On this page15 sections
- Quick picker
- When the first email had wrong information
- When you attached the wrong file (or forgot it)
- When the email went out before it was finished
- When the information was right but plans changed
- When the email went to the wrong person
- When a test, automated or duplicate email went out
- "Please disregard" in reminders
- Formal, neutral and casual versions
- Words that are easy to misuse
- Common mistakes when correcting an email
- Subject lines for a correction email
- Can you recall or unsend an email?
- Practice
- Quick answers
Polite other ways to say please disregard my previous email are please ignore my earlier email, please use this version instead, a quick correction to my last email, apologies, my earlier email contained an error and please see the corrected details below. If the email went to the wrong person, the right line is different: my previous email was sent to you by mistake; please delete it.
What you write depends on why the first email has to be withdrawn: a wrong fact, a wrong attachment, an email sent before it was finished, plans that changed, or a message that reached the wrong inbox. Each reason has its own wording below, with a short model email. After that come subject lines, words that are easy to misuse (“kindly”, “herein”, “regret to inform”), what email recall can and cannot do, and a practice set with answers.
Quick picker
| What went wrong | Say this |
|---|---|
| a wrong date, price or figure | A quick correction to my last email: the deadline is 14 May, not 4 May. |
| the wrong file was attached | I attached the wrong file earlier. The correct version is attached here. |
| the email went out unfinished | Apologies, my last email went out before I’d finished it. The full version is below. |
| the plan has changed since | An update to my earlier email: the meeting has moved to Thursday. |
| it went to the wrong person | My previous email was sent to you in error. Please delete it without reading further. |
| a test or automated email went out | You may have received a test email from us earlier. Please ignore it; no action is needed. |
| the same email was sent twice | Apologies for the duplicate email. Please ignore the second copy. |
| a reminder the reader may not need | If you have already sent your form, please ignore this reminder. |
When the first email had wrong information
This is the most common case, and the most useful thing you can do is put the corrected fact in the first line. Readers skim; if they only take in one sentence, it should be the right date or number, not an apology.
- “A quick correction to my last email: the total is $4,850, not $4,580.”
- “Correction: the workshop starts at 9:30, not 10:30 as I wrote earlier.”
- “Please note one change to my previous email. The venue is Room 2B, not 3B.”
- “I gave the wrong date in my email this morning. The invoice is due on 30 June.”
- “Please ignore the figures in my earlier email and use the ones below instead.”
Model email
Subject: Correction: Q3 sales figures
Hi Laura,
A quick correction to the email I sent this morning: total Q3 sales were $412,000, not $421,000. I swapped two digits when copying the figure. The rest of the summary is unchanged, and the corrected spreadsheet is attached.
Sorry for the extra email,
Ben
When you attached the wrong file (or forgot it)
- “I attached the wrong version earlier. Here is the correct one.”
- “Please use the attached file instead of the one I sent this morning.”
- “Apologies, I forgot the attachment. Here it is.”
- “The file I sent earlier was an old draft. The final version is attached; please discard the earlier one.”
Name the right file so nobody has to guess which is which: “The correct file is Budget_2026_v3.xlsx.” If the wrong file contained something private, treat it as a wrong-recipient problem (see below), not just a version mix-up.
When the email went out before it was finished
- “Sorry, my last email went out before I’d finished it. The full message is below.”
- “Please ignore my previous email; I hit send too early.”
- “That email was sent by accident before I’d finished writing it. Here’s the complete version.”
Put the complete message in the new email rather than only the missing part. People who see the second email first should not have to dig out the half-finished one.
When the information was right but plans changed
Here nothing was wrong, so you do not need to apologise for a mistake. “Disregard” can even suggest an error that never happened. “Update” is the better word.
- “An update to my earlier email: the launch has moved from 3 March to 10 March.”
- “Following on from my email yesterday, the meeting will now be held online.”
- “Since my last email, the client has asked for a shorter timeline. The new deadline is Friday.”
- “Please note a change to the schedule I sent on Monday.”
The reverse also matters. If the first email had a mistake, do not present the correction as a change of plan (“the launch has been postponed to ensure quality”) when the date was simply typed wrong. Readers who later spot the difference will trust your next correction less.
When the email went to the wrong person
“Please disregard” is not enough here. The recipient has information that was not meant for them, so ask them to delete it, and keep the follow-up short.
- “My previous email was sent to you in error. Please delete it, and I apologise for the inconvenience.”
- “I’m afraid my last email reached you by mistake. Could you please delete it without forwarding it?”
- “Apologies, that message was meant for a colleague with a similar name. Please delete it.”
If the email held personal data, passwords or confidential figures, a polite note is only the first step. Tell your manager or your organisation’s data protection contact, because many workplaces have a procedure for this and some data breaches must be reported.
When a test, automated or duplicate email went out
- “You may have received an email from us earlier titled ‘TEST’. It was sent by mistake during testing. Please ignore it; no action is needed on your part.”
- “Earlier today some customers received a reminder for an order they had already paid for. Please ignore it; your order is confirmed.”
- “Apologies for the duplicate message. Please ignore the second copy.”
“No action is needed” is the line people are actually looking for in these emails. If the mistake will not happen again because you have fixed the cause, you can say so in one sentence: “We have corrected the setting that caused it.”
“Please disregard” in reminders
A related use has nothing to do with mistakes. Reminders often end with “If you have already paid, please disregard this message.” It is correct and widely used. Gentler versions:
- “If you’ve already replied, thank you, and please ignore this reminder.”
- “If you have already completed the form, no further action is needed.”
- “If our emails crossed, please ignore this one.”
Formal, neutral and casual versions
| Register | Phrases | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| formal | Please disregard my previous email. / Please accept my apologies for the error in my earlier message. / I would be grateful if you could use the corrected version attached. | clients, senior people, external partners |
| neutral | Please ignore my earlier email. / A quick correction to my last email. / Please use this version instead. | most work email |
| casual | Ignore my last email! / Scratch that. / My mistake, it’s Tuesday, not Wednesday. / Never mind my last message. | colleagues you know well, team chat |
“Scratch that” is an idiom: you are crossing out what you just said, as you would a line on paper. It is friendly among colleagues but too breezy for a client. For more about how idioms like this work, see our guide to figurative language.
Words that are easy to misuse
| Word or phrase | The issue | Use instead |
|---|---|---|
| disregard vs ignore | Both are fine. “Disregard” sounds more formal; “ignore” is plainer and is what most people say. | either, to suit the tone |
| Kindly disregard | Common and polite in Indian, Nigerian and other varieties of English; to many British and American readers it sounds stiff or old-fashioned. | Please ignore / Please use this version instead |
| I request you disregard | Awkward; “request” needs “that” here, and the phrase is heavy for a small fix. | Please ignore… / I’d be grateful if you could ignore… |
| attached herein | “Herein” means “in this document” and belongs in contracts. | attached / I’ve attached |
| I regret to inform you that my email was wrong | “Regret to inform” introduces bad news for the reader, such as a rejection. It is too heavy for a typo. | I’m sorry, my last email had an error. |
| Disregard my email (to the wrong recipient) | Leaves the information sitting in their inbox. | Please delete it. |
Common mistakes when correcting an email
- Hiding the correction. Three lines of apology before the new date means some readers never reach it. Correction first, apology after (or not at all).
- Over-apologising. “So sorry, sorry again, I can’t believe I did this” makes a small slip feel big. One “sorry” or “apologies for the confusion” is enough.
- Blaming something vague. “The system made an error” invites questions. If it was a typing slip, “I typed the wrong figure” is honest and closes the matter.
- Sending a correction for a tiny typo. A misspelled word that does not change the meaning rarely needs a follow-up. Wrong dates, prices, links, names and attachments do.
- Getting the correction wrong too. Check the new figure, link or file before sending. A second correction hurts more than the first.
- Replying to a different thread. Reply in the same thread as the original so the two emails sit together.
If the mistake caused real trouble for the reader, see other ways to say sorry for the inconvenience for a fuller apology.
Subject lines for a correction email
- Correction: Monday’s meeting time
- Updated: project schedule
- Corrected attachment: Q3 report
- Please ignore: test email
- Re: [original subject], when you reply in the same thread
Putting “Correction” or “Updated” at the start lets people see in their inbox which email to trust, even before they open it.
Can you recall or unsend an email?
Sometimes, but not reliably. Gmail’s “Undo send” only delays sending for a short window that you choose in settings (5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds); once that passes, the email is gone. Outlook’s recall feature works only in limited cases, mainly when you and the recipient are in the same Microsoft 365 or Exchange organisation, and it cannot pull back a message from an outside address. Even when a recall is attempted, the recipient may already have read the email or may get a notice that you tried to recall it. In practice, a short, clear follow-up email is still the dependable fix.
Practice
Choose the best line for each situation.
- You told a client the price is $1,200; it is $1,020. (a) Please disregard my previous email. (b) A quick correction to my last email: the price is $1,020, not $1,200. (c) I regret to inform you that my email was wrong.
- You sent your manager a draft instead of the final report. (a) I attached the wrong version earlier; the final report is attached here. (b) Scratch that! (c) Kindly disregard the attachment herein.
- You emailed salary details to the wrong colleague. (a) Please disregard my last email. (b) My previous email was sent to you in error; please delete it without forwarding it. (c) Oops, never mind!
- The meeting was correctly set for Tuesday, but the client has now asked for Thursday. (a) Apologies for my mistake, the meeting is Thursday. (b) An update to my earlier email: the meeting has moved to Thursday at the client’s request. (c) Please disregard my previous email.
- You’re messaging a teammate you work with every day about a wrong room number. (a) My mistake, it’s Room 4, not Room 3! (b) I request that you disregard my previous communication. (c) Please accept my sincere apologies for the error.
- A test email went to 500 customers. (a) Please disregard. (b) You may have received a test email from us earlier. It was sent by mistake; please ignore it. No action is needed. (c) Our system made an error.
- You notice “recieve” misspelled in an email you sent an hour ago. (a) Send a correction at once. (b) Leave it; the meaning is clear. (c) Recall the email.
- You wrote the wrong date and want to explain it honestly. (a) The event has been postponed to the 25th. (b) I gave the wrong date earlier: the event is on the 25th, not the 24th. (c) Due to unforeseen circumstances, the date is now the 25th.
Answers: 1 b (the fix goes first); 2 a; 3 b (ask them to delete it); 4 b (nothing was wrong, so no apology); 5 a; 6 b (“no action is needed” is what customers want to know); 7 b; 8 b (a wrong date is not a postponement).
Quick answers
Is “please disregard my previous email” correct and polite?
Yes. It is grammatical and polite, if a little formal. Its weakness is that it says nothing about what to do instead, so follow it straight away with the corrected information.
What is a less formal way to say it?
“Please ignore my last email”, “A quick correction to my last email” or, with colleagues you know well, “Scratch that” and “My mistake”.
What do I say if I sent an email to the wrong person?
“My previous email was sent to you in error. Please delete it.” If it contained personal or confidential information, also tell your manager or data protection contact.
Should I apologise in a correction email?
A short “Sorry for the confusion” or “Apologies for the extra email” is enough for most slips. Skip the apology when nothing was wrong and plans simply changed.
Is “kindly disregard” wrong?
No, it is correct and common in several varieties of English, especially in India and parts of Africa. Some British and American readers find it stiff, so “please ignore” is a safe choice for an international audience.
What should the subject line say?
Start with “Correction:” or “Updated:” followed by the topic, or reply in the original thread so both emails stay together. For other routine email lines, see other ways to say I have forwarded your email and polite ways to say please wait in an email.