Microsoft Teams has the text feature along with the video meeting. Like other chat message apps, Teams has the read receipt option too.
But what if you want to turn off the feature or see if it is working, but the option is not there?
Fear not, as in this article, I will explain why the feature is not there & how to toggle it. Let’s dive in.
Why is Read Receipt Not Working on Microsoft Teams?
Read receipt is the feature where a receiver reads the messages; it shows the sender an eye icon beside the message. 
This way, the sender can know that the receiver has read the chat. When @mention is not working, this is helpful for the sender as he already knows who has seen it.
But there are some drawbacks too. If the Teams app is in the foreground & you are in a different tab on the channel where the sender sent a message, the read receipt will activate even though you didn’t read the text. For this, one may want to turn off the feature.
So, how to see read receipts option in Teams?
The read receipts feature is turned on for all by default. To toggle the option, go to Settings > Privacy > Toggle Read receipts. However, if you are in a channel, the group admin controls this feature & like Murphy’s Law, when you go to disable the feature, the option is not there.
If you are an admin, you can control the features of your organization. To work with the read receipt feature as an admin,
- Go to Microsoft Teams admin center.
- Select Messaging policies & then Global (Org-wide default).
- Find Read receipts.
You will find Three options, with User controlled set as default. With this option, the user will have the visible option in their privacy settings to manually turn on or off the read receipt option.
The other two options are, Turn off for everyone; which will disable the feature for all & the user will have no ability to turn it on. The rest is, Turn on for everyone, which will enable the read receipt option for everyone and leave no opportunity to adjust the option for the users.
Microsoft Teams read receipts will not show in the user settings for the last two options.
Follow our guide to use categories in Outlook mobile app.
How Do I Turn On or Off Read Receipts in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams read receipts works when chatting with 1v1 or in a group chat with 20 people or fewer. When you send a message & there will be a check icon beside the message. The check icon will turn into an eye icon when the recipient reads the statement.
But the read receipt will not show the eye icon if disabled. The admin can turn off the feature for everyone. In this case, the read receipts option will not display. If the admin sets it as default which is User controlled, then you can manually control the feature.
The option is accessible for all clients, like the web version, desktop, or mobile. Below, I will show you how to toggle the Read receipts option in Microsoft Teams.
- Open Microsoft Teams & sign in.
- Click on the Profile icon > Manage account.
- Choose Privacy from the left side & scroll down a bit.
- Find Read receipts & toggle the option on or off according to your need.
In this way, you can manage the Read receipts option in Microsoft Teams in your favor. You can also switch between organizations in Teams & change the settings.
FAQs
Is it possible to tell if someone has read a message on Teams?
If the read receipts feature is enabled for both sides, it is possible to tell if the recipient has seen the message.
Why did one turn off his read receipts?
If you open the Teams app in the foreground & work on another tab in a channel, the read receipts will indicate that you have seen the conversation. This can lead to confusion. That’s why one may want to turn off the feature.
Final Thought
You can manage Microsoft Teams read receipts option in privacy settings. However, the choice may not show if the admin changes the policy & manually set it turn on or off for everyone.
In this article, I showed you how to enable or disable read receipts & why the read receipts feature may not display on your settings. For further queries, please leave a comment.
