It is often quite useful to know that someone has received and read an email you have sent to them, maybe you want to follow it with more information or even a phone call. But how do you know they’ve received and read your email?
The answer lies in the humble ‘Read Receipt’ this is an option to an email which sends a small text email back to the original sender to tell then the recipient has read the email, hence the name.
- In Outlook 2010 to add a Read Receipt request simply start a new email message.
- Next click on the ‘Options’ tab.
- Here you will see two related options ‘Request a Delivery Receipt’ and ‘Request a Read Receipt’.
- The ‘Request a Delivery Receipt’ option is rarely used these days, and all it does is confirm that an emails has arrived in the recipients Inbox, not that it has been read.
- The option we want is obviously ‘Request a Read Receipt’ – By ticking the box you will receive a confirmation email once the recipient opens the original email.
NOTE – Many email clients will give the recipient the option NOT to send a Read Receipt, so be careful not to assume that no receipt means your email hasn’t been read.