How to Know if Someone Has Read Your LinkedIn Message?

So you’ve sent that LinkedIn message. No reply again. You checked, still nothing. Another recruiter left you hanging? Or maybe that potential client ghosted you?

Well you can sulk all you want but we’ve all been there staring at the screen, wondering if they even saw your message in the first place.

Not a lot people know but that’s where LinkedIn’s read receipts come in handy. Knowing if your message has been opened or not gives you a huge advantage on if you should wait, follow up, or just move on without overthinking it.

So if you know when your message has been read, you can stop guessing and start strategizing your next move.

So today, we'll explore the ways to determine:

• If your LinkedIn message is read
• Interpret messaging signals correctly
• Effective follow-up strategies that maintain professionalism while maximizing your chances of meaningful engagement.

LinkedIn's Read Receipts Feature:

LinkedIn's read receipts is a function that provides you a direct way to confirm whether your message has been viewed but its useful only if both the parties have turned on their read receipts.

This feature was introduced to bring transparency to professional communications on the platform.

LinkedIn read receipts provide:

1. Visually: When your message is read, you'll see a small profile picture of the recipient appear below your message.

2. Timestamps: You might also see a timestamp indicating when the message was viewed.

Sarah Johnston a career coach once said, "Having read receipts enabled creates accountability in professional communications and can help both parties manage expectations about response times."

How to Enable or Disable Read Receipts

To check if you have read receipts enabled:

1. Go to your profile then LinkedIn settings
2. Click on “Data Privacy”
3. Go to on "Messaging experience"
4. Select "Read Receipts and Typing indicators"

1. Toggle it on or off according to your preference

But the problem still lies you are here to find out what are he other ways to find out if the other person saw your message or noy

Alternative Ways to Tell if Your LinkedIn Message Was Read

When read receipts are turned off by either you or the recipient, then there are several indicators that can use to determine if your message was seen.

Profile View Notifications

When someone opens your message, they generally check your profile as well to learn more about you.

LinkedIn notifies you when someone saw your profile (unless they are in private mode.)

• How you should see this signal: A profile view shortly after you've sent a message is a strong indicator that your message was read and generated enough interest for the recipient to learn more about you.

Active Status Indicators

LinkedIn shows a green dot next to a active user's profile picture.

• What this tells you: If you notice that someone is active on LinkedIn after you sent them a message but haven't responded, there's a good chance they've seen your message but didnot prioritized responding to it yet.

LinkedIn Mobile App Previews

The LinkedIn mobile app shows message previews in notifications, which means recipients often see part of your message without opening it fully.

• What this means: Your first 5-10 words are crucial. Write them such that it encourages recipients to open the full message.

Factors That Can Affect Message Delivery and Reading

Before assuming your message has been ignored, consider a few factors that can affect message delivery and visibility:

LinkedIn Spam Filters

LinkedIn uses spamming control algorithms to filter out spams messages. Messages contains too many links and have a certain keywords, or come from accounts with limited number of connections might get filtered.

According to LinkedIn's 2022 Transparency Report, approximately 17.5 million spam messages are filtered daily on the platform.

Message Visibility Issues

Sometimes messages gets lost in a busy inbox, especially for users who generally receive dozens of messages everyday.

Recruitment specialist Greg Savage says, "High-profile professionals and active recruiters may receive upwards of 100 LinkedIn messages daily, making it easy for individual messages to get overlooked without intentional ignoring."

LinkedIn Etiquette’s Everyone follows

LinkedIn response patterns help set realistic expectations and guides your follow-up strategy properly.

Typical Response Timeframes

LinkedIn's own data science team reveals that:

• 50% of responses to LinkedIn messages occurs within 24 hours
• 30% generally between 24-72 hours
• 15% within one week
• 5% after one week

Career strategist Hannah Morgan explains, "The seniority level of the recipient heavily influences response time. C-suite executives typically take 2-3 times longer to respond than mid-level professionals."

Industry-Specific Response Patterns

Response rates and timing also vary by industry:

• Tech and startups: Typically faster responses (24-48 hours)
• Finance and legal: More formal, often take 2-3 days
• Healthcare and education: May take up to a week due to busy schedules
• Creative industries: Often informal but can be irregular in timing

LinkedIn Etiquette for Message Recipients

While you can't control others response, understanding how LinkedIn etiquette helps you interpret message Signals:

• Most professional experts suggest acknowledging messages within 3 business days so if you didn’t receive a message within 3 days add in a follow-up then stop pursuing.
• "Thanks for reaching out, I'll get back to you soon" is generally considered courteous enough for busy professionals.
• Completely ignoring messages from a legitimate professional contacts is viewed as bad and can loose you a potential connection

Follow-Up Strategies

When you know that your message has likely been read but there’s no response, strategic follow-up becomes very necessary.

Timing Your Follow-Up

The general rule of thumb is

You should follow up to an unresponded LinkedIn message is 5-7 business days after sending the first message.

This timeframe allows the recipient adequate time to respond while demonstrating your genuine interest without appearing pushy.

Effective Follow-Up Messages

An effective follow-up message should have:

1. References to your previous message: "I wanted to follow up on my message from last week..."

2. Should Add new value: Maybe a new insight, an article, or some relevant information to the recipient

3. Be concise: Keep your new message shorter than your original message

4. End with a clear call-to-action: Make it easy for them to respond with a simple question they should have a reference on what you want from them so they can act upon.

5. Maintain professionalism: Avoid showing frustration or impatience

Sample Follow-Up Templates

For job seekers following up with recruiters:

Hi [Name],

I wanted to briefly follow up on my message from [date] regarding the [position] opportunity at [Company].

Since, I recently came across this article about [something relevant to the company/position] that made me even more excited about the possibility of contributing to your team.

I’d be glad if you have 15 minutes this week or next to discuss how my experience can be a [relevant skill] and might benefit your team?

Best regards,

[Your Name]

For networking follow-ups:

Hi [Name],

I hope your week is going well.

[topic/request].

Since I reached out earlier, I've actually [accomplished something relevant/learned something new] that I thought might interest you given your work in [their field].

If you're open to connecting, I'd still appreciate any insights you have on [specific question].

Thanks for considering,

[Your Name]

Optimizing Your Initial Messages for Higher Response Rates

The best way to increase the likeliness of receiving a message is by focusing on the start of your message so it creates curiosity and reduces the need to wonder if they should read it or not.

As a sender job is to make the other person reading experience good generally use of short forms like “YK”,”IMO”, “NM”… should not be used.

Although below are:

Elements of High-Response LinkedIn Messages

1. Personalized opening: Messages referencing shared connections, groups, or interests get 55% more responses

2. Concise content: Messages between 50-200 words receive 50% more responses than longer messages

3. Clear purpose: Explicitly stating your intension of reaching out in the first paragraph increases the response rates by 30%

4. Specific request: Messages with a clear or simple call-to-action get 60% more responses because right after reading the message the user if they don’t have anything to act upon they’ll just forget.

5. Professional value proposition: Clearly saying how connecting with you benefits the recipient, and not just you.

Donna Serdula Career communications expert notes, "The most successful LinkedIn messages answer the recipient's unspoken question: 'What's in it for me?' within the first two sentences."

Using the LinkedIn Message Analytics for Improvement

Users with LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator, message analytics provide very valuable insights here are few:

• Response rates: This Track which types of messages receives the highest response rates
• Engagement metrics: This shows when receivers are most likely to engage with messages
• A/B testing: Try different approaches with similar audiences to see what works best

Conclusion

Knowing if someone read your LinkedIn message isn’t always clear. Sometimes you might see a read receipt, other times you’ll just notice signs like a profile view or a new connection request. It can feel annoying when there’s no quick reply, but remember At the end of the day, LinkedIn messaging isn’t just about finding out if your message was opened its more about real professional connections that you cant impose upon the other one.

Instead of stressing over the “seen” icon, focus on what you can control:

• Write messages that feel personal and thoughtful
• Follow up without being pushy
• Keep things professional but friendly

So keep growing up and stop stressing over messages been seen or not try reaching a professional level where you are a recipient.