Deferred Sending gives you a safety net to cancel email campaigns before they begin sending. Similar to Gmail and Outlook's "Undo Send" feature that recalls emails, this setting creates a brief cancellation period (1, 3 or 5 minutes) where you can stop an email if you notice an error and need to make corrections.
What is Deferred Sending?
Deferred Sending adds a cancellation period between when you click Send and when your campaign actually begins sending to recipients. During this window, your campaign moves to the In Progress page, where you can cancel it before it goes out.
This feature is organization-wide, meaning all users in your organization will have their campaigns deferred by the selected time period if enabled.
How to Enable Deferred Sending
Only Administrators can enable Deferred Sending for your organization.
- Click your name at the top right of your ContactMonkey dashboard
- Click Settings
- Click Email Settings
- Locate the Deferred Sending section
- Turn the toggle ON
- Select your preferred cancellation period from the dropdown:
- 5 minutes (default)
- 3 minutes
- 1 minute

Once enabled, all emails sent by any user in your organization will be deferred by the selected time period. The feature is disabled by default for all organizations.
Note: There is no way to bypass Deferred Sending once it's enabled. All users must use the feature for the timeframe you specify.
How to Cancel a Campaign During the Deferred Period
After you send an email, it will move to the In Progress page in the dashboard if Deferred Sending is enabled.
From the Dashboard
- Click Emails at the top of your dashboard
- Click In Progress
- Locate your campaign - you'll see a cancellation icon next to the time it will go out
- Click the three-dot menu item and select Cancel Send

From the Outlook 365 Add-in
- Import your email into a new Outlook message
- Enter your recipients
- Click Send & Track
- Click Cancel Send in App
- You will be redirected to the In Progress section of the dashboard
- Locate your campaign - you'll see a cancellation icon next to the time it will go out
- Click the three-dot menu item and select Cancel Send
What You Can Do During the Deferred Period
While an email is in the deferred state, you can:
- Cancel the send completely
- Preview the email
- Apply or remove tags
What You Cannot Do During the Deferred Period
You cannot edit any email content once it's in the deferred state. If you need to make changes:
- Cancel the email during the deferred period
- Open the draft in the Email Builder
- Make any email edits or changes
- Click Save and Exit
- Send the campaign again (which will start a new deferred period)