How to Tell if Your Message Has Been Read on Signal

These days it seems like Signal is becoming everyone’s new favorite messaging app – and with good reason. Signal encrypts all your messages on your phone, and there’s no way for third-party software to gain access to your conversations.

Everything you write in Signal stays between you and the person you’re texting. But how do you tell if that person has read your message? In this article, we’ll cover this and other burning questions related to sending and receiving messages on Signal.

How to Tell if Your Message Has Been Read in Signal

Like we said, Signal is all about security. For that reason, you can’t simply see if the recipient has read your message. If you want this feature to work, you and your contact need to have read receipts enabled.

Below, we’ll show you how to enable read receipts on your end.

How to Enable Read Receipts in Signal

1. Open Signal on your device.
   
   
   
2. Go to Signal Settings. You’ll get there by clicking on the small, round avatar at the top left of the screen.
   
   
   
3. Head over to “Privacy.”
   
   
   
4. Make sure to toggle the “Read receipts” button, thus enabling it.
   
   

Your contact needs to do the same for you to see if they have read your message. If they do, you will see two shaded gray circles with white checkmarks next to the message. It’s a sign that the recipient has read your message.

You can double-check whether Read Receipt is enabled by following these steps:

1. Hold the message.
   
   
   
2. Tap “Info” on the pop-up menu.
   
   
   
3. On the new screen, you will see whether your message was read or not.
   
   

How to Disable Read Receipts in Signal

If you no longer want your contact to see whether you have read their message, you can disable the feature like this:

1. Launch Signal on your device.
   
   
   
2. Go to the settings menu. You’ll get there by clicking on the small, round avatar at the top of the screen.
   
   
   
3. Go to “Privacy.”
   
   
   
4. Under the “Messaging” section, look for “Read receipts.” Disable it by clicking on the toggle button.
   
   

How to Verify Read Receipts Are Disabled

Once you have disabled the read receipts, it’s time to double-check on it. Here’s what you can do:

1. Open a conversation in Signal and send a message.
   
   
   
2. For Android, you should now see two gray checkmarks inside two white circles. The first check mark means that Signal’s server received the message. The second check mark means the message is delivered to the recipient.
   
   

For iOS, you will see “Sent” or “Delivered” instead of “Read.” “Sent” means that the message got to the Signal’s server. “Delivered” means your message is delivered to the recipient.

Additional FAQ

Can You Tell if Someone Has Activated Read Receipts?

Read receipts are an optional feature in Signal. It means a user can control whether they want to share the “read” status or not. You can’t see if your contact has activated read receipts unless you activate them on your end. If you can see two grey circles with white checkmarks inside, it means your contact has activated read receipts and has read your message.

How to Tell if Your Signal Message Was Not Delivered

You can see two types of signs next to your message that tells you it was not delivered. The first is a dotted line circle that means “Sending.” You probably need to wait a few seconds before it sends the message. But if it continues for longer than a minute, you should check your internet connection. The second is a white circle with a grey check mark inside. It means your message was sent but has not yet been delivered. Your internet connection is fine.

What Should I Do if My Message Was Not Delivered?

The most likely reason your message was not delivered is that your contact is not connected to cellular data or the internet. In case of an emergency, we recommend calling or sending an SMS. Also, your contact might not be on Signal anymore. In that case, you can invite them again or contact them via another app.

How Can I Mark Messages as Unread?

Sometimes, you might open a new message when you’re busy and forget to reply later. That’s why marking messages as unread can remind you that you didn’t answer and can do it when you have time.

Here’s how to mark messages as unread across devices:

For Android Users

1. Launch Signal on your device and find a chat with messages you want to mark as unread. Tap and hold the chat.

2. On the pop-up menu, tap on “Unread.”

For iOS Users

1. Launch Signal on your iOS device.

2. Hold the chat you want to mark as unread and swipe right.

3. Press “Unread.”

On Desktop

Marking messages as unread on a desktop is only available in Signal 1.38.0 or later.

1. Select a chat you want to mark as unread.

2. Head over to the conversation settings. It’s the three vertical dots in the upper right corner of the screen.

3. Click “Mark as unread.”

Taking Your Privacy to the Next Level

You have now gained more insights into Signal’s message delivery system. With Signal, you are in control of every aspect of your privacy. Your messages are not only safe from external visitors, you can also manipulate how much privacy to give out to your contacts by enabling read receipts. We can definitely see why so many people have joined Signal recently.

Did you enable read receipts in Signal? Is it important for you to know whether your contact has read your message? Let us know in the comments section below.