4 Ways to Know if Someone Opened Your Email

When people do not reply to your emails, you are left wondering

Have they opened my email? Have they read it?

Earlier, open tracking helped to know if someone opened your email.

But because it uses invisible tracking pixels in the email,
Many ESPs do not allow that anymore.

That does not mean you are left guessing.

Since there are still many effective ways to see if your email is opened.

I tested and ranked these methods, along with that,
I have shared my experiences with each of them in this blog.

How to See if Someone Opened Your Email

My testing and ranking were mainly based on how reliable and effective these methods are in showing me if my email has been opened.

And this is the list I have finally prepared:

1. Using an Email Automation Tool
2. By Requesting a Read Receipt
3. Track Using a Chrome Extension
4. Add an Image Tag

1. Using an Email Automation Tool

An email automation tool is the most effective way to know if someone opened your email.

Apart from open rates, you also get useful metrics, like:

• Reply rates
• Bounce rates
• Click Through Rates 
• Unsubscribe rates.

I use Saleshandy for my outreach emails because it offers all these metrics along with detailed analytics.

Here is how I enable open tracking in Saleshandy:

1. Sign up for Saleshandy.

2. Click Create Sequence and set up your sequence.

3. Choose Settings and choose Safety Settings.

4. From here, enable Track email opens.

5. Once you set up the sequence, enable it.

After this, you can see all the detailed information about your campaigns, including the metrics from the Analytics tag on the homepage.

2. By Requesting a Read Receipt

Read Receipts are a good option for those who send a few individual emails and want to know if their email was opened and read.

Most of the ESPs offer Read Receipts.

Both the sender and receiver need to enable it manually for it to work properly.

Here are the ways to do it on different ESPs:

• How to Add Read Receipt in Gmail
• How to Request a Read Receipt in Outlook

How to Add Read Receipt in Gmail

According to the official support page, read receipts are exclusive to Google Workspace users.

It needs to be enabled by the admin. These are the steps for that:

1. Open Settings > Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail.
2. Click User settings, then select Email Read Receipts.
3. Choose allow or restrict, and click Save.

Requesting Read Receipt in Gmail

1. In the compose window, click the three dots at the bottom right.
2. Select Request read receipt and send your email.

How to Request a Read Receipt in Outlook

With Outlook, you get a read & delivery receipt.

To enable it:

1. On the compose screen, click the Options tab.
2. Choose Request a Read Receipt.
3. Once done, click Send.

To reply to the read receipt requests in Outlook:

1. Open Settings  > Mail > Message handling.
2. Under Read receipts, choose how to respond to requests for read receipts.

If you are using any other version of Outlook, you can refer to the official support page.

3. Track Using a Chrome Extension

You can also track open rates of your emails using a Chrome extension.

There are many email tracking extensions available in the market, but I mainly use Saleshandy Connect.

• Download for Gmail
• Download for Outlook

It is very simple to set up, as once you install it, the tracking code will be added by default.

The extension also integrates with Saleshandy, making it easy for me to view all my analytics in one place.

Here is how you can install and use Saleshandy Connect to track opens:

1. Install the extension and then sign up.

2. Compose and send an email from Gmail.

3. Open the extension and click View Email Insight Report.

4. You will be redirected to Saleshandy. 

5. Select 1:1 Email Insights.

Here, you will be able to see the open rate and other metrics of your email.

4. Add an Image Tag

You can have your own email tracking setup by adding your own image tag.

While it is only a simple HTML image tag like this:

<img style="display:none" src="Tracking"><img style="position:absolute" src="Tracking"><img src="Tracking" width="0" height="0">

But to make a code like this work, you need to have a proper system including:

1. A server to host the tracking pixel
2. The backend that will record the open event
3. A place to view the results

Setting up this infrastructure will require good technical knowledge and proper research utilization.

You also need to make sure it does not get affected by the spam filters.

Because of all these reasons, it is better to go with dedicated tools or extensions.

As you can get similar or even better information with less effort.

Use the Right Metrics to Know Someone Opened Your Email

Open rates used to be the metric used to track the performance of any emails.

It was simple since you were just placing a small (mostly invisible) tracking pixel in your email.

Once your recipient opens it, you will get notified.

However, due to the privacy policies introduced by many ESPs, this is not a reliable metric anymore.

Add to the fact that many also disable image loading in their email apps, which prevents the pixel from firing. 

However, that does not mean you will not be able to know that someone opened your email.

There are other metrics that will give you far more information about your campaign’s performance.

These metrics include: 

• Replies and forwards: These are strong signs of genuine engagement and interest.
• Click-through rate (CTR): Shows if someone interacted with your content by clicking on a link. High CTR means your email created interest.
• Conversion rate: Measures actions taken after clicking, such as signing up, buying, or downloading. This connects your emails to real results.
• Bounce rate: Tells you if your emails reached the inbox or failed to deliver. A high bounce rate weakens your domain reputation.  

Open rates may be less useful today, but your campaigns can still succeed. 

The focus should be on the overall campaign performance and making the right choices.

Keep in mind that it is not suitable for scaling.

Know if Someone Opened Your Email: FAQs

1. Is email tracking legal? Do I need permission to track opens?

Yes. As long as you comply with the laws of each region (CAN-SPAM for the US, GDPR for the EU, CASL for Canada, etc).

2. Can I track an email without the recipient knowing?

Yes. Most of the time, it is possible to track an email without letting the recipient know. However, if you are using any tracking pixels, some ESPs can inform the users. 

Apart from that, if you want to enable read receipts, some ESPs require approval from both sides. Which means the recipient will know about tracking.

3. Is it okay to track email open for marketing purposes?

You can track emails for marketing purposes as long as you comply with the privacy rules for each region.

4. Does tracking email open impact my deliverability rate?

Yes. While tracking open rates will not directly affect the deliverability rates, because of the policies from Google, Apple, and other email clients, if you use a tracking pixel, the users will be alerted.

This, in turn, can make them mark your emails as spam or not interact with your email at all.

5. Will open tracking work if the recipient blocks images or if I send a plain-text email?

No. Open tracking relies on an invisible tracking pixel that loads when the email is opened.

6. What is the difference between using an email tracking pixel and requesting a read receipt?

Tracking pixels are invisible images embedded in HTML that load automatically when the emails are opened and the images are loaded.

Read receipts, on the other hand, are requests sent asking them to confirm if the message was read.

In short, in tracking pixels, users do not know if they are being tracked, and as for read receipts, users consent to.