An apparatus and method for correcting previously sent messages in a real-time messaging system are provided. With the apparatus and method of the present invention, when a user of an instant messaging client transmits an instant message to another instant messaging client, the user may notice that the message just sent includes an error requiring correction. As a result, the user may activate a correction mechanism of the present invention to correct the instant message previously sent. The activation of the correction mechanism initiates the sending of a control message to the instant messaging client that received the previous instant message or a selected message from an instant message log. This control message is used to generate a notification at the receiving instant messaging client that the sending instant messaging client is in the process of correcting a message. Once the user has completed the corrections to the previously sent instant message, the user may select to send the corrected instant message to the previous recipient of the instant message. At the receiving instant messaging client, the instant message is displayed in the instant messaging log with identifiers indicating that the message is a corrected message and conspicuously displaying the corrected text.