Email has become an indispensable communication tool in our daily lives. We rely on it for both personal and professional purposes. However, one downside of email is not knowing if your message was actually read by the recipient. You send an important email and don’t get a reply. You wonder – did they get it? Did they read it? Is the email stuck in spam? Should I send a follow up?
Fortunately, there are several methods you can use to check if someone read your email:
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Request a Read Receipt
Most email services like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, etc. give you the option to request a read receipt. A read receipt is an email notification that is sent back to you when the recipient opens your email.
How to request a read receipt:
- When composing your email in Gmail, click on the 3 dots icon > Select “Request read receipt”.
- In Outlook desktop client, go to Options > email message tab and check the box for “Request a read receipt for all sent messages”.
- In Yahoo Mail, click on “More” icon while composing and select “Request read receipt”.
The main downside with read receipts is that the recipient has the option to decline sending one. So you may not always get a read confirmation even if they opened your email.
Use an Email Tracking Service
Email tracking services work by inserting a tracking pixel in your outgoing emails. When the recipient opens your email, the tracking pixel sends back data to the tracking service notifying that the email was opened.
Some popular email tracking services:
These services provide detailed analytics – times, dates, locations of when your email was read. Some paid plans give you options like link click tracking, email templates, etc.
Check Email Headers
Email headers contain technical details about the routing path of your email. By examining email headers in your sent folder, you can check if your email was indeed delivered and opened.
Here’s how to view email headers in Gmail:
- Open the sent email and click on the down arrow icon.
- Select “Show original” from the dropdown menu.
- Scroll down and analyze the header details like ‘Return-Path’, ‘Received-SPF’, etc.
However, this method cannot definitively tell you if an email was read. But it can give clues like if it was delivered, opened, clicked by recipient.
Follow Up Politely
If the above methods don’t work or are inconclusive, you can simply follow up politely with the recipient. Send them a friendly email checking if they received your previous message and ask if they need any clarification or have additional questions.
Email Tracking Best Practices
When using email tracking, be transparent about it and don’t over do it. Here are some best practices to follow:
- Inform recipients that you are tracking emails especially for your first correspondence.
- Limit tracking to only occasional important emails instead of all emails.
- View aggregate data and don’t dig into individual tracking data without consent.
- Never publicly expose any private tracking data.
So in summary, while email tracking can be useful, use it selectively with discretion and care for your recipients’ privacy.
Conclusion
Knowing if your important emails were read gives you clarity on next steps. Whether you want to follow up promptly or give more time before the next email, email tracking eliminates the guesswork. Use the tips in this article to check if recipients opened your email. And remember to use email tracking responsibly!
