What read receipts do and why you might disable them
A read receipt in Microsoft Teams is a notification that tells the person who sent you a message that you have opened and read it. When you turn read receipts on, a small icon appears next to your messages in other people's chats — usually a checkmark or eye symbol — showing them the exact time you read what they wrote.
Some people disable read receipts because they want privacy — they may read a message but need time to think before responding, and they don't want the sender to know they've seen it. Others turn them off to reduce the pressure of appearing constantly available. The setting is entirely in your control, and changing it affects only what others see about your activity, not what you see about theirs.
Key Takeaways
- Read receipts show others when you have read their messages, and you can turn this off in your Teams settings without affecting your ability to use the app.
- The setting is located in Teams settings under Privacy, and the change takes effect when ready across all your devices.
- Turning off read receipts does not prevent others from seeing when you are actively typing or when you were last active in Teams.
- If you turn read receipts back on later, the setting syncs across your phone, computer, and web version of Teams.
How to turn off read receipts on the Teams desktop app
Open Microsoft Teams on your computer and look for your profile picture in the top right corner of the window. Click on it to open a small menu. Select Settings from that menu — it is usually near the bottom of the list.
Once you are in Settings, look for Privacy in the left sidebar. Click on it. You will see a section labeled Read receipts with a toggle switch next to it. The switch will be blue and positioned to the right if read receipts are currently on. Click the toggle to turn it off — it will become gray and move to the left. Close the Settings window, and the change is complete.
How to turn off read receipts on the Teams mobile app
On your phone, open Microsoft Teams and tap your profile picture at the bottom right of the screen. This opens your profile menu. Tap Settings.
In Settings, scroll down and tap Privacy. You will see Read receipts listed with a toggle switch. If the toggle is on (usually shown in blue), tap it to turn it off. The toggle will change color to indicate it is now off. You can close Settings and return to your chats — the change takes effect when ready.
How to turn off read receipts on Teams web
If you use Teams in your web browser, click on your profile picture in the top right corner of the page. A dropdown menu will appear. Click Settings.
In the Settings panel, find Privacy on the left side and click it. Locate the Read receipts toggle and click it to turn off read receipts. The toggle will change state, and you can close Settings. The web version will remember this setting the next time you log in.
What happens after you turn off read receipts
Once you disable read receipts, people who message you will no longer see an indicator that you have read their messages. From their perspective, messages you receive will not show a read status — they will only see that the message was delivered. This applies to all your conversations, whether they are one-on-one chats or group channels.
It is important to understand what turning off read receipts does not do. Other people can still see when you are actively typing a response, and they can still see your overall activity status in Teams — whether you show as available, away, or offline. If someone looks at your profile, they may still see when you were last active in the app. Disabling read receipts only hides the specific information that you have read a particular message.
How to turn read receipts back on
If you change your mind and want to turn read receipts back on, follow the same steps you used to turn them off. Go to your profile picture, select Settings, find Privacy, and locate the Read receipts toggle. Click or tap it to turn it back on — the toggle will change color to show it is active again. Your contacts will then begin seeing read receipts for your messages once more.
The setting syncs across all your devices — if you turn read receipts on using the desktop app, the mobile app and web version will update automatically within a few moments. You do not need to change the setting on each device separately.
Why read receipts sometimes still appear even when disabled
If you have turned off read receipts but still see checkmarks or read indicators next to your messages in some conversations, the most common reason is that the other person has read receipts turned on. Read receipts work in both directions — if someone else has them enabled, you will see when they read your messages regardless of your own setting. Your setting only controls what others see about your reading activity.
Another possibility is that you are looking at a group chat or channel conversation. In Teams channels, read receipts may behave differently than in direct messages, and some organization administrators can control read receipt settings for their entire workspace. If your workplace has strict policies about message tracking, your administrator may have disabled read receipts for everyone, or they may have set rules about when they appear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will people know I turned off read receipts?
No. When you disable read receipts, people straightforward will not see a read indicator on their messages from you. They will not receive a notification that you have turned off the feature. They may notice over time that your messages never show as read, but there is no alert that tells them you made this change.
Can my workplace administrator turn read receipts back on for me?
Yes, depending on your organization's policies. Some workplaces require read receipts to be on for all employees, and administrators can enforce this setting across the entire Teams workspace. If your organization has this policy, you may not be able to turn off read receipts, or the setting may revert to on automatically. Check with your IT department if you are unsure.
Does turning off read receipts affect my ability to see when others read my messages?
No. Your read receipt setting only controls what others see about you. If someone else has read receipts turned on, you will still see when they read your messages. If they have read receipts turned off, you will not see their read status — but that is their choice, not affected by your setting.
What if I only want to hide read receipts from certain people?
Teams does not offer a way to disable read receipts for specific contacts or conversations. The setting is all-or-nothing — when you turn it off, it applies to everyone in all your chats. If you need more granular control, you would need to turn read receipts on and straightforward accept that all your contacts can see when you read their messages.
If I turn off read receipts, will old messages show as unread?
No. Turning off read receipts does not change the read or unread status of messages you have already received. It only affects whether people can see that you read messages going forward. Messages you have already opened will remain marked as read in your own chat history.