Microsoft has introduced delivery and read receipts to the Outlook mobile app on Android and iOS. Previously, this feature was only available to people using the Outlook desktop app or Outlook for the web, a frustrating limitation for those who like to keep on top of their emails on the move.

This new capability currently affects both senders and recipients using the Outlook app on Android Beta (version 4.2439.0 or later) or iOS Test flight (version 4.2437.0 or later), and we anticipate the update to become generally available in the coming months once Microsoft Insiders have provided feedback.

How to Request Delivery and Read Receipts As a Sender in the Outlook Mobile App

To request delivery and read receipts in the Android or iOS Outlook mobile app, first, create or open an email draft as usual. Then, before you send the message, tap the “+” icon in the ribbon beneath your draft, and tap the “Receipts” icon.

Now, check “Request Delivery Receipt,” “Request Read Receipt,” or both, depending on which types of receipts you want to receive.

After clicking the “Back” arrow in the top-left corner of your screen to return to the message draft, a banner at the top of your draft will confirm the types of receipts you’re set to receive.

If you’re sending your email to more than one person, you’ll receive a delivery or read receipt for each email address.

In most cases, delivery receipts are generated automatically, unless they’re blocked by an organization. In other words, you’ll receive the delivery notification as soon as the server detects that the email has been sent successfully. On the other hand, read receipts must be activated manually by the recipient, so you mightn’t receive one even if they’ve read your email.

How to Respond to a Read Receipt as a Recipient in the Outlook Mobile App

If the person who emailed you requested a read receipt, a banner will appear at the top of your screen as soon as you open the email in your Android or iOS Outlook app. If you want to confirm you’ve read the email (or if company policy dictates that you must!), simply tap “Send.” On the other hand, if you don’t want the sender to know you’ve seen the email, you can ignore this banner altogether.

If this is the first time you see this request in your Outlook mobile app, you’ll get to decide how the app behaves in the future. If you change your mind at any point, tap “Read Receipts” in the Mail section of the Settings menu, and choose the updated setting from the list that appears.

Are Delivery and Read Receipts a Good Idea?

Delivery and read receipts—which are also available for other types of messaging services, including WhatsApp and iMessage—have their pros and cons.

Receiving a delivery receipt reassures you that you’ve sent the email to a real email address, and read receipts are a good way to confirm that your recipient has seen the content of your message. What’s more, read receipts are a useful way to manage communications and can help you justify a follow-up email—for example, maybe someone read your email a week ago, but they haven’t replied. In this context, you’re not being unreasonable if you gently nudge the recipient.

On the other hand, delivery and read receipts can cause frustration or, even worse, anxiety. You may wonder why the other person hasn’t replied, even though they read the email over two weeks ago. Another drawback of read receipts is that they’re unreliable—the recipient may, indeed, have read your email but decided not to send the read receipt, or their email program might not support read receipts.

Either way, whether you choose to use the feature or not, having the option available on the Outlook mobile app brings it in line with the desktop apps and the Outlook website, aiding consistency in policy and supporting people who access their emails on the go.

Source: Microsoft