How to fix Microsoft Teams showing 'Read receipts' turned off or not showing when messages are read

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to fix Microsoft Teams showing 'Read receipts' turned off or not showing when messages are read. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Read receipts in Microsoft Teams let you know when your messages have been opened by the recipient. If they're not appearing, or if the option looks greyed out, the cause is usually a combination of organisational policy, chat type, and personal settings. This guide walks you through the most common fixes so you can get read receipts working again.

Quick Fix Steps

1. Confirm you're using a one-on-one or group chat (not a channel post).
2. Open Teams Settings and check that read receipts are enabled under Privacy.
3. Ask your IT administrator whether your organisation's Teams policy allows read receipts.
4. Sign out of Teams, restart your device, and sign back in.
5. If the issue persists, clear the Teams desktop cache or reinstall the app.

Understanding How Read Receipts Work in Teams

Read receipts in Microsoft Teams are only available in Chat conversations, including one-on-one and group chats. They do not appear in standard channel posts, private channel posts, or meeting chat, regardless of your personal settings.

Even when read receipts are switched on in your personal settings, they can be overridden by:

• Your organisation's Teams messaging policy
• The recipient's own Teams privacy settings
• Outdated versions of the Teams desktop or mobile app
• Syncing delays between your device and Microsoft's servers

Detailed Instructions

Enable Read Receipts in the Teams Desktop App

1. Click the three dots (⋯) next to your profile picture in the top-right corner.
2. Select Settings.
3. Choose Privacy from the left-hand menu.
4. Toggle Read receipts to On.
5. Close the Settings window — changes save automatically.

Enable Read Receipts in the Teams Mobile App

1. Tap your profile picture in the top-left corner.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Select Privacy.
4. Switch on Read receipts.
5. Return to your chats and check that the status indicators now appear.

Check Your Organisation's Teams Policy

If the Read receipts toggle is missing or greyed out, your IT administrator may have disabled it centrally. This is common in businesses that want to give staff more privacy, or to comply with internal communication policies.

Ask your administrator to review the following in the Microsoft Teams admin centre:

• Messaging policies → Read receipts setting
• Any conditional access or compliance policies that may override chat features
• The licence assigned to your account (some plans restrict chat features)

Check the Recipient's Settings

Read receipts are a two-way feature. Even if your settings are correct, you won't see when messages are read if the other person has disabled read receipts on their end. There's no way to override this from your side — the recipient needs to enable it in their own Settings → Privacy.

Sign Out and Restart

1. Click the three dots (⋯) next to your profile picture.
2. Select Sign out.
3. Close Teams completely (check the system tray on Windows or the menu bar on macOS).
4. Restart your computer.
5. Open Teams and sign back in.

Clear the Teams Desktop Cache

Note: These steps apply to the classic Teams desktop app. If you're using the new Teams (Teams 2.x), clearing the cache is less commonly required, as settings sync via your signed-in account.

Stale cache files can prevent settings changes from syncing properly. To clear the cache:

1. Fully quit the Teams desktop app.
2. Press Win + R on Windows or open Finder → Go → Go to Folder on macOS.
3. On Windows, paste: %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams
4. On macOS, paste: ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams
5. Delete the contents of any of the following folders that exist: Cache, blob_storage, databases, GPUCache, IndexedDB, Local Storage, and tmp.
6. Restart Teams and sign in again.

Update or Reinstall Teams

An outdated version of Teams can cause settings to behave unpredictably. To update:

• Windows: Close Teams, then open Microsoft Store → Library → Get updates and install any pending Teams updates.
• macOS: Open the App Store → Updates tab and update Teams if available.
• Mobile: Update Teams through the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android).

If updates don't resolve the issue, uninstall Teams completely, then download the latest version from https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/download-app and reinstall.

Troubleshooting

The Read Receipts Toggle Is Greyed Out

This almost always means your organisation's messaging policy is controlling the setting. Contact your IT administrator or Open a Ticket with 220 to have the policy reviewed.

Read Receipts Work in Some Chats but Not Others

Read receipts only function in standard chat conversations. They won't appear in:

• Channel conversations
• Meeting chats
• Chats with external guests from federated organisations

Status Shows "Delivered" but Never Changes to "Read"

This usually means the recipient hasn't opened the chat, has read receipts disabled, or is using an older version of Teams. Give it a few minutes in case of a sync delay, then confirm with the recipient directly if needed.

Changes Aren't Saving

If toggling read receipts doesn't seem to stick, clear the Teams cache (instructions above) and confirm you're not signed into multiple Teams accounts at once. Multiple signed-in accounts can cause settings to conflict.

Still Having Issues?