How to request a read receipt in Outlook and Gmail
A read receipt is a request, not a guarantee. You ask the recipient's mail app to tell you when they open your email, and they, or their mail app, can say no. In Gmail the feature only exists for work and school accounts, and only if the admin has switched it on.
Here's how to request one in new Outlook, classic Outlook, Outlook on the web and Gmail, the limits that stop receipts coming back, and the difference between a read receipt, a delivery receipt and open tracking.
Before you start
- Outlook (new, classic or on the web) with a Microsoft 365, Exchange or Outlook.com account, or
- A Google Workspace work or school Gmail account where the admin allows read receipts
Step-by-step
- 1
New Outlook or Outlook on the web
In the message you're writing, go to the Options tab. Under Tracking, select Request a Read Receipt, and Request a Delivery Receipt too if you want to know it arrived. If you don't see them, select More Options at the right end of the ribbon.
- 2
Classic Outlook, one message
While composing, open the Options tab and, in the Tracking group, check Request a Read Receipt before you send.
- 3
Classic Outlook, every message
Go to File, Options, Mail. Under Tracking, check Read receipt confirming the recipient viewed the message, and select OK. Every email you send after that asks for a receipt.
- 4
Gmail on a work or school account
Click Compose and write your email. At the bottom right, click More options, then Request read receipt, and send. If the option isn't there, your Google Workspace admin hasn't allowed read receipts.
- 5
Know what the receipt can't do
The recipient can decline, and there is no way to force a receipt. Outlook doesn't support receipts for IMAP or POP accounts such as Gmail or Yahoo, and Gmail returns no receipt for messages sent to a group list or alias. No receipt doesn't mean they didn't read it.
- 6
Use tracking when you need more than a yes
A receipt only says the email was opened, and only if they agree. Open tracking records opens and link clicks without a prompt, and a tool like Outsolvi grades each open so Apple Mail's privacy pre-fetch isn't reported as a person. Check the consent rules where your recipients are before you track.
Set up tracking in 2 minutes instead of 20.
Outsolvi installs as a native Outlook add-in or Gmail Chrome extension. Every open is graded, hot leads get flagged in the web app, and Write with AI drafts your follow-ups there too. From $7/mo, 14-day free trial.
Troubleshooting
Request a Read Receipt is missing in Outlook
Look under More Options at the end of the ribbon. If your account is connected over IMAP or POP, such as a Gmail account added to Outlook, read receipts aren't supported.
Gmail has no Request read receipt option
Read receipts don't work on personal @gmail.com accounts. On a work or school account, a Google Workspace admin has to allow them in the Admin console under Apps, Google Workspace, Gmail, User settings.
You never got a receipt back
The recipient may have declined, their mail app may not support receipts, or the message went to a group list. Treat a missing receipt as unknown, not as unread.
Frequently asked
Does personal Gmail support read receipts?
No. Gmail read receipts only work on work or school accounts, and the admin has to allow them.
Does the recipient know I asked for a read receipt?
Often, yes. In Outlook the recipient can choose not to send one, and in Gmail the recipient may need to approve the receipt before you get it.
What's the difference between a read receipt and a delivery receipt?
A delivery receipt tells you the email reached the recipient's mailbox. A read receipt tells you it was opened. Neither tells you whether it was read carefully or who else saw it.
Is a read receipt more reliable than email tracking?
They fail in different ways. A receipt depends on the recipient agreeing to send it. Tracking doesn't ask, but privacy features like Apple Mail Privacy Protection can load the tracking image without a person opening anything, which is why Outsolvi grades each open instead of counting every load.
Track real engagement, not Apple MPP noise.
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Everything in this guide runs automatically once the add-in is installed: real opens tracked, bots filtered, follow-ups queued. 14-day free trial, no credit card.
More on email tracking
Glossary terms, comparisons, and feature deep-dives related to this guide.
Nate built Outsolvi after watching every email-tracking tool he had ever used lie to him about opens. Outsolvi grades every open as a person or a machine, in Outlook and Gmail, so the number on the dashboard is one a rep can actually act on.
We update these pages when the underlying mechanics change. new mailbox-provider rules, new tracker behavior, new measurement gaps. The dates above are real revisions, not auto-touches.