How to Acknowledge a Received Email

By Christa Titus

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You may receive an email in which the sender requests that you send a reply to confirm you got their message. Not everyone has the option of having a return receipt automatically sent to them when you open their email, so if it contains urgent or time-sensitive information, they need to know if it reached your inbox. It's also a courtesy to let people know you've received their message when you've requested that they send you documents or other information.

Step 1

Send the acknowledgment as soon as possible. A timely response is crucial in the business world, even if the information in the email isn't time-sensitive.

Step 2

Edit the email's subject line, if necessary. For example, you might need to indicate that you have attached a document to the message, or that updated information is included in your reply. If you don't need to edit the subject line, the "Re:" field will automatically be filled in, notifying the recipient what email you are responding to.

Step 3

Write a complete sentence indicating that you got the message, as well as when you will be taking any action in regards to it. It's more professional to state, "Hello Steve, I received the email this morning. I'll follow up with you later in the afternoon" -- which lets the sender know that you will prioritize getting back to him -- than just writing, "Got it. Thanks."

Step 4

Update the recipient on any relevant developments. You can accomplish two tasks at once here: acknowledge the original email and keep the recipient in the loop regarding pertinent information. There's no sense sending a second email that says, "By the way, the meeting related to the contracts you sent me has been moved back to 4 p.m.," when you are already having an email conversation regarding that topic.

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