When you send a message to a connection on LinkedIn, there are a few ways to check if your message was successfully sent and delivered. The main way is to look at your sent messages folder in your LinkedIn inbox. This will show all the messages you have sent recently. If the message appears here, then it was definitely sent from your account.
Check Your Sent Messages Folder
After composing and sending a message on LinkedIn, you can verify if it was sent by navigating to your inbox and looking in the “Sent” folder. This is found along the top navigation bar of your inbox. The sent folder contains a copy of all messages you have sent to your connections recently. If the message appears here, you can be assured it was sent from your account.
Look for the name of the person you messaged and the subject line to confirm it is the right message. Double check the date and time match when you recall sending it. As long as the message is in your sent folder, you have evidence it was transmitted from your account successfully.
Recipient’s Reply or Reaction
Another clear sign your LinkedIn message went through is if the recipient replies back to you. When they respond directly to your message, it’s a definite confirmation they received it in their inbox. You will get a notification of a new message and be able to see their reply.
Similarly, if they react to your message with an emoji like a thumbs up or a heart, you will be able to see this. Reactions display below your original sent message in your sent folder. It’s a useful way for recipients to acknowledge your message without writing a full reply.
No Delivery Failure Notification
LinkedIn will inform you if your message failed to send due to an error or issue. You will see an on-screen notification explaining the delivery failure. Common reasons include the recipient restricting who can message them, closing their account, or your message being flagged as spam.
So if you don’t receive any delivery failure message from LinkedIn, that suggests your message successfully sent without any problems. No news is good news in this case, as LinkedIn will alert you if the send failed.
Check Message Status
When viewing a sent message in your inbox, look for the message status shown below the text. This will normally show “Sent” confirming the message was transmitted from your account. Other status words like “Failed” or “Blocked” would indicate a delivery issue.
“Delivered” status means the recipient has opened or viewed the message on their end. And “Read” means they have not only received but opened the message and read the contents.
See If the Message Appears in Your Email
With LinkedIn messaging, you have the option to get email notifications when you receive and send messages. So check your external email account connected to LinkedIn to see if the sent message appears there.
Look in your email inbox for a notification from LinkedIn with the subject “You sent a message.” Open this email and it will contain the full text of the message you sent within LinkedIn. This confirms your message left your account and LinkedIn flagged it to your email.
Check Your Sent Email Folder
Similarly, if you have your LinkedIn messages set to send you an email copy whenever you compose a new message, check your regular email account. Navigate to the Sent folder and look for the message you think you sent from LinkedIn.
If an email copy was safely sent to your external email’s sent folder, then you know for sure it also was transmitted successfully from your LinkedIn messaging. The two actions are tied together.
Ask the Recipient If They Got It
One final way to confirm your message reached its destination is to directly ask the recipient. You can send them a follow up message, email, or call and ask if they remember receiving your earlier message. The recipient’s word that they got it will give you certainty.
Just say you wanted to check that a message you sent them on LinkedIn went through okay on their end. Most connections will happily confirm when they have seen a message pop up from you.
Try Resending the Message
If you are still unsure your message sent properly, try composing and sending it again. If LinkedIn gives you an error that you have already sent that message, then it’s proof the first message did indeed transmit.
You cannot send the exact same message twice. So if LinkedIn stops you from resending, it means the original message was already processed and saved as coming from you, rather than failing to deliver.
Watch for Read Receipts and Viewed Status
LinkedIn has read receipts that inform you when someone has opened and viewed your message. If you see the “Read” status appear under your sent message, you know the recipient has seen it.
Similarly, the status may change to “Delivered” or “Viewed” meaning the recipient has actively opened your message. This removes any doubt over whether your message reached them or not.
See if the Message Stays in Your Outbox
With some messaging systems, your sent messages may sit in an “Outbox” folder temporarily before being transmitted. So if your LinkedIn message leaves your outbox and appears in your sent folder, that’s a great sign it has been sent and delivered successfully.
Check Your LinkedIn Notification Settings
Under your account settings on LinkedIn, you can customize notifications you get for messages. This includes email alerts when you receive new messages. If your notification settings are enabled, the absence of any “New message received” email could suggest your message did not deliver.
Check if your notifications are configured correctly. If they are on, and you got no delivery failure notice, the lack of response from the recipient likely means your message went through fine.
See If You Can Delete the Message
On LinkedIn, you have the ability to delete messages from your sent folder. But once a message is successfully delivered, LinkedIn will typically not let you remove it. The option to erase the message vanishes.
So if you cannot delete that sent message anymore, it means LinkedIn has recorded it as being transmitted already. That is a positive indication it was sent okay.
When You Should Be Concerned
In most cases, your LinkedIn message will deliver with no major issues. But here are some scenarios where you should be concerned your message did not get through:
- You receive an error notification when trying to send the message
- The message does not appear in your LinkedIn sent folder
- You get an email from LinkedIn saying your message was not delivered
- The recipient claims they never received your message
- You see no reply, reaction or read receipt from the recipient after several days
- Your message status remains “Sent” rather than changing to “Delivered” or “Read”
If you experience any of those, it’s worth following up and resending the message to make sure the recipient gets it. Technical glitches can occasionally disrupt LinkedIn messaging, but most times your messages will go through normally.
Turn on Read Receipts
To avoid uncertainties around message delivery in the future, go into your LinkedIn settings and enable read receipts. This way you will be notified whenever a connection opens and reads one of your messages.
Read receipts eliminate any doubt over whether your messages are being received and viewed. The other person will be aware you have this notification turned on.
Conclusion
Checking your sent folder, watching for replies, and enabling read receipts are great ways to confirm if your LinkedIn messages are going through. With the right settings and features activated, you can feel confident your messages are being safely delivered.
Rarely do major sending issues arise. But if a message is very important, follow up with the recipient to be 100% sure. With a few simple checks, you can verify your messages are sending as expected on LinkedIn.