5 Ways To Send ‘Future Mail’ On Popular Email Clients

by Karan Goel

Future is uncertain but latest technology can guarantee a few things with certainty like sending an email message to specific persons at any future date and time.

When can this be useful? You want to be the first one to send a Birthday Greeting to your friend? Set up a future mail and go to sleep.

There are a number of ways and resources to send a future email reminder at a click of a button.

1. Use Gmail to Send future email

By default there is no feature in Gmail to send future email, not even a Labs feature. However, there is a workaround to use Gmail for sending future emails.

First step involves setting up POP / IMAP configuration to access Gmail in Outlook. Second step involves using Email Scheduler plugin for Outlook (not free plugin).

2. In.com web based Future Email

Unlike Gmail, Yahoo: web based email service at http://www.in.com provide Future Mail feature to every in.com email account.

3. Use Delay email feature in Outlook

Ideally an email is sent immediately when you click send button in Outlook. There is option to delay sending of email to specific date – time in Outlook. In the message window click ‘options’ button (or goto View > Options). Under ‘delivery options’, click to tick ‘Do not deliver before’ option. Then enter future delivery date and time information.

Delayed email will be held to Outbox and will be send automatically at specific date (provided you are connected to internet at that date and time).

4. Thunderbird ‘Send It Later’ plugin

You can try experimental ‘Send it Later’ extension for Mozilla Thunderbird to delay sending of messages. It works on same concept as explained in above point 3 for delaying messages in Outlook.

5. Online tools, apps for Future Email

There are number of stand-alone web apps, tools to send email at any specified future time and date. Only concern, if these will exist or work at actual future date of email delivery. Here are few such tools:

futureme.org
mylastemail.com
futuremail.bensinclair.com
lettermelater.com
hitmelater.com
mailfreezr.com

Which is your favorite method of sending future email? Option number 5 of web tools looks very attractive for simple reason of ease of setting up and composing future email, what say?