How email tracking works
In short
Every tracked email has a single record, shared in real time across all your devices: ✓ sent, ✓ delivered, ✓✓ opened with the time of the first open. Mailamber only counts opens and clicks by people: security scanners, link previews, Apple Mail automatic opens and your own views stay out of the count.
To turn tracking on for a message, see Read receipts. This page explains how it works, what you see and how far you can trust the numbers.
Do I see the ticks on my other device too?#
Yes: every tracked email has a single record, shared in real time across all the devices signed in to your Mailamber account. An email tracked from the PC shows its ticks on the phone and vice versa: Mailamber recognises it in the sent folder by its message identifier (Message-ID), so the mailbox must be set up on the other device as well.
What do ✓, ✓ delivered and ✓✓ mean?#
Ticks only appear on tracked emails, in the sent folder:
- ✓ Sent (thin tick): the mail server accepted the message.
- ✓ Delivered (solid tick): the first signal arrived from the recipient’s side. If it’s missing, it doesn’t mean the email didn’t arrive: many servers download nothing until the message is opened.
- ✓✓ Opened: a person opened it. Next to it you see the time of the first open; hover over it (or tap, on the phone) to see how many opens and, with Tracking Pro, how many clicks.
In the sent folder the list shows the recipients (“To: …”) instead of the sender, so you can tell at a glance who you wrote to.
Where can I see all my tracked emails?#
In the Tracking view: on the PC it’s under Tools → Tracking in the sidebar, on Android under Tools → Tracking in the menu. It lists the emails tracked from all your devices, with:
- the All, Opened, Not opened and With clicks filters;
- search by recipient, subject or mailbox;
- on the PC, the Device filter, to see only the emails sent from the computer or from the phone;
- this month’s quota (Tracked this month).
When you open a tracked email, the reader also has a Tracking section with its status and the full panel.
What does the timeline show?#
The timeline lists sending, delivery, first open, later opens and clicks, each with its time and, with Tracking Pro, the clicks per link. At the bottom, the Not counted section groups what Mailamber saw but didn’t count, for example “2 security scans ignored” or “1 Apple automatic open”. That way you know why a number is lower than you expected.
What counts as an open and what doesn’t?#
Only opens and clicks made by people after sending count. These are not counted:
- security scanners and bots that open emails or follow links on delivery (for example Microsoft Defender, Mimecast, Proofpoint): Mailamber recognises them by timing (within 15 seconds of sending for opens, 30 seconds for clicks), by the kind of request, by known programs and by bursts of clicks on several links at once;
- link previews generated by apps such as Slack, WhatsApp or Telegram when someone pastes the link;
- your own views: opens and clicks from the same network you used the Mailamber apps from in the last 24 hours;
- repeats from the same person within 60 seconds, merged into a single open;
- Apple Mail automatic opens (see below).
Mailamber itself never downloads the pixel: the PC and phone readers block remote images and strip tracking pixels.
Why does an email show “likely automatic open (Apple)”?#
Because Apple Mail, with Mail Privacy Protection, downloads images at delivery, whether or not the recipient opens the message. It can’t be told apart from a read, so Mailamber shows it as Likely automatic open (Apple) and never as ✓✓. The same goes for Apple Mail with the protection turned off: we’d rather under-count than invent reads.
Why does a Gmail recipient show only one open?#
Because Gmail caches the image after the first open, and reopens often never reach Mailamber. On Gmail, “opened once” means “opened at least once”.
When can’t tracking see an open?#
When the recipient doesn’t download images. That happens with many corporate Outlook setups, with Thunderbird on its default settings and with plain-text email programs: the email may have been read without Mailamber knowing. Ticks are a hint, not proof of reading.
Do I get a notification when the email is opened?#
Yes, on the first open of each tracked email, only once, even if you sent it from your other device; with Tracking Pro also on the first click on a link. They only fire for counted opens and clicks, never for scanners or automatic opens, and if several arrive while you’re away you get a single summary. Real-time first-open and first-click notifications arrive on the PC from Windows 1.14.0, and on Android, even with the app closed, from version 1.4.0. Full details in Notifications.
What are emails labelled “Tracked before the update”?#
They’re emails tracked with an earlier version of Mailamber, when the server didn’t yet know their subject and recipients. The device that sent them fills them in on its own; until it does (or if it no longer has that data) they show up as Tracked before the update with the send date. Opens and clicks are still kept up to date.
Does a cancelled send use up the quota?#
No: if you undo the send within the undo window, cancel a scheduled send or the message fails to go out, the slot in your monthly quota is freed. The quota counts the tracked emails actually registered in the month and resets on the 1st of every month; the limits per plan are in Read receipts.
To learn which data tracking keeps and for how long, read Email tracking: privacy and legal obligations.