Abstract: A system and method for retracting an electronic mail document stored in a mail database of a Server sent from a sender to a recipient. A fetch monitor at the Server monitors activity on the mail document and marks the status of the mail document accordingly. A fetch control issues a request to retract the mail document to a fetch queue at the Server. The request is retrieved by a fetcher at the Server from the fetch queue, which then proceeds to retract the mail document based on the marked status of the mail document, and then reports the retraction.