# How to schedule an email to send later in Apple Mail on Mac, step by step

> How to schedule an email to send later in Apple Mail on Mac: click Send Later, pick a time, then find and edit it in the Send Later mailbox.

URL: https://www.lazur.app/how-to/schedule-an-email-to-send-later-in-apple-mail
Updated: 2026-11-07

To schedule an email in Apple Mail on Mac, write the message, click Send Later next to Send, then pick a preset time or set your own date and time. The message then waits in the Send Later mailbox in the Mail sidebar until its time, and you can edit or delete it there before it goes.

## Quick answer

- Write the message, then click Send Later in the compose toolbar, next to Send.
- Pick a preset time, or choose Send Later and set your own date and time.
- Apple's guide says scheduled messages wait in the Send Later mailbox in the Mail sidebar.
- Double-click a scheduled message to change it, or select it and click Delete to stop it.
- Apple's guide doesn't say whether your Mac must be awake or online to send, so test first.

Applies to: Apple Mail on macOS Ventura 13 or later, with at least one email account set up. Time: 5 min. Difficulty: Easy.

## What you need

- A Mac running macOS Ventura 13 or later, per MacRumors
- At least one email account set up in Apple Mail
- Your Mac's clock and time zone set correctly

## How to Schedule an email to send later in Apple Mail in Apple Mail on a Mac

1. **Start a new message.** (File > New Message) Shortcut: ⌘N. Press ⌘N, or choose File > New Message. A compose window opens. Fill in the To, Subject, and body fields as you normally would.
2. **Write and read the message.** Write the message and read it once more before you schedule it. A scheduled message goes out as it sits in the window, so a typo you miss now still goes out at the set time.
3. **Find the Send Later control.** (Compose toolbar > Send Later) Look at the compose toolbar, next to Send. Apple's guide calls this the Send Later button. MacRumors describes a chevron next to Send, so click whichever control offers the Send Later option on your version.
4. **Pick a preset time.** (Send Later > Preset time) Choose one of the presets from the list. Apple's guide lists Send Now, Send 9:00 PM Tonight, Send 8:00 AM Tomorrow, and Send Later. Read the exact time and day in each label before you click it.
5. **Set your own date and time.** (Send Later > Schedule) Choose Send Later to open the date and time picker. Set the day and the time you want, then click Schedule. MacRumors describes this as the custom route. Tip: Use the picker for deadlines. Presets suit everyday timing better.
6. **Confirm it moved to Send Later.** (Sidebar > Send Later mailbox) The message leaves the compose window. It appears in the Send Later mailbox in the Mail sidebar. Click that mailbox to check the subject, the recipient, and the time.
7. **Open a scheduled message to change it.** (Send Later mailbox > Edit) Double-click the scheduled message in the Send Later mailbox. Apple's guide says to click Edit in the top-right corner. Make your change, then confirm the message still shows in the Send Later mailbox.
8. **Cancel a scheduled message.** (Send Later mailbox > Delete) Select the message in the Send Later mailbox, then click Delete. Apple's guide describes this as the way to prevent the message from going out. Copy the body first if you may need it later. Tip: Delete stops the send. It does not tell you where the text goes afterward.
9. **Restore a missing Send Later mailbox.** (Sidebar > Favorites > + > Send Later) If the mailbox is not in the sidebar, hover over the grayed-out Favorites heading. Click the + that appears. In the Add a Mailbox window, choose Send Later, then click OK. The mailbox should appear just below Flagged. Tip: This comes from one user's fix in an Apple Community thread, not from Apple's guide.

## What you need before you schedule an email in Apple Mail

Scheduled sending is built into Apple Mail on Mac. MacRumors says the feature arrived with macOS Ventura, which is version 13. If your Mac runs an older release, the Send Later option may not appear, so check your version first. Choose Apple menu > About This Mac to see it.

Apple's Mail User Guide lists macOS 27 Golden Gate as the newest release. Below it sit macOS Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15, Sonoma 14, and Ventura 13. The guide does not give a Mail version number, so your macOS version is the number that matters.

![Person at a laptop writing an email, the moment to learn how to schedule an email to send later in Apple Mail on Mac](https://images.lazur.app/content-images/howto/schedule-an-email-to-send-later-in-apple-mail/how-to-schedule-an-email-to-send-1-0fe9ff.jpg)

You also need at least one email account in Apple Mail. Scheduling starts from a compose window, so you must be able to open a new message. If you have not added an account yet, add one first, then come back to this page.

Check your clock too. The time you pick is set against the clock on your Mac. Open System Settings > General > Date & Time and confirm the date, the time, and the time zone. Apple's guide does not cover this step, so treat it as practical advice, not documented behavior.

## Find the Send Later control in the compose window

Start a new message with ⌘N or File > New Message. The control you need sits in the compose toolbar, close to Send. Apple's guide calls it the Send Later button. MacRumors describes a small chevron next to Send, with Send Later inside that menu.

This is the one wording conflict you will meet. Apple and MacRumors describe the same feature in different words, so trust what is on your screen. If you see a plain Send Later button, click it. If you see an arrow beside Send, open it and look for Send Later in the list.

Both routes lead to the same choice. You pick a preset, or you set your own time. Nothing is scheduled until you confirm a time, so you can still back out before that point.

## Pick a preset time or set a custom date in Apple Mail

The presets are the quick option. Apple's guide shows four choices in its example: Send Now, Send 9:00 PM Tonight, Send 8:00 AM Tomorrow, and Send Later. Send Now sends right away. The two timed labels choose a time for you. Send Later opens a picker, so you control both the day and the time.

- Use Send Now when the message is ready and timing does not matter.
- Use the tonight preset when the time in its label suits the recipient.
- Use the tomorrow preset only after you have checked which day it means.
- Use Send Later for a deadline, a date next week, or any time that is not on the menu.

The picker is simple, but it is easy to misread. Check the date first, then the time. Look at the AM or PM marker before you click Schedule. A quick glance at the date saves cleanup later.

Cult of Mac describes its morning preset as landing on the next weekday. Apple's label on your Mac says tomorrow, so the two can differ. On a Friday afternoon, read the label before you click. If you want Monday morning, choose Send Later and set Monday yourself.

> **Test before a deadline:** Send yourself a test message set a few minutes ahead. Watch whether it lands in your inbox on time. One test tells you more about your own Mac than any guide does.

## A worked example: scheduling a Friday report for Monday

Say you finish a report on Friday afternoon. The client should read it Monday morning, before their first meeting. You write the email, attach the file, and open Send Later.

Start by checking the To line and the attachment. A scheduled message sends what is in the window when the time arrives. An attachment you forget to add will not appear later, so look before you confirm.

Next, skip the tomorrow preset. Choose Send Later, set the date to Monday, and set the time to 8:00 AM. Click Schedule. The message leaves the compose window and appears in the Send Later mailbox.

On Monday, look for the message in your Sent folder if you keep one. Then ask the client to confirm the report arrived. If they did not get it, the Send Later mailbox and the troubleshooting list on this page are the next places to look.

## Find, check, and change a scheduled email

Once you confirm the time, the message moves to the Send Later mailbox in the Mail sidebar. Apple's guide says it waits there. Open that mailbox any time you want to see what is still queued, including the subject, the recipient, and the time.

![Office desk with a laptop and an open email inbox during a working day](https://images.lazur.app/content-images/howto/schedule-an-email-to-send-later-in-apple-mail/how-to-schedule-an-email-to-send-2-149546.jpg)

| Task | Where to click | What Apple's guide says |
| --- | --- | --- |
| See queued messages | Send Later mailbox in the sidebar | Scheduled messages appear in this mailbox |
| Change a scheduled message | Double-click the message, then click Edit | Click Edit in the top-right corner |
| Stop a message from sending | Select the message, then click Delete | Click Delete to prevent sending |
| Mailbox missing from sidebar | Favorites heading, then the + button | Not in Apple's guide, see the community fix below |

_Where to act on a scheduled message in Apple Mail on Mac_

Editing starts with a double-click, then Edit. Apple's guide does not show the edit screen, so read each prompt before you confirm. After any change, look at the Send Later mailbox again and confirm the message still shows the time you expect.

Some changes are easier as a fresh message. If you need a different recipient, you may find it simpler to delete the scheduled copy and schedule a new one. Either way, check the mailbox afterward.

## Cancel a scheduled email before it sends

Cancelling is the step people need fast, usually right after they spot a mistake. Select the message in the Send Later mailbox, then click Delete. Apple's guide describes Delete as the way to prevent the message from going out.

The guide does not say where the text goes after Delete. If you might need the message again, copy the body into a note first. Then delete the scheduled copy. That order keeps your words safe.

> **Check before a deadline:** A scheduled message sends at its time without asking again. Check the Send Later mailbox before any deadline, not only right after you schedule it.

## Will a scheduled email send if the Mac is asleep?

Apple's guide does not say whether a scheduled message sends when your Mac is asleep or offline. MacRumors does not answer that either. Treat the send time as a target, not a promise, until you have tested it on your own setup.

Keep the Mac awake and connected around the send time when the message matters. If the Mac is closed in a bag at that moment, you have no way to see what happens. Keep it on a charger, awake, and online.

![Man working on a MacBook at a desk, reviewing messages before a scheduled send](https://images.lazur.app/content-images/howto/schedule-an-email-to-send-later-in-apple-mail/how-to-schedule-an-email-to-send-3-009348.jpg)

## Do scheduled emails sync to your other devices?

Apple does not say whether scheduled messages sync between your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Cult of Mac says scheduled emails do not sync across devices. Its steps use iPhone terms, though, and it does not cover Mac editing or errors. Treat that claim as something to check.

A simple check works here. Schedule a message on the Mac, then look for it on another device. What you see there is your answer for your setup, and it is more reliable than any article, including this one.

## The Send Later mailbox is missing in Apple Mail

Some people open Mail and see no Send Later mailbox in the sidebar. An Apple Community thread on this problem has 231 'Me too' votes, so you are not alone. The original poster was on macOS 13.2 with a MacBook Pro 16-inch.

That poster fixed it by adding the mailbox to Favorites. Hover over the grayed-out Favorites heading, click the + that appears, choose Send Later in the Add a Mailbox window, then click OK. The mailbox then appears just below Flagged.

That fix worked for one user, and the thread does not confirm it for others. It also does not say whether it works on macOS 27. Try it, then check the sidebar. If the mailbox still does not appear, update macOS and look again.

## Mistakes that catch people out with scheduled email

- Clicking Send Now by accident, since it sits close to Send Later. Read the option text before you click.
- Editing a scheduled message and never checking the Send Later mailbox afterward. Confirm the change there.
- Picking a tomorrow preset on a Friday without reading the day in its label.
- Scheduling an important message the night before and never testing the send. Test once, even if it feels like overkill.
- Assuming Delete keeps a copy of the text. Copy the body first if you may need it.
- Forgetting an attachment, or missing a wrong address. Read the To, Cc, and attachment lines one last time.

## Why scheduling email saves time, and what the numbers say

Microsoft's Work Trend Index looked at Microsoft 365 usage data for the 28 days ending March 2023. It is usage data, not a survey. It found that the heaviest email users, the top 25%, spend 8.8 hours a week on email.

The same report says the average employee spends 57% of their time communicating across meetings, email, and chat. Email alone takes 15%. Scheduling does not shorten that time. It lets you write when your head is clear and send when the reader will see it.

- **8.8 hours** a week on email for the heaviest 25% of Microsoft 365 email users, 28 days to March 2023 ([source](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work))
- **15%** of the average employee's time spent in email, per Microsoft's 2023 report ([source](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work))
- **100** scheduled emails Gmail says you can have, in its browser feature ([source](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop))

## Gmail's schedule send works differently in a browser

If you use Gmail in a browser, the steps differ. Open Gmail, click Compose, write the email, click the down arrow next to Send, then click Schedule send. Gmail's help page says you can have up to 100 scheduled emails.

Gmail sends by the time zone you choose when you schedule. Its help page says scheduled emails may go out a few minutes after the set time. Cancelling turns the email back into a draft, so you can edit it again.

Apple Mail and Gmail's browser feature are separate tools, so check each one on its own. To add a Gmail account to Apple Mail on Mac, read [how to add Gmail to Apple Mail on Mac](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/use-gmail-in-apple-mail-in-gmail). If you already sent a message and want to pull it back, see [how to undo send in Gmail on Mac](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/undo-send-in-gmail).

## What to do when your steps don't match the guide

Apple's Mail support page covers Can't send email problems on Mac, and it links to the Mail User Guide. It has no page on scheduling. The guide is the best source for the menu steps on this page.

Menu names and button labels can change between releases. If a label on your screen does not match this page, use the closest match, then check the guide for your version. Apple's version selector lists each macOS release separately, which helps.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your own screen, [AI assistant for Apple Mail on Mac](https://www.lazur.app/apps/apple-mail) covers that. Lazur can point at the Send Later control or explain a label you do not recognize. It does not click the buttons for you.

## Shortcuts

- New message: ⌘N

## If it does not work

- **I don't see a Send Later option** MacRumors says Ventura 13 brought scheduled sending to Apple Mail, so an older release may not have it. Update macOS, then look again in the compose toolbar.
- **The Send Later mailbox is missing from the sidebar** Hover over the grayed-out Favorites heading, click the + that appears, choose Send Later in Add a Mailbox, then click OK. One macOS 13.2 user reported that this worked for them.
- **My scheduled email didn't send on time** Apple's guide doesn't say what happens if the Mac is asleep or offline. Open the Send Later mailbox to confirm the message is still there, then keep the Mac awake and online at send time.
- **I need to change the time of a scheduled email** Double-click the message in the Send Later mailbox, click Edit in the top-right corner, make the change, then check the mailbox again.
- **I want to stop a scheduled email** Select it in the Send Later mailbox and click Delete. Copy the body first if you may need the text again.

## With Lazur

Lazur is a voice assistant for the Mac that lives in the notch. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask; it sees your screen, answers out loud, points at buttons and walks you through apps. Hold fn to dictate. Free for 3 days, then $18/month: https://www.lazur.app/download

- “Where's the Send Later button in this compose window?”: Lazur circles the Send Later control and labels it on your screen. You still click it yourself, and Lazur answers out loud. (Points at it)

## FAQ

### Where is the Send Later button in Apple Mail?

Apple's guide calls it the Send Later button in the compose window. MacRumors describes a chevron next to Send. On your version, look for the control that offers Send Later, then read the option before you click.

### Will a scheduled email send if my Mac is asleep?

Apple's guide doesn't say, and MacRumors doesn't either. Keep the Mac awake and online around the send time, and test with a message to yourself before you depend on it.

### Can I change the time after I schedule an email?

Yes. Double-click the message in the Send Later mailbox, then click Edit in the top-right corner, as Apple's guide describes. Check the mailbox again afterward.

### How do I stop a scheduled email from sending?

Select it in the Send Later mailbox, then click Delete. Apple's guide describes Delete as the way to prevent sending. It doesn't say where the text goes afterward, so copy the body first if you need it.

### Why is the Send Later mailbox missing in Mail?

An Apple Community thread on this problem has 231 'Me too' votes. A macOS 13.2 user fixed it by adding Send Later to Favorites. The thread doesn't confirm the fix worked for everyone.

### Do scheduled emails sync to my other Macs or iPhone?

Apple doesn't say. Cult of Mac says scheduled emails don't sync across devices, but its steps describe the iPhone, so verify on your own devices before you rely on it.

### Is there a keyboard shortcut for Send Later?

Apple documents no keyboard shortcut for scheduling, so this step takes a mouse or trackpad click. The only shortcut on this page is ⌘N, which opens a new message.

## Sources

1. [Send email messages in Mail on Mac: Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/mail/send-email-messages-mlhlp1098/mac), Apple, checked 2026-11-07
2. [Send email messages in Mail on Mac: Apple Support (US guide)](https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/mail/mlhlp1098/mac), Apple, checked 2026-11-07
3. [Apple Support: Mail](https://support.apple.com/mail), Apple, checked 2026-11-07
4. [macOS: How to Use Scheduled Send in Apple Mail](https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/use-schedule-send-apple-mail-mac/), MacRumors, checked 2026-11-07
5. [Schedule email to send in the future in Apple Mail](https://www.cultofmac.com/how-to/schedule-email-apple-mail), Cult of Mac, checked 2026-11-07
6. [FIX for Missing SEND LATER folder in Mail: Apple Community](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254658724), Apple Community, checked 2026-11-07
7. [Schedule emails to send later: Gmail Help](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop), Google, checked 2026-11-07
8. [Microsoft Work Trend Index: Will AI Fix Work?](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work), Microsoft Work Lab, checked 2026-11-07