How can I check if an old email I sent has been opened by the recipient?

Question

I sent an email a few months ago. I still have a copy of the email I sent, but there was no tracker or read receipt. Can I still find out if this email was opened?

Answer 1

If you have access to YOUR mail server, then you can look in your logs to see if YOUR mail server sent the message.

HOWEVER

Once the message leaves your server, there is no way of you checking to see if it was delivered, other than picking up the phone and asking the recipient if they got it.

Answer 2

Trackers and read receipts are poor hacks on top of the e-mail system. They don't really work that well anyway. Even if you sent your message yesterday you can't really know anything except whether your mail server accepted and forwarded the message on to the next server in line.

Answer 3

You can ask the recipient if they received your mail? You could also find out if they've read it if you have access to the mail server their account resides on, depending on the environment. Other than that, unlikely.