Frequently asked questions about read receipts for messages
Read receipts for messages are notifications that let the sender know when their message has been delivered to and read by the recipient. This feature gives users confirmation that their message has been received and viewed by the person they intended to send it to.
This article covers:
The main setting to turn read receipts on is disabled by default. There is a sub-setting to allow users to turn off this setting, but it will be enabled by default if the main setting is on. The user-level setting is not shown if the main setting is off.
Enabling read receipts should apply to users regardless of whether they can opt out or not.
In what cases can my message be shown as read?
Messages can be marked as read under several circumstances:
- When a user notifies the backend service that they've read all messages in a session, only a portion of the messages may have been viewed. For example, if a user enters and then exits a session, it will register a read all action, but only messages visible on one screen may actually be read.
- When a user sends a message in a channel, and others subsequently send 120 messages, the original user's message will be automatically identified as read by all members.
- When a user sends a message in a session, the message will be automatically identified as read by all members after 30 days.
- Broadcast and announcement channels do not support read receipts.
What are the time constraints for displaying read receipts?
Read receipts are only shown for new messages. Channels with more than 20 members will not display read receipts.
What are the design highlights of the read receipt feature?
- Only the "seen" status is displayed, not the "Sent" status.
- A list of users who have seen the message will appear on hover.
- The "Mark as Unread" action will still be treated as a "seen" message.
- Users cannot see the "seen" status of users who are not in their Zoom contact list; "seen" is treated as a status.
Yes, there are user-level client settings for read receipts.
- Account admins can choose to either lock or allow users to disable this feature.
- Admins can configure settings for the entire account through Account Settings for more granular control.
- If admins select "Enable for all users," users cannot disable read receipts in the client settings.
- If a user's read receipt is disabled, they cannot see any read receipts, and their read status cannot be seen by anyone.
- User-level client settings will not be visible if the feature is disabled, or if Allow users to opt out is unchecked.