How to Know If Someone Opened Your Email

Curiosity kills! 

How does it relate here?

Of course it does. 

You draft an email after a few attempts, double-check the copy in the AI writing tool, and also make sure it delivers the right value to your prospects using your sales-driven insights. 

Later, you hit the send button and just wait for the response because you are not sure whether the email has been opened or read by your recipient.  

I 1000% get it.

But this blog can prove a whole curiosity killer for you, as I have got you some simple ways to know whether someone has opened your email. 

Let’s read further and end the guessing game forever!

How to See if Someone Opened Your Email in 2025

It’s pretty easy to know if someone has opened your email. 

You can:

• Use an Email Automation Software
• Track Your Email Opens with a Chrome Extension
• Add an Image Tag
• Request a Read Receipt from Your Email Client

1. Use an Email Automation Software

This is the easiest way to track open rates when compared to all the methods mentioned here.

Apart from open rates, email automation tools offer multiple metrics (opens, replies, bounce rates, etc.) to optimize your campaigns further.

Here’s How an Email Tracking Tool Will Let You Know if the Email Has Been Opened:

Once you enable this feature, the tool will embed a tracking pixel in every email you send.

When the recipient opens your email, the tracking pixel contacts the email tracking server and registers the email as opened.

There are many tools in the market that offer this feature, but I would recommend trying Saleshandy.

As it’s a great option when it comes to email deliverability, ensuring your emails have successfully landed in the recipient’s inbox.

Here’s How to Know if Someone Opened Your Email With Saleshandy:

1. Open Saleshandy and open the sequence where you want to track emails.

2. From here, choose Settings.

3. Click on Safety Settings and enable Track Email Opens.

That’s it!

Now, you can continue scaling and optimizing your campaign.

2. Track Your Email Opens With a Chrome Extension

If you prefer not to use an email automation tool but still want to track email opens, a Chrome extension can do the job.

Like email automation tools, Chrome extensions track email opens by embedding an invisible image (tracking pixel) in the email content.

I have tested many extensions from the Chrome Web Store, among which I found Saleshandy Connect to be the most effective.

As I’m getting additional features like click rate, and it helps me find leads’ emails.

You are free to try other extensions, but be sure to check the privacy policy of any extension you choose, as some may collect additional data.

Once you are sure about an extension, here’s how you can install and use it (I’ll show you the steps for Saleshandy Connect):

1. Click Add to Chrome and choose Add extension to confirm. 

2. Wait for the installation to finish, and then sign up or log in to your account.

3. Now, go to Gmail > compose your message and hit Send

4. After a while, open the extension and click View Email Insight Report.

5. You will be redirected to Saelsandy, where you need to click 1:1 Email insights to see if the email has been opened.

3. Add an Image Tag

Both email automation tools and tracking extensions add an image with an embed code to track open rates.

However, if you don’t want to use any of them, you can manually add these codes:

<img style=”position: absolute;” src=”Tracking”>
<img style=”display: none;” src=”Tracking”>
<img src=”Tracking” width=”0″ height=”0″>

However, it won’t be easy for everyone, as it requires some experience with HTML content.

Along with that, manual tracking might also have trouble working properly as some email clients block embedded images.

4. Request a Read Receipt From Your Email Client

Now, instead of adding codes or using software or extensions, you can ask the recipient to turn on read receipts.

Read receipts only work if both the sender and recipient have them enabled.

How to Enable and Request Read Receipts in Gmail

Enabling Read Receipts (Admin Settings)

Before users can request read receipts, an admin must enable this feature in Google Workspace.  

1. Log in to the Google Workspace Admin Console.
2. Navigate to Settings > Apps.
3. Select Google Workspace, then Gmail.
4. Click on User settings, then go to Email Read Receipts.
5. Choose the preferred options and click Save.

Requesting a Read Receipt in Gmail

Once read receipts are enabled, users can request them when sending emails.

1. While composing an email, click the three dots (More options) at the bottom right.
2. Select Request read receipt from the menu.
3. Finish composing your email and click Send.

If the recipient approves the request, you’ll receive a confirmation when they read your email.

How to Request a Read Receipt From Outlook:

On Outlook, the read receipts requests are sent on a per-email basis. To do that:

1. On the compose screen, go to the Options tab on the ribbon.
2. In the Tracking section, check:
   • Request a Delivery Receipt (to confirm if the email was delivered).
   • Request a Read Receipt (to confirm if the email was opened)
3. Once you are done with the email, click Send.

Now, if the recipient accepts, you will be able to see if they have opened your email.

Is Tracking Email Opens Still Relevant in 2025?

The short answer is – Not really, and here is my genuine explanation. 

I have written a blog post discussing the current state and what the future holds for open rate tracking.

While Google still allows image-based tracking, recipients are now alerted about embedded content, which may cause suspicion and can even affect your deliverability.

Some might disable image loading in their email client for privacy reasons, thus making this method irrelevant. 

Because of Apple and Google’s policies, they might even directly block these embedded links in email client apps.

But does that mean you can’t measure cold email performance anymore? 

Not at all! 

In the next part, I’ve shared some other metrics to track the performance of your campaign.

What Metrics Should You Track Instead of Email Open Rates?

Instead of relying on open rates, it’s time to explore other metrics to track your cold outreach campaigns.

Here are some of the popular metrics that you can use to track your email campaign performance:

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): With this metric, you will be able to see if the recipient is interacting with your content by clicking links. A high CTR indicates compelling content, while a low CTR may suggest your subject line or preview text needs improvement.
• Conversion Rate: Measures how many clicks lead to a desired action, such as a purchase, registration, or download. It directly ties your campaign to business outcomes.
• Bounce Rates: This metric shows the percentage of emails that failed to reach recipients’ inboxes due to various factors..

Other than that, you can look for engagement metrics like shares, forwards, or even replies.

So, yeah, even if the open rate is no longer relevant, there are still plenty of metrics that you can use to assess campaign performance and optimize accordingly.

The Right Metrics Changes Everything

In the past, open rates were a key indicator of email success.

But with Google, Apple, and other platforms tightening privacy controls, they’ve become increasingly unreliable.

The Good NEWS…

Even if the open rate is no longer reliable, it shouldn’t stop you from making interesting emails. Your emails should make the readers curious enough to open them.

You can still use the other metrics that I have mentioned in the blog, plus an email sending software will give you detailed analytics of your campaign performance.

Know if Someone Opened Your Email: FAQs

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

Yes, if you comply with the laws in that particular region. For example, in the US, you need to follow the CAN-SPAM Act.

As for the EU, it’s the GDPR, and in Canada, it’s CASL. And yes, most of the time, it’s best to get consent from recipients before tracking email opens.

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

Yes, but in most of the regions, it’s not legal, and if caught, you and your company can come under some serious trouble.

Plus, many email clients block emails with suspicious tracking links by default or mark them as suspicious.

3. What’s the most reliable way to know if my email was opened?

The most reliable method is using a tracking pixel in an HTML email. When the recipient loads images, the pixel activates and shares it with you.

However, with the recent guidelines, these embedded images are disabled, or the users will be given a warning.

Alternatively, you can use an email automation tool or ask the recipient to turn on read receipts.

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

Be it marketing emails or sales outreach emails, as long as it complies with the rules, it’s okay to track open rates.

However, due to Google and Apple’s privacy policies, it’s not easy to get accurate data, and there’s also a higher chance for your emails to be marked as spam.

5. Does tracking email open impact my deliverability rate?

While tracking open rates won’t 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.

6. 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.

So, if the recipient blocks images or if you send a plain-text email without images, the tracking pixel won’t load, and hence, you won’t be able to track open rates.

7. What’s 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 don’t know if they are being tracked, and as for read receipts, the users consent to it.

8. Will the recipient know that I’m tracking their email opens?

No, but many email clients alert users if emails have any form of tracking.

Tracking pixels are invisible, so most recipients won’t notice that their email open is being tracked.

However, if their email client blocks external images or alerts them about loading images, they might become aware of the tracking.

Explicit read receipts, on the other hand, notify recipients directly. 

9. What emerging trends will impact email tracking and deliverability in 2025 and beyond?

The world is moving more towards data privacy regulations, which means it might be a bit more challenging to do email tracking.

With the change in B2B marketing trends, we will be seeing companies exploring more ways to track emails.