Cloudflare Docs
Area 1 Email Security
Area 1 Email Security
Visit Area 1 Email Security on GitHub
Set theme to dark (⇧+D)

Retract settings

When you are using an API setup for Area 1, you cannot prevent mail from reaching a recipient’s mailbox.

However — so long as you also have journaling, BCC or MS Graph configured — you can set up message retraction to take post-delivery actions against suspicious messages. These retractions happen through API integrations with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspaces (Gmail).

​​ Retraction options

Once you set up retraction, you can retract messages manually or set up automatic retractions to move messages matching certain dispositions to specific folders within a user’s mailbox. Refer to Gmail and Office 365 guides for detailed information regarding these options.

​​ Retraction metrics

Setting up retraction also gives you access to metrics for this feature. After logging in to your Area 1 dashboard, search for the Retractions card. Metrics for retractions include information such as:

  • Total retractions: Displays the total amount of retractions performed.
  • Success: Shows the percentage of messages Area 1 was able to find and retract successfully.
  • Fail: Displays the percentage of messages Area 1 was not successfully able to retract. Reasons for failure include:
    • The user has already deleted or marked the message as junk, either manually or via a mailbox filter.
    • The specific copy of the message being retracted was sent to a distribution list address that may not exist as a mailbox, and so the retraction will fail. Separate copies of the message that are sent to each member of that distribution list will be retracted.
    • The retraction is not, or is no longer, authorized.
  • Unread/Read: Refers to the state of the message at the time it was retracted. For automated retractions, Area 1 tries to perform retraction as quickly as possible so the user has no time to see or open the message. Manual retraction might happen at a later time, and so the messages are more likely to have already been read.
  • Auto/Manual: Refers to the percentage of messages retracted through the automatic/manual modes.

Selecting View details will perform a search for retracted emails for the selected time interval.