Important: Read receipts are only available to work or school accounts. They don't work with personal Gmail (@gmail.com) accounts. To request or return a read receipt, sign in to an eligible account.
To find out when an email you sent was opened, you can request a read receipt. A read receipt is sent to you as an email with the time and date of when your message was opened.
Request a read receipt
Important: To receive a read receipt in your inbox, the recipient of your email may need to approve it first.
- On your computer, open Gmail.
- Click Compose.
- Compose your email as you normally would.
- At the bottom right, click More options
Request read receipt.
- Click Send.
Return a read receipt
If you receive a message that requests a read receipt, and your organization wants you to approve it first:
- On your computer, open Gmail.
- Check your emails as you normally would.
- If a message tells you a sender has requested a read receipt, choose an option:
- To send the receipt now, click Send receipts.
- To send the receipt later, click Not now. You'll be asked to send the receipt the next time you open the message.
Tip: If someone requests a read receipt, but you don't see a message, your receipt was sent automatically.
When receipts aren't returned
Read receipts work across most email systems, but you won't get a read receipt if:
- You send a message to a group mailing list or alias.
- Your administrator restricts receipts to people within your organization or to specific people outside your organization.
- The recipient uses an email program that doesn't sync in real time (like a Post Office Protocol [POP] client that syncs only on demand, or a Google Workspace Sync client).
- The recipient returns a read receipt on an email client using Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) and read receipts aren't sent automatically.
Don't rely on receipts to certify delivery
Getting a read receipt doesn't always mean the recipient read your message. How a receipt works depends on which email system your recipient uses.
For example, you may get a read receipt if a person using an IMAP-based email client marks your message as read, but doesn't open it. Some non-IMAP mobile email systems may not return receipts at all.