Getting read receipt in WLM even when recipient says no to request

[Curt Jugg]

I have Windows Live Mail set to automatically request read receipts. Recently I have been getting such receipts even when the recipient selects No in response to the request! The wording of the receipt is "Your message to ...was read on..." If the recipient selects Yes, I get two receipts, one worded as just described and one saying "This is a receipt for the email message you sent to.... This receipt verifies that the message has been displayed on the recipient's computer..."
Can anyone explain the reason behind this rather odd situation, please?

 

[Old Guy Geek]

Sorta off topic, but not. Microsoft is in the middle of switching live.com and Hotmail.com to Outlook.com. They announced it back in December with a cutoff date of June. I think it was extended until it finally took place on Sept 16 or so.

The point being is that they announced that Windows Live Mail would no longer be compatible. Some people still use it and all appears well, but there is no guarantee that all features will work or even if it will work at all.

I would highly recommend that you export all your email from Live Mail and use either the Windows Mail App or get Outlook. The good news is that you can use your mail through the browser until you make the switch.

In fact, you might want to try using a read receipt from the browser interface and see if that works for now.

 

[Curt Jugg]

Many thanks indeed for your reply, Old Guy. I have only just had my Outlook.com updated to Outlook Email. I have looked at the browser interface in vain for a read receipt option. Could you point me in the right direction, please?

 

[Old Guy Geek]

Sure. When in Outlook go to the Gear icon in the top right. Click on it and choose Options at the bottom of the list. The Options screen should open up. Under the Mail menu, read receipt are many of the options available.

 

[Curt Jugg]

Yes, but under "read receipts" it says, "Choose how to respond for requests for read receipts"; there is no option to request such receipts. The Windows 10 Mail app seems lacking in this very important option. Further advice gratefully received.

 

[Old Guy Geek]

Sorry, my apologies. I was working off of memory and at my age, that can be a dangerous thing.

Yes, there is no read receipt option in Mail or through the Web interface. It is only available with a full version of Outlook and then with only certain email providers.

As with the old Outlook Express and even Live Mail, some functions aren't included. In this case MS didn't enable read receipts requests. Even with my Outlook 2016, client I haven't used in in years. But I understand that some people want to have confirmation that their email was read and know when it happened.

So the full version of Outlook seems to be your only recourse. I got the 5 PCs, 5 tablets-5 users subscription on sale for only $69 per year (it's $85 at Amazon right now). A lot less than paying the old prices of $400+ for the full Office version. Plus my wife and my other personal account can all use it at no extra charge. Plus an extra 1TB of OneDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype per user.

Sorry for the misleading info.

 

[Curt Jugg]

Thanks for your reply. From one old guy to another I know all about the dangers of relying on memory! I think I'll stick with WLM for the moment, in spite of getting twin receipts, and wait and see whether Microsoft introduce this option in W10 Mail.

 

[Old Guy Geek]

Yeah, you weren't able to create folders at first in Windows 10 Mail although you could in Windows 8. They rolled that out about 4 months ago. They might add read receipts at some time. Again, they're doing that delicate balance between free-bee and paid for software.