The two ticks that we see in Whatsapp and other instant messaging apps simply are not part of the email. It can be really annoying to not know if someone has read your email or not opened it. Here’s how to know if someone has read your Email or not.
Waiting for someone to reply to an important email can really be a frustrating experience sometimes. The reasons for the lack of correspondence could be that they are busy, avoiding the answer, or have not received it at all.
So, how can you tell if the person in question has actually seen your message or not? Well, if you are ready to put in a little effort, it is possible.
Here’s how to know if someone has read your Email or not in Three Simple Ways:
Using Read Receipts
The conventional way to see if someone has opened any emails was to use the Read Receipts feature. This is automatically triggered when the recipient accesses the message and prompts them to agree to the Read Receipt being sent back to you.
They can deny this request for sure, which kind of defeats the point.
Hence this is not quite what it once was though, with email security now much tighter than ever before. It is not uncommon for Read Receipts to be identified as potential malware. Therefore it gets screened out by email security scanners.
A further complication is that many email services do not actually offer this feature. Currently, Gmail has no way to employ Read Receipts unless you go for a third-party option which often involves a subscription.
We also found that our Mac version of Outlook had the feature disabled. While most popular email apps on Android and iOS do not even have it as an option.
In case you are using Outlook on a Windows PC then you may be in luck up to a point. To set up a Read Receipt you first have to launch the app then, compose a new email. After that click on the Options tab along the top of the message window.
In here you will see two tick boxes one is Request a Delivery Receipt and other is Request a Read Receipt. Tick the latter one and send the email. If everything goes well, you should receive the notification that your communique has been opened.
This was not plain sailing at all in our tests though. Some of the email addresses just filter out the Read Receipt request entirely. While a private Gmail account pops up a scary warning message for the recipient. So, it looks like this old method is finished these days.
Using a third-party Gmail extension
The standard Gmail accounts do not support email tracking, as these are reserved for work and school versions. However, you can use an extension to emulate this feature.
The Mailtrack extension is one such extension and the free tier allows unlimited tracking. To add Android compatibility and other advanced features you will need to step up to the Pro level. The Pro level prices start at $4.99 or £4 per month.
In order, to install Mailtrack, open Gmail on your PC and click the Settings icon in the top right corner. Then, From the drop-down menu choose to Get add-ons then search the store for Mailtrack. Once you go through the various agreements, and the app is installed, you are ready to give it a go.
Create a new email and you will notice that there are now two green arrows down by the Send button. Tap these and you will open up the Mailtrack settings. Make sure that it is switched on, then close it, complete your email as normal and click Send.
If everything goes well during the tests, you should receive an email as soon as the recipient opens your message. This comes with the bonus that they can not refuse to send the notification.
The free version of Mailtrack does append a signature to your message so the person knows that you are using the service. This can be removed if you move to the Pro level.
Using tracking services
Several companies that offer email services that allow you to share internal correspondence via Outlook or Gmail if your needs are for within your business only. Tracking services come with a variety of features such as newsletter creation and the like.
However, it also has strong email tracking reporting so you can know when your employees or colleagues are opening messages.
Two of the most popular tracking services are Bananatag and ContactMonkey. Both of them offer a range of price tiers dependent on the number of features included in the package.