Email is one of the most consistent ways that we communicate. Email is used by millions of people across the world for both personal and professional communications. But what do you do after sending an email while waiting for a reply? What do you do if you don’t get a response to an important message? Do you wait longer or send a follow-up email?
This would all be so much easier if you could see if someone reads your email. This article explores how to see that. We’ll be sharing a few different methods you can use to monitor your emails better and know when to send a follow-up.
Why Would You Want to See If Someone Reads Your Emails?
Sometimes, we send important emails to which we expect a reply. This can be related to personal matters, such as applying for a new job or waiting for feedback from a doctor. In these cases, you want to be sure that your email made it through to the recipient and didn’t get lost in spam.
You might communicate with a client, vendor, or potential new partner in a business situation. Whether you’re trying to land a sale or hoping to solidify a new partner to help grow your business, emails are a vital part of the process. In these cases, you want to know if your emails reach the intended recipient.
Knowing if and when your email is read can better prepare your next steps. You can plan a follow-up email to send at precisely the right time, schedule a call to discuss the matter over the phone, or arrange a meeting. However, this isn’t easy to do right if you don’t know if the recipient has seen your message.
How to See If Someone Reads Your Emails – 4 Ways
Knowing when your emails are read does a lot for your productivity, but getting email tracking set up can be tricky. Most mailing clients don’t track emails by default, so let’s see how to tell if someone reads your email on Gmail.
Method 1: Enabling Read Receipts
One of the easiest ways to be notified if someone reads your email is to get read receipts in Gmail. This is a native feature on the app that you can enable to receive notifications when your emails are opened. However, it’s important to note that read receipts are only available on Gmail for work or school. It’s not available for free accounts.
Step 1: Launch Gmail
Launch Gmail in your chosen browser and log into your account. Remember, to use read receipts, you need an account with Admin privileges, such as a work or school account.
Step 2: Draft Your Email
Draft your message by adding the recipient, subject line, and body of your email, followed by any attachments. Once you’re finished, don’t click on send yet.
Step 3: Enable Read Receipt
Before you send, enable the read receipt by clicking on ‘More Options’ at the bottom right of your screen. In the open menu, click ‘Request Read Receipt’ to enable the function for this email.
Step 4: Send a Message
Now, you can go ahead and send your email with confidence.
Method 2: Using an Email Tracker
The following method is one of the more accurate and easy solutions. It requires the use of a third-party app or extension. Numerous email tracker extensions are available, but for this article, we’ll be using Free Email Tracker for Gmail as it’s one of the easiest and most straightforward.
Step 1: Download the Chrome Extension
First, you’ll need to download the Free Email Tracker for Gmail for Chrome. Simply click on the link and select ‘Install.’
Step 2: Enable the Extension
The extension should be automatically enabled and added to Gmail. However, if it isn’t, click on the extension icon (represented by a puzzle piece) next to your address bar and ensure the extension is active.
Step 3: Send an Email
Now, proceed to send emails as usual.
Step 4: Check the Status of the Email
Now, to check the status of the email you sent, go to your ‘Sent’ folder in Gmail. You’ll see two tick marks next to your emails. The first tick indicates your email was sent, and the second suggests it was opened. By hovering over these tick marks, you can see more information, such as when it was opened or how many times it was viewed.
Method 3: Images in HTML
Another way to know if your emails have been opened is by adding an HTML image to the body of your email. While this option is reliable and doesn’t require a third-party app, it does require some technical knowledge.
Step 1: Choose or Create an HTML Image
First, you must create an HTML image to add to your email. This can be as simple as an invisible pixel-by-pixel block, or you can use your company logo. You need to save the image as a GIF file.
Step 2: Add the Image to Your Email
Compose your email, and insert the image you created when you’re done. Remember, if you decide to go with a pixel-by-pixel white block, you won’t see anything after adding the image.
Step 3: Check the Server Stats
After sending the email, give it some time and then check the server stats of your email account to see how many times the image has been accessed.
Method 4: Enable Delivery Receipts
Delivery receipts are just another word for reading receipts. The term may vary according to the email client you use. For example, Gmail uses the term ‘read receipts,’ whereas Outlook uses ‘delivery receipts.’ In essence, these are the same function and work similarly. As such, you can use the steps in the first method to enable delivery receipts in Outlook.
Which Is the Best Method to Use?
While it’s easy to request a read receipt on Gmail, this isn’t always the best option. For one, this isn’t available for free Gmail users. Secondly, the recipient has the option of sending a receipt and can choose not to. As such, this method can be quite unreliable. If you’re looking for an easy and reliable way to track the status of your emails, we recommend using a third-party email tracking app or extension.
Final Thoughts
If you need to check if an email has been read, some email clients provide you with the option to enable read or delivery receipts. However, there are more efficient ways to stay on top of your emails. We recommend using an app or extension, like the Free Email Tracker for Gmail from PandaDoc, which was created by the developers of PandaDoc.
