Read& sent reciept on Outlook

Question

Read& sent reciept on Outlook

CodruSb-2641 0

Hello!

Currently in Oulook desktop I receive one single email as a confirmation for sent and read email. If the message is not read, the confirmation email does not appear. I want to have 2 distinct emails for 2 distinct confirmations: sent and read. Blow is the content of the confirmation email:

Mesajul dvs. (your message)

Către: XXX (TO)

Subiect: test (Subject)

Trimis: 02-Nov-26 15:52 (sent on)

citit pe 02-Nov-26 15:55. (read on)

This was possible a while ago, but now I cannot find a way to separate them.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Outlook for Windows supports requesting two different types of receipts, but the documented behavior is:

A delivery receipt confirms the message was delivered to the recipient’s mailbox.
A read receipt confirms the message was opened.

Receipt handling depends on the recipient’s mail system and client. A read receipt might not be sent if the recipient declines it or if their email program does not support read receipts.

The available settings are to request:

For a single message: in the message, go to Options > Tracking and select Request a Delivery Receipt and/or Request a Read Receipt.
For all outgoing messages: go to File > Options > Mail > Tracking, then choose the receipt options wanted.

The provided documentation does not include a setting to force Outlook for Windows to always generate two separate notification emails instead of the current combined receipt behavior.

Answer 2

Vikki-T 14,115 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Codru Sb,

I understand that you are not asking how to enable delivery and read receipts. You would specifically like Outlook to generate two separate notification messages: one when the message is sent or delivered, and another when the recipient reads it, rather than showing both timestamps in a single confirmation.

In Classic Outlook, the available tracking options are Delivery receipt and Read receipt. You can check both under File > Options > Mail > Tracking. Please note that a message appearing in the Sent Items folder is Outlook’s confirmation that it was sent; it is not a separate receipt type.

Outlook does not currently provide a setting that controls whether the delivery and read information must arrive as two separate emails. The format and handling of these receipts may also depend on the recipient’s email server and email client. In addition, a read receipt may not be returned if the recipient declines it or if the recipient’s mail system does not support it.

If both receipt options are already enabled but Outlook now combines the information differently from before, you may submit feedback through Help > Feedback in Outlook. This would be the appropriate channel for requesting an option to keep the notifications separate again. Thank you so much for your understanding.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

CodruSb-2641 0 Reputation points

2026-11-03T13:09:21.7733333+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for your answer.

A few weeks ago, I could see two different reports for sent and for read messages. This is very important for us, because we work in a legal field and especially the sent confirmation is important. I tried also solving this with creating a rule that notifies me when the message is sent, but no notification received.
CodruSb-2641 0 Reputation points

2026-11-03T13:12:20.9966667+00:00

I want to add something more about this statement: The format and handling of these receipts may also depend on the recipient’s email server and email client. In addition, a read receipt may not be returned if the recipient declines it or if the recipient’s mail system does not support it.

I verified this between 2 emails that belong to the same server/domain. I made multiple tests, but no solution.
Vikki-T 14,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-11-03T14:58:48.2+00:00

Hello Codru Sb,

Thank you for the additional details. Testing with two accounts on the same server and domain makes it less likely that the issue is caused solely by the recipient’s email system.

An Outlook rule cannot create a delivery receipt; it can only act on a receipt after the mail server has generated it. Although Outlook allows both delivery and read receipts to be requested, there is no user setting that forces them to arrive as two separate notification emails.

Since this worked differently only a few weeks ago and delivery confirmation is important for your legal work, please ask your Microsoft 365 or Exchange administrator to check message tracking and any recent policy or service changes. If the administrator finds no change, the next step would be to open a Microsoft support request for a back-end investigation.

You may also refer to Microsoft’s official guidance here: Add and request read receipts and delivery notifications in Outlook

As this is a user-to-user forum, contributors cannot access your organization’s Exchange settings or message-tracking records.
CodruSb-2641 0 Reputation points

2026-11-09T13:25:49.4466667+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for your answer!

I can see that in Options there is a possibility to check only the delivery receipt. How does this work? Should I be able to receive only a delivery confirmation email?
Vikki-T 14,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-11-10T13:16:30.1433333+00:00

Hello Codru Sb,

Thank you for clarifying your question. Yes, if you select only Request a Delivery Receipt under Options > Tracking, Outlook will request a notification confirming that the message was delivered to the recipient’s mailbox or email server. If the receiving mail system supports and returns the receipt, the confirmation should arrive as a notification in your Inbox.

However, this option does not confirm that the recipient opened or read the message. Since Request a Read Receipt would not be selected, Outlook would not request a separate read confirmation for that email.

Therefore, selecting only the delivery receipt may be useful for your rule if you only need confirmation that the message was delivered. However, it would not provide both delivery and read confirmations as two separate emails, which was your original requirement. The availability and handling of delivery receipts may also depend on the account type and the receiving mail system.

You can find Microsoft’s explanation here: Add and request read receipts and delivery notifications in Outlook
CodruSb-2641 0 Reputation points

2026-11-10T13:33:07.21+00:00

Hello!

So, I activated the delivery confirmation request from outlook. I sent an email from our domain to: one yahoo email, one gmail, one outlook and another from our domain. No email received that confirms that the sent email was received. I specify that, in this case, I only care about the delivery part, not reading, because reading confirmation works fine.
Vikki-T 14,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-11-11T13:17:22.87+00:00

Hello Codru Sb,

Thank you for clarifying. I understand that read receipts are working, but delivery receipts are not being returned, including when you send messages within your own domain.

Could you please confirm whether this is a Microsoft 365 work or school account managed by your organization, or a personal Outlook.com account? Also, is the affected account configured as Microsoft Exchange in Outlook?

This information will help determine whether the next step should be checking your organization’s mail-flow settings and message trace with an administrator, or troubleshooting the Outlook account itself.
Vikki-T 14,115 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-11-12T12:58:11.14+00:00

Hello Codru Sb,

Is there any update from you?

If yes, please feel free to let me know.
CodruSb-2641 0 Reputation points

2026-11-12T15:15:32.02+00:00

Hello, the Outlook account is a personal account and I added the organization email provided by our domain.