How to Schedule an Email Years in Advance (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail)

The short version. Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail can all send an email later. Gmail is the most practical for long horizons: it keeps up to 100 scheduled emails on Google’s servers and users report dates decades ahead. The catch for a letter to the future is the same everywhere: the message waits readable in your own mailbox, and it only goes out if that account still exists on the day.

Gmail

1. Write the email and add yourself or the recipient.
2. On a computer, click the arrow next to Send; in the app, tap the three-dot menu.
3. Choose Schedule send, then Pick date & time.
4. Set the date and time and confirm.

Scheduled emails wait in the Scheduled folder, where you can open, change or cancel them at any time. Google’s help page caps you at 100 scheduled emails and does not state a maximum date; users report the picker accepting dates close to 50 years away. Sending happens on Google’s servers, so your computer can be off.

Outlook

New Outlook and Outlook on the web

1. Write the email.
2. Open the menu next to Send and choose Schedule send.
3. Pick a custom date and time.

Classic Outlook for Windows

1. In the message, open Options and choose Delay Delivery.
2. Tick “Do not deliver before” and set the date and time.
3. Close the dialog and send.

According to Microsoft, a scheduled message stays in Drafts in new Outlook and in the Outbox in classic Outlook, classic Outlook has to be online and connected for it to go out, and the feature is not available for IMAP or POP accounts.

Apple Mail

1. Write the email in Mail on iPhone, iPad or Mac (iOS 16 or macOS Ventura and later).
2. On iPhone, touch and hold the send arrow; on Mac, click the arrow next to the Send button.
3. Choose Send Later and set the date and time.

Scheduled messages wait in the Send Later mailbox. Apple does not document a maximum date, and several users report that on a Mac the message only goes out if the Mac is awake with Mail open at that time.

Why a scheduled email is fragile over years

• It sits readable in your mailbox, so you can reread or cancel it, and so can anyone with access to the account.
• It depends on one account surviving: a closed work address or a deleted account means no delivery.
• Changing email providers does not bring scheduled messages with you.
• There is no reminder if the recipient misses it, and no backup address.

When to use something built for letters

For a reminder in a few weeks or months, a scheduled email is perfect. For a letter meant to arrive in five or ten years, a service designed for it is sturdier: on timedrop.it the letter is encrypted in your browser, sealed so nobody can open it early, delivered by email on the date with an optional backup address, and followed by reminders if the link is not opened. A free account includes two letters a year. See the full comparison of FutureMe and its alternatives for every option side by side.