If you have ever wondered if e-mail you have sent has been received or not, you can send a read receipt request. Since the recipient can choose not to send the receipt, this method is not totally effective. If you do get the receipt, you'll know that they received and opened the mail. Whether or not the message has actually been read will remain a mystery until the recipient sends a reply.
Recently, we received an e-mail from someone that wanted to know how to receive a read receipt without the recipient's consent. This type of e-mail tracking is typically used by phishers, spammers and e-mail marketers and requires e-mail services or clients other than those covered by this web site. The techniques used are viewed by some as unscrupulous and as privacy invasion and most can be defeated simply by disconnecting from the Internet while reading mail or by reading mail in plain text while taking care not to click on a link or open an attachment..
Here's how you do it. From Outlook Express, click "Tools" then click "Options"
From the "Options" dialog click the "Receipts" tab at the top.
Click the check box labeled "Request a read receipt for all sent messages"
When the check box has been checked, click the "Apply" button then the "OK" button. Now every e-mail you send will have a read request attached to it. Alternatively, you can do this on a per message basis by clicking "Tools" on the new message form then click "Request Read Receipt" on the drop down menu.
Vista's mail handling program Windows Mail has not been forgotten. The instructions above for Outlook Express apply to Windows Mail as well. Although menus, menu selections and window names are the same, keep it in mind that Windows Mail screens have a different appearance than those of Outlook Express.
Update 10/30/2007 & 03/17/2008
Rather than write an entire article, it was decided to append the information for Office Outlook 2007 to this article. During a review of our site we realized that instructions for Outlook 2003 needed to be added because there is a difference between the versions in the procedure used for individual messages.
Office Outlook 2003 Individual Message
To request a read receipt for a single message in Office Outlook 2003, click the Options button on the new message form's tool bar. This action opens the Message Options screen.
The Message Options dialog provides check boxes for delivery and read receipt requests. These are indicated in the screen shot by the arrow. Click on the check box to select the option of your choice. A check mark will appear in the box to confirm that the selection has been activated.
Office Outlook 2007 Individual Message
To send read receipt requests on individual email messages in Office Outlook 2007, open the new message form as shown here. The new "ribbon" concept is carried over to Outlook as well. On the ribbon, look for and click "Options". In the graphic, the "Options" selection is circled. The Office Ribbon eliminates the need for a separate options screen
Circled in this graphic are the check boxes for Delivery Receipt and Read Receipt. Check one or both by clicking the box or boxes before sending your message. As a reminder, this only applies to individual messages.
Global Read and Delivery Requests
While selecting read and delivery receipt requests differs between Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007, requesting receipts for all messages is the same. The following screen shots were taken from Outlook 2007 and will differ from Outlook 2003 only due to the Vista Aero theme.
To set Outlook to apply read requests on all outgoing email, click on the Tools selection on Outlook's main tool bar. On the drop down menu click on "Options".
This opens the Outlook Options window, which is partially shown here. This dialog usually opens with the "Preferences" tab already showing if not then click the Preferences tab. At the top of the window there is an email section. In this section are two buttons. Click the "E-mail Options" button that is circled in the accompanying picture.
This opens Outlook's e-mail options window. In the section of this window titled "Message Handling" click the button labeled "Tracking Options". This button has been circled in the graphic.
When the tracking options window opens, look toward the center of the window to find the necessary check boxes. These are located under the label "For all messages I send, request:". Click the appropriate box for the type of receipt you want to request or click both if you want a delivery and a read receipt. Be sure to click the "OK" button at the bottom of this window and the other two options windows you have opened as well.
Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Windows, Windows XP and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other names have been included in the above text that are trademarks of the respective companies.
