Outlook: Request read receipt - how it works

With the read receipt you will be informed as soon as the recipient has read your mail - if he wants to. Our guide shows how to set up read receipts generally and individually.

Whether individually or generally: an Outlook read receipt is quickly set up.

Millions of people use Outlook every day for their mail traffic. Functions such as read receipts come just in time.

How to set up an Outlook read receipt

The read receipt can be set either generally for all mails or only for individual mails. For general activation, proceed as follows in Outlook 2016:

1. Click "File" in the Outlook menu.
2. Open "Options", then "History" under the "Mail" item.
3. Activate the checkmark at the option "Read receipt confirming that the message is displayed by the recipient".
4. Close the window with "Ok".

Every mail you send from now on will be equipped with a read receipt. If you want to set up the read receipt only for certain mails, follow these steps:

1. Open the mail in question and click on the "Options" tab.
2. Tick "Request read receipt" in the "History" section there.

The read receipt will now only apply to this one mail. The feedback you receive is the same in all cases, provided that the recipient uses the confirmation.