Sending personally identifiable information (PII), trade secrets, and other sensitive information via email is often unavoidable—and risky. If this information ends up in the wrong hands, your business could face financial and reputational damage. That's why email redaction is so crucial. While Outlook offers a recall option, proactively redacting sensitive content with a specialized tool like Hexamail Flow is a smarter, more secure approach.

In this article, we'll cover:

• Using Outlook's recall function
• Redacting emails using Hexamail Flow

Redacting an Email: The Basics

Email redaction is the permanent removal or obscuring of sensitive information (e.g., personal details or confidential data) from an email. This often involves covering the text with a black or white box to make it unreadable. Learning email redaction is key to maintaining privacy and avoiding data breaches or identity theft.

You should especially consider redacting emails containing PII like:

• Bank account numbers
• Social security or ID numbers
• Addresses
• Dates of birth

Ideally, redact before you click "send." Once an email is sent, it's much harder—if not impossible—to remove sensitive content completely.

You Cannot Redact an Email in Microsoft Outlook Directly

Outlook doesn't include a redaction feature. Instead, you'll need a dedicated tool—enter Hexamail Flow—to securely clean up email content before sharing.

Redacting vs. Recalling

• Redacting: Permanently removes or hides content from the email body or attachment before sharing it.
• Recalling: Attempts to remove a sent email from someone else's inbox. It's a safety fallback, not a replacement for redaction.

You Can Recall an Email in Outlook

If you forgot to redact, Outlook's recall feature may help—under certain conditions. Here's how it works.

Classic Outlook

1. Open Sent Items and double-click the email.
2. Click the three dots → Actions → Recall This Message.
3. Choose to delete unread copies, or delete and replace with a new message.
4. Optionally request a recall confirmation, then click OK.
5. If replacing, edit and resend the email.

New Outlook & Outlook on the Web

1. Go to Sent Items, double-click the message.
2. Click the Recall Message button in the ribbon.
3. Confirm in the dialog box and check your Inbox for status updates.

Outlook.com

Unfortunately, you cannot recall emails in Outlook.com.

What Happens When You Recall a Message?

When you recall, the original message disappears only if the recipient hasn't read it—and sometimes only after they open the new message. Consider labeling your recall subject line as "URGENT" to increase visibility. Still, recipients may see a recall notification, even without reading the message content.

Delay Email Delivery to Avoid Mistakes

A smart preventative tip: delay your email delivery in Outlook. This gives you a grace period to catch errors or add redactions. Outlook's Defer Delivery feature lets you pause sending for a set time. (Note: Not available in Outlook.com.)

How to Redact Emails with Hexamail Flow

To redact an email in Outlook:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook.
2. Select the email you want to redact.
3. Right-click the message or folder.
4. Export the message or folder to pst or msg files(s)
5. Upload to the Hexamail Email Redaction tool or import into Hexamail Flow (for larger data sets or on-premises usage)
6. Follow the onscreen instructions to redact the email in the online tool or
7. Right click one or mode email and choose Redact from the context menu.
8. Hexamail Flow will auto-redact all sensitive information and allow you to modify the redactions.
9. Save or print to PDF and forward on the redacted email.

To redact a PDF email attachment:

1. Open Hexamail Flow.
2. Import the messages. Right click any email you wish and do Redact with attachments
3. Save or print to PDF and forward on the redacted email.

How to Redact an Email Before Sharing with a Third Party

1. Export or save the email in Outlook to msg or pst files.
2. Open Hexamail Flow and import the files.
3. Let the redaction engine identify sensitive content.
4. Manually approve or edit redactions.
5. Export the final redacted copy to share externally.

What is Hexamail Flow?

Hexamail Flow is a privacy-first redaction solution designed for email and document workflows. It helps protect sensitive information before it's shared or archived.

With Hexamail Flow, you can:

• Redact emails and PDF attachments directly inside the tool. No need to export or print to PDF before redaction.
• Navigate the email set using standard email client like features, color, sort, search, filter, move, etc.
• The full email meta data can be used to browse email such as subject, sender, recipients, attachments, size etc etc
• Use manual selection in one click or automated pattern matching
• Work manually or apply policy-driven redactions
• Export clean, audit-ready redacted files

Key Features

• Interactive Redaction Tool
• Integrated Workflow: Open an email → Right-click → Redact
• Secure Removal: Redacted data is removed permanently
• Compliant Output: Prepare redacted versions for legal or compliance use
• Works with PDFs: Redact attachments in office or pdf format, and save as clean files

Redaction is Better Than Recall

Outlook's recall is a limited fallback. If privacy is essential, don't wait until after sending—redact before you hit send. Whether it's client data, contracts, or internal discussions, Hexamail Flow ensures your email content is safe to share.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does "redacted" mean in email context?
A: It means removing or hiding sensitive text or images before sharing.

Q: Can I redact an email without converting it to a PDF?
A: Yes. With Hexamail Flow, you can redact emails directly inside Outlook—no conversion necessary.

Q: Can I redact in Outlook without a third-party tool?
A: No, Outlook does not offer built-in redaction. You'll need a tool like Hexamail Flow.

Ready to Get Started?

Try Hexamail Flow and experience seamless, secure email redaction—right from your inbox. Whether you're redacting for compliance, litigation, or privacy, Hexamail has you covered.

👉 Get started with Hexamail Flow
👉 Read the full redaction guide