I Sent a Text. Did the Person Read It?

You can turn read receipts on or off, but be mindful of privacy

Edward C. Baig,

AARP

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Published July 15, 2025

When I haven’t heard back in a timely manner, I often wonder if the person I’ve texted has even seen my message. I’d like to believe they’re not ghosting me, but is there an easy way to tell?

I’ll admit to wondering the same from time to time. The short answer is you can sometimes tell if someone has opened your text, and sometimes not. It depends on whether the recipient has enabled read receipts, visual confirmation indicators available on many but not all messaging platforms that let a sender know when a message has been delivered and presumably looked at.

Read receipts are available on Apple Messages, Google Messages, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Android phones that support what’s known as RCS, or Rich Communications Services. The RCS protocol also finally came to iPhones last September through the iOS 18 update. That meant folks with iPhones could get read-receipt notifications from people who don’t use iMessage.

Of course, a read receipt can only tell you if someone has glanced at your message. I’m sorry, but no tech I’m aware of can explain why they haven’t responded.

Not a good time to reply. I’ll be honest: While I love to know when other people have seen my texts, I’m not keen on those same folks knowing if I’ve read theirs.

Yep, it’s partly a privacy thing. I don’t know what the ethics police would say about it, but I think there’s this unspoken expectation from the other person that you must respond to their texts right then and there. Never mind if it’s not a convenient time for you to reply.

It’s generally not my intention to make anyone feel bad or neglected, and I’m certainly not trying to be rude. I may be at work, or maybe I want to ponder how to respond rather than banging out a message off the cuff.

And yeah, frankly there are times I may not want to reply.

Moreover, if the incoming text came from a likely spammer, I don’t want the bad guy to know that I’m a human who reads their message. It makes me more vulnerable to ongoing or future intrusions.

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With that, here’s how to enable or disable read receipts.

Turning Read Receipts On or Off on an iPhone

Tap Settings | Apps and scroll down to tap Messages.
Tap Send Read Receipts so that the switch is off (gray) rather than green (on). If you choose the latter, all senders will be notified that you have read their messages, regardless of who they are.

If on, the word “Delivered” in small type that appears under the message you sent is replaced by the word “Read,” next to the time that the message was seen.

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Enabling read receipts for a specific individual. An inevitable question: What if you only want to turn read receipts on for your spouse, kids or other select people? That’s possible too.

Open the Messages app and tap a conversation that includes a contact whose read-receipts status you want to change.
Tap the name or number of the person at the top of the conversation.
Scroll down and tap Send Read Receipts to flip the switch on or off, which again will apply only to that person.

It may seem obvious, but you’re unable to turn on read receipts for anyone but yourself. Regardless of what you decide to do in acknowledging that you’ve read messages other people sent you, you have no control over seeing such status indicators in reverse. If you want to receive read receipts from such people, you’ll have to persuade them to turn them on.

Turning Read Receipts On or Off in Google Messages

Launch the Messages app and tap on your account picture in the upper right corner of the screen.
Tap Messages settings.
Tap RCS chats.
Tap Send read receipts to enable the switch that lets senders know you’ve read their messages. Tap again to turn off the feature.

A single check mark next to the message means it was sent; a double check mark indicates it was delivered. If the check marks are filled in, the message has been read.

You won’t see these indicators if the recipient has not enabled RCS texts on their devices.

It’s worth noting that unlike with Apple Messages, you cannot turn read receipts on or off for specific individuals in Google. Either everyone who sends you texts will be notified when you’ve read their texts, or no one.

Bonus tip: “Typing reply” indicators can be turned off. Sometimes.

You’re likely familiar with another common status indicator: letting a sender know when you are typing a reply, which may show up as three blinking dots. For privacy reasons, you may want to disable this notification as well. After all, what if you begin replying and then pause or have second thoughts?

Alas, you cannot turn off typing reply indicators via the Messages app on iPhone. But the option is available in Google Messages.

Open Messages and tap on your account picture.
Tap Messages settings | RCS chats | Show typing indicators.

If off, other people won’t know when you’re typing a reply.

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Edward C. Baig covers technology and other consumer topics. He previously worked for USA Today, BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report and Fortune, and is author of Macs for Dummies and coauthor of iPhone for Dummies and iPad for Dummies. Follow him on LinkedIn; Threads; and X, formerly known as Twitter.