Outbox vs. Sent: What’s the Difference?

The main difference between Outbox and Sent is that the Outbox is a folder where emails are temporarily stored before they are sent, while the Sent folder is where emails that have already been sent are stored.

Before we move to more differences, let’s first understand Outbox and Sent:

  • Outbox: Outbox is a folder or queue in an email client that holds email messages that are waiting to be sent.
  • Sent: Sent is a folder in an email client that contains email messages that have already been sent and delivered to their intended recipient(s).

Now, let’s get to Outbox vs Sent:

Major differences between Outbox and Sent

Outbox Sent
Outbox is used to manage and review email messages before they are sent. Sent provides a record of past communications.
Outbox may hold email messages due to a scheduled delay or connectivity issues. Sent indicates that the message has been successfully delivered.
Outbox is primarily used for message preparation. Sent is used for message tracking and reference.
Outbox is typically located in the user’s email client or application. Sent is often stored on the email server and can be accessed from multiple devices.
Outbox may allow users to edit or cancel email messages before they are sent. Sent does not allow users to make changes to already delivered messages.

So, these are the main differences between the entities.

Also see:

You can see other “differences between…” posts by clicking here.

If you have a related query, kindly feel free to let me know in the comments below.