[Gmail optimization hack] How to check the date and time when the other party opened the email

Lifehacker [Japan version] Reprinted from an article published on February 25, 2022

When you send an email with high importance or urgency at work and the recipient doesn't reply for a long time, do you have to wait until tomorrow? I think it's a lot of things to worry about.

In our busy days, our inboxes can get crowded. I worry that my email might be buried, or that I might have forgotten to reply to it while it was still open.

At least, if you can confirm whether or not the other party has opened your email, you will be psychologically relieved and it will be easier to take appropriate measures.

This time, I will introduce how to check the date and time when the recipient opened the email you sent in Gmail.

Sending Read Receipts by Email

You can set read receipts when sending by following the steps below.

1. Open Gmail and create a message.

2. At the bottom of the compose window, select 'more icon' (three vertical dots) > 'request read receipt'.

3. When a message is sent and the recipient opens the email, a notification email will be sent to the sender.

If "Request Read Receipt" is not displayed

Please note that this setting will not be displayed unless you are using a work or school account. If so, your administrator may not have enabled read receipts.

In that case, try asking your administrator to enable read receipts.

Even if you can't use the default Read Receipts feature, there are ways to check if someone opened your email.

Use the extension "Mailtrack for Gmail". The biggest advantage of this extension is that even with the free version, you can use unlimited email tracking and read receipts.

You can check read receipts in real time with a pop-up, and you can also receive read receipts by email.

Please note that tracking is limited to emails sent from a PC.

Read Receipts Require Approval

Depending on your organization's settings, approval may be required when sending read receipts to the email sender.

If you try to close or move from an email with a read receipt, you will be prompted to send a read receipt.In this case, you can do the following: .

(1) Click "Send Read Receipt" or "Later" in the Read Receipt dialog.

(2) If you click "Later", you'll be prompted again the next time you open the email.

If this setting is available in your organization, please take advantage of it.