom right, and write your email, with recipients and a subject line. Tap the three-dot menu at the top right, then tap Schedule send and choose one of Gmail's suggested times, or tap Pick date and time for your own time.
Your email is now scheduled and will be delivered automatically. Scheduled emails continue to send even if your iPhone is turned off or you close the Gmail app, because Gmail stores the message on Google's servers, not on your phone. That is the same reason scheduling works when your computer is off: once you schedule it, the send no longer depends on any of your devices.
Where do scheduled emails go in Gmail?
After you schedule an email, Gmail stores it in the Scheduled folder. From there you can view all your scheduled emails, edit one before it is sent, cancel a scheduled send, change the delivery date and time, or delete the draft entirely. If you do not see the Scheduled folder, click More in Gmail's left sidebar to expand all folders, or type in:scheduled into the Gmail search bar.
Because scheduled emails live in your Google account, they follow you across devices: schedule a message on your laptop and you can cancel it from your phone. The same account holds your files, so if you work from more than one device, our beginner's guide to how to use Google Drive covers the storage side of that account. One thing Gmail does not do is notify you about upcoming sends, so check the Scheduled folder yourself if you are unsure whether something is queued.
How do you edit a scheduled email in Gmail?
You can edit a scheduled email, but you have to cancel the scheduled send first: Gmail does not let you edit a message while it is still queued.
Open your Gmail inbox, click Scheduled in the left sidebar, and open the scheduled email you want to change. Click Cancel send. The email returns to your Drafts folder, where you can change the recipients, the subject line, the body, the attachments, and the CC and BCC recipients.
Once you are happy with your changes, click the arrow next to Send and select Schedule send again. Choose a new delivery time, or click Last scheduled time to keep the original schedule. Your updated email is now scheduled again.
The whole edit is a cancel, then a re-schedule: there is no in-place edit button, and that is the step people miss.
How do you cancel a scheduled email in Gmail?
Open Gmail, click Scheduled, open the email you want to cancel, and click Cancel send. That is it.
Your email will no longer be scheduled and will automatically move back to your Drafts folder. From there you can edit it, schedule it again, send it immediately, or delete it by clicking Discard draft.
Canceling works any time before Gmail sends the message. Once the scheduled time passes and the email goes out, Schedule send can no longer help you: the only option then is the Undo Send window, which lasts at most 30 seconds after you send. The two features are easy to confuse, and the next section draws the line between them.
Schedule send vs Undo Send: which one do you need?
Schedule send holds a message for hours, days, or years before it goes out. Undo Send pulls back a message you already sent, and only for a few seconds.
Use Schedule send when you know in advance that the timing is wrong, and use Undo Send when you spot a mistake seconds after hitting Send. Our guide to how to unsend an email explains the Undo Send window in full, including how to set it to 30 seconds in Settings.
| Feature | Schedule send | Undo Send |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Sends a message later, at a time you pick | Pulls back a message you just sent |
| Time window | Minutes to 49 years ahead | Up to 30 seconds after sending |
| Where the message waits | Scheduled folder | Nowhere: it never leaves Gmail |
| How to use it | Arrow next to Send, then Schedule send | Click Undo in the "Message sent" box |
| Needs setup first | No | Yes: set the window in Settings |
What are the limits of Gmail Schedule send?
Gmail's built-in scheduling is free and available to every Gmail user, including Google Workspace accounts, but it has a few limits worth knowing before you rely on it. The table below is the full list, drawn from Google's help pages and MailMeteor's guide.
| Limit | Gmail Schedule send |
|---|---|
| Maximum scheduled emails | 100 at once |
| Maximum scheduling period | 49 years ahead |
| Works if your computer is off | Yes |
| Free to use | Yes, for all Gmail users |
| Works with Google Workspace | Yes |
| Bulk email scheduling | No |
| Recurring scheduled emails | No |
| Edit without canceling first | No |
| Recipients can tell it was scheduled | No |
The 100-email cap is the limit most people will actually meet. If you schedule one email a day, 100 scheduled emails cover more than three months of sends, so the cap only bites if you batch-schedule a campaign or a long series of messages. Gmail also has no built-in way to send the same email on a recurring schedule: each scheduled message goes out once, and if you need a weekly or monthly repeat, you need a calendar reminder, a template, or an automation tool.
The timezone rule is the other limit that causes real mistakes. Your emails are sent based on the timezone you schedule them in, so a message scheduled for 9:00 AM while you are in New York goes out at 9:00 AM New York time, not 9:00 AM in your reader's city.
If your reader is in London, check the current offset before you schedule: the gap between New York and London is four or five hours depending on daylight saving, so a 9:00 AM London arrival means scheduling for 4:00 or 5:00 AM New York time. And because a scheduled email may leave a few minutes late, never schedule a deadline-critical message for the exact minute it is due.
How to schedule an email in Outlook
If your work inbox is Outlook rather than Gmail, the feature exists there too, but the steps and the behavior depend on which Outlook you have. In the new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, and Outlook for Mac, write your message, click the dropdown arrow next to Send, choose Schedule send, and pick a time. The message waits in the Drafts folder and is sent even if Outlook is not open.
Classic Outlook for Windows works differently: while composing, go to Options, then Delay Delivery, check the Do not deliver before box, and choose the date and time. The message sits in the Outbox until the appointed time, and for it to go out at the time you chose, classic Outlook must be open and connected to the network. That is the key difference from Gmail: Gmail sends from Google's servers, while classic Outlook's delayed delivery depends on your own app staying open.
One more Outlook detail: on Mac, Schedule send is not available on IMAP or POP accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud. It needs an Exchange account, such as Outlook.com hosted on Microsoft 365. If you schedule in Outlook and the option is missing, check which version you have first: the new Outlook has a New Outlook toggle in the top-right corner, while classic Outlook has a File tab at the top left.
When should you schedule an email?
Scheduling is most useful when the timing of the message matters more than the moment you write it. A job application written at 11:40 PM on Sunday and scheduled for 9:00 AM on Monday waits about nine hours and twenty minutes in the Scheduled folder, then lands at the start of the working day instead of in the middle of the night.
A message to a client in another timezone lands during their working hours instead of at 2:00 AM their time. A reply you drafted on Friday afternoon can wait until Monday morning, so you do not look like you work weekends.
Three habits make scheduling work well. First, double-check the timezone, because Gmail uses the timezone of the device you schedule from. Second, review your attachments before you click Schedule send: it is easy to schedule an important email and forget the file, and an attachment that has not finished uploading will not go with the message.
Attachments also count toward your Google storage, so if Gmail tells you your storage is full, our guide to free up Google Drive storage shows what to delete first. Third, do not schedule important emails too far in advance: Gmail lets you schedule up to 49 years ahead, but business priorities change, and a message scheduled weeks out may need updating before it is sent.
Sources
- Google Gmail Help, "Schedule emails to send" — the official steps for iPhone, iPad, Android, and desktop; scheduled emails may be sent a few minutes after the scheduled time; emails are sent based on the timezone you schedule them in; you can have up to 100 scheduled emails; when you cancel a scheduled email, it becomes a draft. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606
- MailMeteor, "How to Schedule an Email in Gmail (Desktop, Android and iPhone)" — the three-platform steps in full, the 100-email cap and the 49-year maximum, the Scheduled folder and the in:scheduled search operator, editing by canceling first, the Last scheduled time option, and the limits on bulk and recurring sends. Updated July 15, 2026. https://mailmeteor.com/blog/how-to-schedule-an-email-in-gmail
- Microsoft Support, "Delay email message delivery" — classic Outlook steps (Options, Delay Delivery, Do not deliver before), the message sitting in the Outbox, and the requirement that classic Outlook be open and online for the message to send at the chosen time. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/delay-email-message-delivery-6519a092-b774-450c-9d7d-2656c565cb3c
- Microsoft Support, "Use Schedule Send in Outlook for Mac" — the dropdown next to Send, the message waiting in Drafts and sending even if Outlook is not open, and the Exchange-account requirement (not available on IMAP or POP accounts). https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/schedule-send-for-outlook-on-mac-a02097de-76c2-4895-9557-0818ef229024
- Shipmail, "How to schedule an email in Gmail" — the short answer and the three-platform summary, the 100-email cap, and the note that a scheduled email may go out a few minutes late. Updated October 15, 2026. https://shipmail.to/blog/how-to-schedule-an-email-in-gmail
- Appcyclopedia, "How to unsend or schedule an email in Gmail" — the Undo Send window of up to 30 seconds, set in Settings, See all settings, General, Undo Send, and the distinction between Undo Send and Schedule send. https://appcyclopedia.com/guides/gmail-schedule-and-unsend/
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I schedule an email in Gmail on desktop?
Click Compose, write your email, click the small arrow next to the Send button, choose Schedule send, and pick a suggested time or click Pick date and time to set your own. Then click Schedule send to confirm. The email moves to the Scheduled folder and sends automatically at the time you chose.
Can I schedule an email in the Gmail app on my phone?
Yes. The Gmail app on Android and iPhone both support scheduling. Compose your email, tap the three-dot menu at the top right, tap Schedule send, and choose your date and time.
The email sends even if your phone is off, because Gmail stores it on Google's servers.
How many emails can I schedule in Gmail at once?
You can have up to 100 scheduled emails at once. If you schedule one email a day, that covers more than three months of sends. The cap only becomes a problem if you batch-schedule a campaign or a long series of messages.
Can I edit or cancel a scheduled email in Gmail?
Yes, both. Open the Scheduled folder, open the email, and click Cancel send. The message returns to your Drafts folder, where you can edit it and schedule it again, send it right away, or delete it.
Canceling works any time before the scheduled time passes.
Does Gmail send scheduled emails in my timezone or the recipient's?
Yours. Gmail sends scheduled emails based on the timezone of the device you schedule them in. If your reader is in another timezone, work out the offset yourself and schedule accordingly, and remember that a scheduled email may also go out a few minutes after the time you chose.