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Get Notifications When Your Messages Are Read in macOS Mail

Enable this hidden feature using Terminal

By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on May 17, 2021 Reviewed by Jessica Kormos Reviewed by Jessica Kormos Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Email Yahoo! Mail Gmail

What to Know

To enable read receipts, open Terminal and enter the following command: defaults read com.apple.mail UserHeaders.If you receive a domain/default pair error, follow the instructions below.To disable, enter the following command in Terminal: defaults delete com.apple.mail UserHeaders. By default, macOS Mail does not support read receipts—notifications that the recipient of your email has opened it. However, you can use Terminal to make the necessary modifications, allowing you to confirm that an email was delivered to your recipient's inbox. Here's how to do this using any Mac running OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) or higher.

Enable Read Receipts

Here's how to enable this feature: Open Terminal, which can be found under ~/Applications/Utilities/. At the prompt, type the following command, then press Return: defaults read com.apple.mail UserHeaders If the command returns an error that reads, "The domain/default pair of (com.apple.mail, UserHeaders) does not exist," type the following, replacing "Name" and "email address" with your own, and then press Return. For example: defaults write com.apple.mail UserHeaders '{"Disposition-Notification-To" = "Name You're done at this point unless the defaults read command above returns a line of values that starts with { and ends in }. If so, take the following steps to finish setting up read receipt requests. Highlight the entire line. It might read something like {Bcc = "bcc@example.com"; }, for example. Copy that highlighted line with the Command+C shortcut, but don't paste it yet. Instead, type this (but don't press Return yet): defaults write com.apple.mail UserHeaders Put a space at the end of the line, enter a single quote, and then paste what you just copied so that it shows up after what was just typed. End it with a single quote. Insert "Disposition-Notification-To" = "Name "; ' in front of the closing } character, again replacing Name with your name and email@address with your email address. Press Enter. The line might now read like this: defaults write com.apple.mail UserHeaders '{Bcc = "bcc@example.com"; "Disposition-Notification-To" = "John Doe "; }' For full knowledge and control over the fate of the emails you send in macOS Mail, you can employ a certified email service or use third-party software such as iReceipt Mail.

Disable Automatic Read Receipt Requests

Turning off this setting is just as easy. As above, open Terminal again. Type the following, then press Enter: defaults delete com.apple.mail UserHeaders Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire Automatically BCC an Address in Apple Mail How to Insert a Link in an Email With Mac OS X Mail How to Make a Bootable Flash Installer of OS X or macOS How to Use Mac Terminal Commands How to Turn off Mouse Acceleration on Mac Hide the Preview Pane and Delete Mail Without Opening It How to Delete a File in Terminal on Your Mac macOS Mail: How to Keep Emails on the Server How to Track Your Messages With WhatsApp Check Marks How to Block a Website Terminal Tips and Tricks to Speed up Your Mac What Is macOS? How to Resend a Message in macOS X Mail How to Downgrade From Catalina to Mojave How to Tell When Someone Reads Your Text Message How to Indent Text or Decrease Quote Level in iPhone Mail Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies