Can You See if Emails Have Been Read on Gmail?
By Naomi Bolton
According to Google as of January 2013, its free email service Gmail has more than 425 million active users. If you are one of these users and want to see if your emails have been read, there is an easy way to check. Gmail enables you to see at a glance which emails in your inbox have been read by you; further, if you have a Google Apps for Business account, you can request read receipts to see if others have read the emails that you have sent them. Read receipts are not available for personal accounts, but you can get the same results using a browser extension.
Check your Inbox for your Unread Emails
Step 1
Sign in to your Gmail account.
Step 2
Check the number in parentheses next to the word Inbox. This indicates the number of unread messages in your inbox.
Step 3
Check the list of emails in your inbox for the those marked in bold; these have not yet been opened and read by you. Once you click an unread email, it is no longer highlighted in bold.
Step 4
Click the "Details" link below the list of emails in your inbox to view your account activity. This lists the last time that your account had any activity, the activity location, as well as the access type. Since emails that have been read can be marked as unread again, this is a useful method to check that nobody has accessed your account and read your mails.
See if a Sent Mail Has Been Read Via Read Receipts
Step 1
Sign in to your Gmail account.
Step 2
Click the "Compose" button and compose your mail as normal.
Step 3
Enter the recipients and subject, then click the "Request read receipt" check box just below the "To" field. This check box is available only if you have a Google Apps for Business account (link in Resources).
Step 4
Click the "Send" button to send the mail. All the recipients receive a read receipt request that sends you a notification as soon as they read the mail. When using the Web-based Gmail client, the notification is shown directly below the body of the message.
See If a Sent Mail Has Been Read Via Browser Extensions
Step 1
Navigate to the RightInbox website and click the "Install Now" button (link in Resources).
Step 2
Click the "Add To Chrome, FireFox or Safari" button depending on the browser that you are using.
Step 3
Navigate to the Gmail website and sign in to your account. Click "Grant access" to allow the extension to integrate with your account. This does not grant access to your personal information or password and can be revoked if you no longer wish to make use of the service.
Step 4
Click the "Compose" button and compose your mail. Enter the recipients and subject, and then click the check box next to "Track."
Step 5
Click "Send Now" to send the mail. You receive a message as soon as the recipient has opened your email.
References
Warnings
- Since the browser extension is not made by Google, updates to the Gmail service can break compatibility. In the event that this occurs, you have to wait for the creators of the extension to update it with a newer version that is compatible with the updated Gmail service.
Writer Bio
Virtually growing up in a computer repair shop, Naomi Bolton has held a passion for as long as she can remember. After earning a diploma through a four year course in graphic design from Cibap College, Bolton launched her own photography business. Her work has been featured on Blinklist, Gameramble and many others.