Preventing a draft email from being sent

Question

Is there a way to mark an email as "incomplete" or "draft" in Outlook 07 so I cannot accidentally send it while I am still making changes to it?

Answer 1

We use something similar to the following script in Outlook 2003: -

Private Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)
    'Ignore Non Email Objects
    If Item.Class <> olMail Then Exit Sub

    'Prevent Sending of email with the word Draft in the Subject
    If InStr(1, Item.Subject, "draft", vbTextCompare) > 0 Then
        Ans = MsgBox("You are not permitted to send Draft Emails", vbExclamation + vbOKOnly, "Draft Emails")
        Cancel = True
    End If

End Sub

I should add that it looks for the word Draft in the Message Subject and if found it will prevent the sending of the email.

Answer 2

Not the answer you are looking for, but a habit I have is to not fill in the To: address until I have finished writing the e-mail and it is ready to send. In the case of a reply, I typically just remove the To: address completely before authoring the e-mail. More of a behavioral change than a technology one.

Another option is while drafting the e-mail, click on the Options tab (ribbon... whatever it's called these days). There is a "Delay Delivery" option. Clicking on this button will bring up the Message Options dialog with the "Do not deliver before" option checked. Change the specified date to an arbitrary date in the future - next month for example - and then click close. Then write your e-mail as usual. If you accidentally click "Send" or Ctrl Enter the message will just sit in your Outbox folder.

When you are ready to send, just go back to the Delay Delivery option, uncheck the checkbox and click Close. Then send as normal.

If you accidentally click Send before you are ready, edit the message in your Outbox, disable the Delay Delivery option (again by going to Message Options), and click Send again.

Answer 3

After being bitten once, I only address an email after I have finished writing it.

Answer 4

I add garbage to the CC: line, like "ZZZ". Outlook won't send it that way.

This way you still get to prepare the To line with the proper recipients while composing the mail.

I also tell Outlook to delay all outgoing messages by 2 minutes, as I often remember something important just after I hit Send.

Answer 5

Set it to spellcheck all e-mails - chances are that there's something in there which it will catch. If in doubt make sure something in your signature isn't in the dictionary...