How to Send Email Messages in the Future (Schedule Send Guide 2026)
Want to schedule an email? You can write it now and have it delivered later: a birthday wish at midnight, a reminder next week, or a letter to your future self years from now. You can send email messages in the future with the built-in Schedule send feature in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and Yahoo Mail. When we first wrote about this in 2005, you needed special websites. Today it takes two clicks. Here’s how to schedule an email to send in the future in 2026.
Quick answer: In Gmail, write your email, click the arrow next to Send, choose Schedule send and pick a date and time. In Outlook, click the arrow next to Send and choose Schedule send. For letters to your future self years ahead, use FutureMe.
Table of Contents
Schedule an email in Gmail
- Open Gmail and click Compose.
- Write your email and add recipients.
- Click the down arrow next to Send and choose Schedule send.
- Pick a suggested time or click Pick date & time, then Schedule send.
On the Gmail app, tap the three dots at the top right of the draft and choose Schedule send. Scheduled emails wait in the Scheduled folder, where you can edit or cancel them. Gmail lets you schedule up to 100 emails, as far as 49 years ahead, according to Gmail Help.
Schedule an email in Outlook
- Outlook.com and the new Outlook for Windows: write your message, click the arrow next to Send, choose Schedule send, and pick a time. Outlook sends it even if your computer is off.
- Classic Outlook desktop: go to Options → Delay Delivery and set Do not deliver before. Classic Outlook may need to be open at that time for some account types.
- Outlook mobile app: tap the three dots or the clock icon and choose a send time.
Schedule an email in Apple Mail and Yahoo Mail
- Apple Mail (iPhone, iPad, Mac): on iPhone, long-press the blue send arrow and choose Send Later. On Mac, click the arrow next to the Send button. Requires iOS 16 or macOS Ventura and later.
- Yahoo Mail: on the web, click the arrow next to Send and choose Schedule send.
- Thunderbird: install the free Send Later add-on. It also works with Thunderbird mail merge for scheduled bulk emails.
Send an email to your future self
For messages years ahead, try FutureMe, which has been delivering “letters to your future self” since 2002. Write a letter, choose a delivery date, and decide whether to keep it private or share it anonymously. Other ideas from our original list, like the Forbes Email Time Capsule, have long since closed.
Before you schedule an email far into the future, consider: will your email address still work? Use an address you plan to keep for life, and keep a copy of important messages yourself.
Why schedule emails?
- Time zones: send at 9 am in your client’s time zone, not yours.
- Birthdays and anniversaries: write the message now and deliver it right on the day.
- Work-life balance: write late at night but send during office hours.
- Reminders: send yourself a reminder for a deadline or renewal date.
Frequently asked questions
Does my computer need to be on for a scheduled email to send?
No, for Gmail, Outlook.com, new Outlook, Apple Mail with iCloud, and Yahoo Mail, which send from their servers. Classic Outlook and Thunderbird add-ons may need the app running.
How do I cancel a scheduled email in Gmail?
Open the Scheduled folder, open the email and click Cancel send. It becomes a draft you can edit.
Can the recipient tell an email was scheduled?
No. It arrives like a normal email, with the scheduled time as the sent time.
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try:
lettermelater.com (but their name is in the headers)
do a test on yourself first.
latergater.ca (sometimes their name is in the headers sometimes not)
do a test on yourself first.
you can pick specific times and dates.
plus if you have a Readnotify.com account you can attach the subtext
.readnotify.com and you’ll know when or even if you email was read.
:)
If anyone knows any others please let me know.
thanks
Has anyone found one that will send you an email on a random date in the future (within a range)?
If you’re using Outlook you should also try Boomerang for e-mail reminders. It’s a plugin that lets your right click on your email and choose when you want to get back to it. Completely secure.
anyone can tell me where to get the script in PHP??
I found one more service
http://www.myfuturemail.net
There are a lot of them.
There is a new service called Deferred Sender that allows you to send emails in the future, from your existing email client without needing to use a web interface. Visit https://www.hugedomains.com/domain_profile.cfm?d=deferredsender&e=com for more information.
There is also L8R (later), Cron Mail (fr), 2067 (fr)
+
Another one is Sendible.com, which lets you schedule emails as well as SMS and Social Network messages.
..:: Send 2 Past ::.. Send, mail, to, past, change, your, life,
Another one is WhenSend.com. Also gives you option of “Unsending” messages.
Another site that does this is LetterMeLater.com. Registration is not required but free. You can select the future date and time that emails are to be sent, and they can be edited before then. When registered, you can set your local time zone, and have the return address on emails sent as your own.