Where to find read receipt settings
Read receipts are notifications that tell the person you messaged that you have opened and read their message. You can turn them off in most messaging apps and on most devices, but the exact steps depend on which app you use and what device you are on.
The setting usually lives in your app's privacy or notification preferences, not in your phone's main settings. Each messaging platform — text messages, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Gmail — has its own toggle, so turning off read receipts in one app does not affect the others.
If you turn off read receipts, the other person will not see a checkmark, "read" label, or timestamp showing when you opened their message. They will still know the message was delivered to you, but not when you actually read it.
Key Takeaways
- Read receipt settings are found inside each messaging app, not in your phone's main settings, and must be turned off separately for each app you use.
- On iPhone, iMessage read receipts are controlled in Settings > Messages, while text messages use a different toggle in the same menu.
- On Android, Gmail, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger each have their own read receipt toggle buried in their individual app settings.
- Turning off read receipts prevents others from seeing when you opened a message, but they will still see that the message was delivered.
- Some apps let you turn off read receipts for all conversations at once, while others require you to disable them per conversation or per contact.
How to turn off read receipts on iPhone
On iPhone, the steps differ depending on whether you are using iMessage (Apple's messaging service for other iPhone users) or regular text messages (SMS).
For iMessage: Open Settings, tap Messages, then toggle off "Send Read Receipts". This applies to all your iMessage conversations at once. You can also turn off read receipts for a single conversation by opening that conversation, tapping the person's name at the top, scrolling down, and toggling off "Send Read Receipts".
For regular text messages: Open Settings, tap Messages, scroll down to SMS, and toggle off "Send Read Receipts" if that option appears. Not all carriers support read receipts for text messages, so this setting may not be available on your device.
How to turn off read receipts on Android
Android does not have a system-wide read receipt setting. Instead, you control read receipts inside each messaging app separately.
For the default Messages app (Google Messages or Samsung Messages, depending on your phone): Open the app, tap your profile icon or the three-line menu, go to Settings, then look for "Chat features" or "Advanced". Find the toggle for "Send read receipts" and turn it off. The exact wording and location vary by phone brand and Android version.
For WhatsApp: Open the app, tap the three-line menu, go to Settings > Privacy, and toggle off "Read Receipts". This hides the blue double checkmarks that show when you have read a message.
For Facebook Messenger: Open the app, tap your profile icon, go to Privacy, and toggle off "Read Receipts".
How to turn off read receipts in Gmail
Gmail's read receipt feature works differently than messaging apps. When you enable read receipts, the sender gets a notification when you open their email, not when you read it.
On computer: Open Gmail, click the gear icon in the top right, select "See all settings", go to the "Advanced" tab, find "Read receipt", and select "Disable". You must click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.
On phone: Open the Gmail app, tap your profile icon, go to Settings, select your email account, scroll down to "Read receipts", and toggle it off. The option may not appear if your email account does not support read receipts.
What happens when you turn off read receipts
When read receipts are off, the sender will not see any indication that you have opened their message. On iMessage, they will not see the "Delivered" status change to "Read". On WhatsApp, they will not see the blue double checkmarks. In Gmail, they will not get a read receipt notification.
The sender will still see that the message was delivered to your device. They simply will not know when you actually opened and read it. This means they cannot tell if you are ignoring them or if you just have not looked at your messages yet.
If you turn read receipts back on later, the sender will start seeing read notifications again for new messages, but they will not get retroactive notifications for old messages you read while receipts were off.
Turning off read receipts for one person only
Most messaging apps do not let you disable read receipts for a single contact while keeping them on for everyone else. Instead, you either turn them on for all conversations or off for all conversations.
The exception is iMessage on iPhone, which lets you disable read receipts for individual conversations. Open the conversation, tap the person's name at the top, scroll down, and toggle off "Send Read Receipts". This only affects that one conversation.
If you need more control, some people mute notifications from certain contacts instead, which hides their messages from your lock screen but does not affect read receipts. This is a different setting and does not solve the read receipt problem directly.
Why someone might turn off read receipts
People turn off read receipts for different reasons. Some want privacy and do not want others to know when they are online or paying attention to messages. Others find that read receipts create pressure to respond immediately, even if they are busy or need time to think about their reply.
Turning off read receipts does not make you invisible — the sender can still see that the message was delivered. It just removes one layer of information about your activity. If someone is trying to reach you urgently, they will likely call or send a follow-up message instead of relying on read receipts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone tell I turned off read receipts?
Not directly. They will notice that they never see a "read" notification from you, but they cannot tell if you turned off read receipts or if you simply have not opened their messages yet. Over time, if you never show read receipts while others do, they might suspect you turned them off.
Will turning off read receipts affect group chats?
Yes. If you turn off read receipts, group chat members will not see that you have read their messages either. Some apps let you control read receipts separately for group chats versus one-on-one conversations, but most apply the same setting to both.
What if I turn off read receipts but want to turn them back on later?
Go back to the same settings menu where you turned them off and toggle the setting back on. The process is the same. Once you turn them back on, the sender will see read notifications for new messages you open, but not for messages you read while receipts were off.
Do read receipts work the same way on all messaging apps?
No. iMessage uses "Delivered" and "Read" labels, WhatsApp uses checkmarks, Gmail uses a separate notification, and other apps have their own systems. Each app has its own read receipt toggle, so you must turn them off separately in each one.
If I turn off read receipts, can I still see when others read my messages?
Yes. Your read receipt setting only controls whether others see when you read their messages. It does not affect whether you can see when they read yours. To stop seeing their read receipts, they would need to turn off their own read receipts on their device.