You sent a proposal on Monday and it is now Thursday. A read receipt is the button Outlook gives you for that moment, and it is worth knowing what it can and cannot say before you rely on it.
We read Microsoft's own pages on 6 November 2026 and wrote down what they say. We did not open Outlook and run the steps, so every step below is "Microsoft's page says", and menus differ between versions. None of these pages shows a date on the page, so we give the date we read them.
Meaning
Microsoft's guide to read receipts and delivery notifications separates two receipts. A delivery receipt confirms delivery to the recipient's mailbox, but not that the recipient has seen it or read it. A read receipt confirms that your message was opened.
| Receipt | Confirms | Microsoft's word |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery receipt | Reached the mailbox | Delivery |
| Read receipt | Message was opened | Opened |
Microsoft's word is opened. That is the first limit: a receipt reports an open, and an open is not the same as a person reading the email.
Versions
Pick your version first. Microsoft's guide and its Mac guide cover these:
| Version | Where the option is | Account needed |
|---|---|---|
| New Outlook | Options tab, Tracking | Not IMAP or POP |
| Classic Outlook | Options menu, Tracking group | Not IMAP or POP |
| Outlook on the web | Options tab, Tracking | Work or school account |
| Outlook for Mac | Receipts button, Read Receipt | Work, school or Exchange |
| Outlook.com | Via Outlook for Windows | Personal Microsoft account |
| iPhone and Android | Not covered | Not stated |
Not sure which Windows version you have? Microsoft's page says that if the steps under its new Outlook tab do not work, you may not be using new Outlook for Windows yet, and to follow the classic steps instead.
New Outlook and the Web
New Outlook and Outlook on the web use the same steps in Microsoft's guide:
- In a message you are writing, go to the Options tab on the ribbon.
- In Tracking, select the Request a Delivery Receipt box, the Request a Read Receipt box, or both.
- If you do not see them under Options, select More Options at the right end of the ribbon, then choose the one you want.
Microsoft describes Outlook on the web as the web version of Outlook for business users with a work or school account.
Classic Outlook
Classic Outlook has three routes, all from Microsoft's guide.
One message. In a new email, on the Options menu, in the Tracking group, select the Request a Delivery Receipt or Request a Read Receipt check box, then write and send.
Every message. Select File > Options > Mail. Under Tracking, tick Read receipt confirming the recipient viewed the message (or the delivery receipt box above it), then select OK. Microsoft's Turn read receipts on or off page uses the same path to switch it off again.
Reading pane. On the Message tab, in the Tags group, select Message options. In the Properties box, under Voting and Tracking options, pick the kind of receipt.
Microsoft's tip is to track single messages of importance rather than every message, because recipients who are prompted only now and then are more likely to send a receipt than recipients prompted every time.
Responses
To see who has sent a receipt back in classic Outlook, open the original message in Sent Items, then on the Message tab, in the Show group, choose Tracking. Microsoft's page says Tracking does not appear until at least one receipt has arrived, and after the first one reaches your Inbox it might take several minutes before the button is there.
Microsoft's screen reader guide says you can open and read receipts like a regular email. The pages we read do not describe what a receipt looks like in new Outlook, Outlook on the web or Outlook for Mac.
Outlook for Mac
Microsoft's Mac guide lists the steps for Outlook for Microsoft 365 for Mac, Outlook 2024 for Mac and Outlook 2021 for Mac:
- Write your message.
- Select Receipts > Read Receipt, or Receipts > Delivery Receipt.
- Send the message.
If the Receipts button is missing, the page says you can customize your toolbar to add it. For the legacy Outlook for Mac the page lists Options > Request Receipts > Request a Read Receipt, and a banner on the page says support for legacy Outlook for Mac will end in October 2026. That month has passed, and the page still uses the future tense.
The account rule matters more than the menu. In Microsoft's words, read receipts and delivery notifications are only available when using a Microsoft 365 work or school account, or an Exchange Server account managed by your organization. The same page says the feature is not available for Outlook.com accounts, or for IMAP or POP accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo!, or iCloud.
Personal Accounts
Microsoft's guide says the feature is not available for IMAP or POP accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo!, or iCloud. Its Outlook.com tab says you cannot request a read receipt in Outlook.com, but you can request read receipts for Outlook.com messages sent using Outlook for Windows. The page's top note also says Outlook.com needs a Microsoft 365 subscription for this functionality, and does not explain how that fits with the tab, so we repeat only the tab's sentence.
If your mailbox is Gmail, Gmail has its own receipt with its own rules: see our Gmail read receipt page.
Recipient
The person you write to decides what happens. Microsoft's guide says the recipient can decline to send read receipts, and that there is no way to force a recipient to send one.
In new Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook.com the recipient goes to Settings > Mail > Message handling, and under Read receipts chooses how to respond to requests. The page does not list the choices.
For classic Outlook, Microsoft's older page for Outlook 2010 and 2007 gives the choices under File > Options > Mail > Tracking: Always send a response, Never send a response and Ask me before sending a response. Microsoft's screen reader guide, which covers Outlook for Microsoft 365 and Outlook 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016, lists the same three as always send, never send, or ask each time. It says that with the ask choice, opening a message with a request shows a dialog with a message that the sender is requesting a receipt, and you decide for each one whether to send.
So whether the person sees a prompt depends on the choice they made, as that guide describes it.
Limits
A receipt is a polite request. Each row below is what Microsoft's pages say.
| Case | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient declines | None is sent | Guide |
| No support | May not be sent | Guide |
| IMAP or POP | Not available | Guide |
| Mac, personal | Not available | Mac guide |
| Delivery receipt | Mailbox, not read | Guide |
| Attached file | Pages do not say | Not covered |
The last row is about what the pages say, not about how Outlook behaves. The pages we read describe a receipt for the message and do not describe it reporting on an attachment. If you need to know whether a file was looked at, the receipt is the wrong instrument.
File
If the file is what matters, share it as a link and paste the link into your Outlook message. Loop, a Mac app by Theodore HQ, turns a file into your own branded link. We sell it, so weigh this section with that in mind.
- Opened. Loop shows a link opening, and your Mac shows a notification titled Opened the first time each reader's web browser opens that link, while Loop is running.
- Who. A name appears when the reader gave an email, a name or a signature. Turn on Ask for Email (or Require Signature) for the link and readers identify themselves before viewing; without either, the notification carries no person.
- Saved. A second notification says Downloaded when someone saves a copy, again once per reader's browser.
Settings has a switch for each alert, and they are on by default. The reader needs only a web browser, no app and no account.
Your own branded link, with notes on the exact second. $49 once.
Loop Limits
Loop records its own links and nothing else. It cannot tell you whether the email was opened, and a person who never clicks the link shows nothing, so you cannot tell "never saw it" from "saw it and ignored it". It cannot track a file attached to the email, because the file has to be shared as a link. It does not send your email, since you paste the link into Outlook yourself, and alerts reach only your Mac, only while Loop is running, with no email or phone alert. Loop is Mac only on the sender's side, so a Windows sender cannot use it. The Ask for Email address is format-checked only. We have not tested whether a company mail scanner that follows links counts as a visit.
Cost
Microsoft's pages we read give no price for Outlook's read receipts, so we cannot say what they cost on your plan. Loop is $49 once for one person. It starts with a 14-day free trial from the first time you run it, with no payment to begin, and a small "Shared with Loop" badge appears on your pages until you buy a licence. Your files sit in your own Cloudflare account, which has its own pricing.