The tick mark in LinkedIn messages indicates that the recipient has read your message. When you send a message to someone on LinkedIn, a tick mark will appear next to the message once the recipient opens and reads it. This allows you to see that your message has been seen. It is LinkedIn’s way of providing read receipts on the platform.
When Does the Tick Mark Appear?
The tick mark will show up after the recipient opens the LinkedIn message thread that contains your message. They do not have to actively click on or open your specific message – simply viewing the message thread is enough for the tick to appear.
So if you and a connection have an existing message thread with multiple back and forth messages, the tick will show up for all previous messages in that thread when your connection views it again. The tick acts as a visual indicator that the messages have been seen.
Does the Tick Mark Mean the Message Was Read?
The tick mark indicates the message thread has been opened, but it does not necessarily mean your specific message has been read. The recipient may have just quickly glanced at the message thread without reading your latest message.
So while the tick mark shows your message has been received and the thread has been viewed, it does not confirm the message content itself has been read. It’s possible the recipient opened the thread but did not read your latest message.
How Long Do Tick Marks Last?
Tick marks do not disappear over time. Once a tick mark appears on a LinkedIn message, it will remain there permanently, even if the message thread is years old.
This allows you to still see message delivery status even when looking back on old conversations. The ticks serve as a historical record of message views.
The only exception is if you or the recipient deletes the message thread – this will remove the tick marks. But as long as the message thread remains intact, the ticks will stay.
One Tick vs. Two Ticks
You may notice messages have either one or two tick marks next to them. Here is what each means:
- One tick – The recipient has opened the message thread and your message has been delivered.
- Two ticks – You have opened and viewed the message thread, so you can see your own message has been sent and delivered.
So your own messages will display two ticks – one to show you’ve seen the thread and one to show the recipient has seen the thread.
Read Receipts on LinkedIn
LinkedIn has a feature that allows senders to see when their messages have been read by recipients. This feature is enabled by default for all LinkedIn members.
When you send a message to someone on LinkedIn, a small grey tick mark will initially appear next to your message. This grey tick indicates the message has been successfully sent but not yet read.
Once the recipient opens and views your message, the grey tick turns blue, indicating the message has now been read. This is LinkedIn’s visual read receipt.
Why Read Receipts are Useful
Read receipts on LinkedIn provide some useful insight for message senders:
- You can see if your message has caught the recipient’s attention.
- You can gauge if the recipient actively uses LinkedIn messaging.
- You know if your message has been lost in the recipient’s inbox or accidentally ignored.
- You can follow up with recipients who have not yet read important messages.
Overall, it gives senders visibility into if and when their messages are being read. This allows for better communication and follow up.
Turning Off Read Receipts
If recipients do not want senders to receive read receipts, they can turn the feature off in their LinkedIn account settings:
- Go to your LinkedIn homepage and click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
- From the dropdown menu, select “Settings & Privacy”.
- Go to the “Communications” tab in your account settings.
- Under “Messages and notifications”, toggle the switch for “Show people when you’ve read their messages” to the off position.
With read receipts disabled, your messages will no longer display the blue tick marks to indicate they’ve been read. Senders will only see the initial grey tick.
Tick Marks on InMail Messages
The tick mark functionality works a bit differently on InMail messages compared to regular LinkedIn messages.
Because InMail is a premium service, a tick mark appears as soon as the message is sent, indicating it has been successfully delivered to the recipient’s inbox. A second tick appears when the recipient opens the InMail message itself.
So with InMails, the ticks allow you to see both message delivery and open status, giving more insight than regular messages.
Read Receipts on Mobile Apps
The LinkedIn mobile app also supports read receipts with a similar tick mark system:
- Unread messages show an outlined grey tick.
- Read messages are indicated with a solid blue tick.
To disable read receipts in the mobile apps:
- Open the LinkedIn app and tap on your profile picture.
- Go to “Settings”.
- Tap “Privacy”.
- Turn off the “Read receipts” option.
Read Receipts for Group Conversations
The read receipt feature also works for group conversations and messages in LinkedIn Groups. Each message you send in a group will display ticks to indicate who has read it.
Recipients can still turn off read receipts in group conversations if they do not want senders to know they’ve read the message.
Considerations Around Read Receipts
While read receipts provide visibility, there are some things to keep in mind when using them:
- Recipients may deliberately not open a message from someone they do not wish to engage with.
- Lack of a read receipt does not always mean the recipient is ignoring you; they may simply not check LinkedIn frequently.
- Read receipts only show the message was opened – not that the content was actually read.
- Harassing recipients about unread messages or insinuating they are being rude is not appropriate.
As a sender, avoid making assumptions and maintain professionalism even if your message goes unread. And as a recipient, use discretion when turning off read receipts for specific connections.
Other LinkedIn Notification Icons & Message Features
In addition to the read receipt ticks, LinkedIn uses other icons and notifications to provide insight into messages:
- Exclamation mark – Indicates your message could not be delivered. The recipient may have blocked you.
- Arrow icon – The recipient has forwarded your message to someone else.
- Reply icon – The recipient has replied to your message.
- Liked icon – The recipient liked your message.
- Typing indicators – Shows when the other person is typing, so you know to expect a response.
- Read/Unread filters – Lets you filter message threads by read status.
- Message tags – Categorize messages for easier searching.
- Attachments – Add files and media to messages.
Familiarizing yourself with these notification symbols can help you better understand responses and context around your LinkedIn messages.
Summary
The tick mark feature in LinkedIn messaging provides simple read receipts to improve communication. Senders can see when their messages have caught a recipient’s attention and recipients can disable read receipts if desired. Used properly, it is a useful awareness tool that is now a standard part of LinkedIn’s messaging system.