How to Request a Read Receipt in Outlook (2026 Guide)
A Read Receipt tells you when a recipient opens your email. A Delivery Receipt tells you when the message reaches the recipient’s mail server — not when it’s read. Both are optional: the recipient’s email client decides whether to honor the request, and in most cases the recipient can decline.
Here’s how to request each one across every version of Outlook, plus why receipts so often fail to come back.
1. Request a Read Receipt for a Single Email — Classic Outlook for Windows
The per-message toggle lives on the Options tab of the message window. This is the cleanest way to request a receipt only when you actually need one.
- In classic Outlook, click New Email (or press Ctrl+N).
- Compose the message — add recipients, subject, and body.
- On the ribbon, click the Options tab.
- In the Tracking group, check one or both boxes:
- Request a Delivery Receipt — confirms the message reached the recipient’s mail server.
- Request a Read Receipt — confirms the recipient opened the message in their client.
- Click Send.
When a receipt comes back, it arrives as a separate email in your inbox. You can also see tracking status by opening the sent message and clicking the Tracking button on the ribbon (visible once at least one receipt returns).
2. Classic Outlook: Request Read or Delivery Receipts for All Messages
If you want receipts on every outgoing message, turn them on globally.
- Go to File > Options.
- Click Mail in the left pane.
- Scroll down to the Tracking section.
- Check either or both:
- Delivery receipt confirming the message was delivered to the recipient’s email server
- Read receipt confirming the recipient viewed the message
- Click OK.
From now on, every message you send requests the receipts you selected. Heads up: this generates a lot of inbox noise — a read-receipt reply for every email you send — and many recipients find blanket read-receipt requests annoying. Most users are better off using the per-message toggle.
3. New Outlook Desktop & Outlook on the Web
New Outlook and Outlook on the web only support per-message read-receipt requests. There is no global setting to request receipts on every outgoing message — that option exists only in classic Outlook for Windows.
Request a receipt on a single message
- Open new Outlook or go to outlook.office.com.
- Click New mail to open a compose window.
- On the compose ribbon, click the Options tab.
- Check Request a read receipt and/or Request a delivery receipt.
- Finish composing and click Send.
If the Options tab isn’t showing on the compose ribbon, click the three-dot More options menu in the compose toolbar — on some builds the receipt toggles live there instead.
Control how you respond to incoming receipt requests
You can configure a global setting for how you respond when someone else requests a receipt from you:
- Click Settings (gear icon).
- Select Mail > Message handling.
- Under For messages that include a read receipt request, pick Always send a response, Never send a response, or Ask me before sending a response.
- Click Save.
This setting only controls incoming requests, not outgoing. Personal Microsoft accounts (outlook.com) also tend to handle receipts inconsistently — Outlook-to-Outlook between Microsoft 365 tenants is the most reliable combination.
4. Outlook for Mac
Outlook for Mac supports per-message receipts, though the UI has shifted between the “new” and “legacy” Mac builds.
- Click New Email.
- Compose the message.
- Click the Options tab on the ribbon.
- Check Request a Read Receipt and/or Request a Delivery Receipt.
- Click Send.
For a global default on Mac, go to Outlook > Settings > Composing (or Reading, depending on build) and look for the receipt options. Not every Mac build exposes a global toggle; if yours doesn’t, use the per-message checkboxes.
5. Outlook Mobile (iOS and Android)
Outlook Mobile does not support requesting read or delivery receipts on outgoing messages. You can only request receipts from a desktop or web client.
Outlook Mobile does honor incoming read-receipt requests — if someone sends you a message with a receipt requested, the app may prompt you to send or decline a receipt (behavior depends on your account type and mailbox settings configured on desktop or web).
Respond to Incoming Read-Receipt Requests
Whether you send a receipt when someone requests one is controlled by your own settings.
Classic Outlook for Windows
- Go to File > Options > Mail.
- Scroll to Tracking.
- Under For any message received that includes a read receipt request, choose:
- Always send a read receipt
- Never send a read receipt
- Ask each time whether to send a read receipt
- Click OK.
New Outlook and Outlook on the Web
Settings > Mail > Message handling > For messages that include a read receipt request — pick Always send, Never send, or Ask.
Outlook for Mac
Outlook > Settings > Reading (or Composing) > look for the read-receipt response setting.
Why Your Read Receipts Aren’t Returning
If you’ve sent 10 messages with receipts requested and only gotten two back, you’re not alone. Common reasons:
- Recipient declined. The most common case. If their client is set to “Ask” or “Never send,” no receipt is generated.
- Non-Outlook client. Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail, Proton Mail, and most mobile clients either ignore the Microsoft read-receipt header entirely or handle it inconsistently. Outlook-to-Outlook works best.
- Distribution lists and shared mailboxes. Receipts from group addresses are often suppressed by the mail server or by admin policy.
- IMAP and POP accounts. Receipts depend on MIME headers that many IMAP/POP setups strip or ignore.
- Security software and mail gateways. Spam filters, DLP tools, and sandboxing systems may “open” the message before delivery, triggering a false read receipt — or block the receipt header outright.
- Preview pane. In some Outlook builds, viewing a message in the reading/preview pane doesn’t count as “opened” for receipt purposes, so no receipt fires even though the recipient saw the content.
- Images blocked. This mostly matters for third-party tracking pixels (see below), not for native Outlook receipts — but it’s worth knowing if you compare the two methods.
In practice, read receipts are best treated as a hint, not a source of truth.
Alternatives to Read Receipts
Tracking pixels
Tools like Mailtrack, HubSpot Sales, Yesware, Streak, and Mixmax embed a 1-pixel image in your outgoing email. When the recipient’s client loads the image, the tool logs an “open.” Pros: works across clients, no recipient prompt. Cons: privacy implications, blocked by most modern clients that strip or proxy remote images (Apple Mail Privacy Protection, Gmail image caching, most corporate gateways), and increasingly flagged by security tools. Accuracy has dropped significantly over the last few years.
Third-party tracking tools
The tools above also offer dashboards, link-click tracking, and team analytics. They’re common in sales workflows but have the same image-blocking limitations as raw tracking pixels.
Delay-send plus a scheduled follow-up
If the goal is “know when to nudge someone who didn’t reply,” you don’t actually need a receipt. Schedule the send, then schedule a follow-up email to go out a few days later if you haven’t gotten a reply. See how to schedule an email in Outlook and how to delay sending email in Outlook.
Quick Reference
| Version | Per-message request | Default for all messages | Mobile support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Outlook for Windows | Options tab > Request a Read/Delivery Receipt | File > Options > Mail > Tracking | N/A |
| New Outlook Desktop | Options tab on compose ribbon | Not supported (per-message only) | N/A |
| Outlook on the Web | Options tab on compose ribbon | Not supported (per-message only) | N/A |
| Outlook for Mac | Options tab > Request a Read/Delivery Receipt | Settings > Composing/Reading (varies) | N/A |
| Outlook Mobile (iOS/Android) | Not supported | Not supported | Responds to incoming requests only |
Which Method Should You Use?
- Need proof a specific message was opened? Use the per-message Read Receipt toggle in classic Outlook or Outlook for Mac. Accept that the recipient can decline.
- Need proof a message was delivered? Use the Delivery Receipt — it’s more reliable than a Read Receipt because it doesn’t depend on the recipient’s client cooperating.
- On new Outlook or the web? Use the global setting under Message handling. Turn it off again when you don’t need it — there’s no single-message shortcut on every build.
- Running a sales or outreach cadence? Native read receipts will disappoint you. Use a sales tool with pixel tracking if you accept the accuracy tradeoffs, or skip tracking entirely and build a scheduled-follow-up workflow.
- Want to know if someone’s ignoring you? Drop the receipt and send a polite follow-up at day 3 and day 7. It’s more reliable and less creepy.
A Smarter Way to Follow Up
Read receipts are a weak signal. A better workflow is one that schedules the original message, drafts a follow-up, and nudges you if you don’t hear back — without you having to think about it. Carly is an AI assistant that connects to 200+ apps, including Outlook, and handles follow-ups, scheduling, and reminders in natural language.
More on Outlook: How to schedule an email in Outlook · How to delay sending email in Outlook · How to recall an email in Outlook · How to set up email forwarding in Outlook · How to create an email template in Outlook · How to add a signature in Outlook · How to use @mentions in Outlook · How to create rules in Outlook
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