How to Turn Read Receipts On or Off on iPhone & Android

Let people know you read their message (or don't)

By
Molly McLaughlin
Molly McLaughlin
Molly McLaughlin
Senior Editor & Content Strategist
Molly K. McLaughlin has been a technology editor and writer for over a dozen years. She runs product reviews for Lifewire, overseeing the process from hands-on testing to publishing.
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Updated on April 28, 2021
Reviewed by
Ryan Perian
Ryan Perian headshot
Reviewed by Ryan Perian
  • Western Governors University
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
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In This Article

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What to Know

  • iPhone: Go to Settings > Messages > toggle on Read Receipt .
  • Android: Open Messages, tap three vertical dots, and select Settings > Chat Features.
  • Read receipts are not available on messages shared between iPhone and Android users.

This article covers how to manage read receipts in the built-in messaging apps on iOS and Android and includes a quick study of how read receipts work.

Manage Read Receipts on Apple Messages

Messages from iOS phones are blue. Android phone messages show up as green.

You can enable read receipts on Apple's Messages app in a few taps. However, you're only able to exchange read receipts with other iPhone users who are also using the app. If you're not sure which app your friends are using, open a conversation with them, or start a new one.

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Scroll down and tap Messages.

  3. Toggle on Read Receipts. Toggle it off to disable the function.

    Turning read receipts on and off on Apple Messages.

Manage Read Receipts on Google Messages

Enabling and disabling read receipts on Android’s Messages app is different than in Apple Messages. The same rules apply, however: You can send and receive read receipts only from other Android owners who are also using the app. You can tell whether your friends are using the same app by starting a conversation or opening an existing one.

  1. Open Messages.

  2. Tap the three vertical dots menu icon.

  3. Select Settings.

  4. Tap Chat features.

    Turning on read receipts on Android Messages.

  5. Toggle on Send read receipts. Repeat these steps and toggle it off to disable the feature. When this feature is on, your friends will see the word Read and a timestamp under the message.

    Turning read receipts on and off on Android Messages..

How Read Receipts Work on Built-In and Third-Party Apps

Read receipts work two ways. When you turn them on, recipients using the same operating system or messaging app (such as WhatsApp) can see when you've read their messages. If your friends turn read receipts on, you can see when they read your message.

Read receipts are a convenient feature until they're not. For example, you might feel slighted when you're "left on read" for too long, meaning the recipient read your text and didn't respond. You can turn your read receipts off, but not others (though it doesn't hurt to ask).

When you turn off read receipts on WhatsApp and other third-party messaging apps, you won't send or receive receipts, which can help reduce the stress of waiting for a response.

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