If you have sent a message to someone on LinkedIn and want to know if they have read it, there are a few ways you can check:
Read Receipts
LinkedIn has a read receipt feature that allows you to see if your message has been read. When enabled, you will see “Read” next to the message if the recipient has opened and read it. To turn on read receipts:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings
- Click on “Communications”
- Under “Messages”, check the box for “Show read receipts”
Once enabled, you will start seeing read receipts on new messages. Note that the other person will also see if you’ve read their messages. Some people turn read receipts off for privacy reasons, so you still may not always see them.
Last Active Status
You can check the recipient’s profile to see when they were last active on LinkedIn. Their last active time is displayed right under their name. If it was recent, chances are they have seen your message.
However, this is not foolproof. Just because someone was recently active does not guarantee they read your particular message. They may have just quickly checked notifications or scrolled through their feed. So last active status should be used as a general gauge only.
Message Status
LinkedIn shows a “Sent” status on messages you have sent. If the status changes to “Read”, it means the recipient has opened the message. If the status stays on “Sent”, then they probably have not read it yet.
One caveat is that LinkedIn seems to update these status indicators on a delay. So you may not see it change to “Read” right away even if they did view the message. Give it some time and check back later.
They Responded
The clearest signal that someone read your LinkedIn message is if they respond back. Once you receive a reply, you can rest assured they have seen your initial message. Of course, this requires the recipient to take action, so you won’t always get a response even if they did read it.
They Viewed Your Profile
Another strong indicator is if the recipient views your LinkedIn profile shortly after you messaged them. They likely saw the notification and clicked on your name to view your profile and message. Again, this requires action on their part, so it’s not guaranteed.
Follow Up Politely
If it has been a few days and you still have not gotten any signs that your message was read, consider sending a polite follow up. Say something like “Just wanted to follow up on my earlier message in case you did not see it…” This will prompt them to go back and look at the original message without being pushy.
Move On If No Response
Sometimes people will not respond to LinkedIn messages for various reasons. They may have forgotten, are too busy, or are simply not interested in engaging. If you still don’t hear back after the follow up, move on and try connecting with someone else. Avoid harassing someone who is not responding.
Turn Off Read Receipts
If you prefer not to let others know when you have read their messages, simply disable read receipts in your LinkedIn settings. This will prevent your contacts from seeing if you opened a message. Just know it works both ways – you also won’t see their read statuses.
Checking if someone read your LinkedIn message takes a bit of detective work. Use read receipts, last active status, message status indicators, and profile views as clues. And if all else fails, a polite follow up or moving on are your best approaches.
