How to add an email tracker to Gmail in about a minute

28 August 2026 · 2 min read · The Bulk Mail team

Gmail has no built-in open tracking for personal accounts, and the read receipts in Google Workspace require the recipient to agree. An extension fills the gap, and setting one up takes about a minute.

The steps

• Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store. For Bulk Mail, the listing is Email Open Tracker – Unlimited Real-Time Gmail Read Receipts & Tracking.
• Reload the Gmail tab you already have open. The extension attaches to it; there is no separate app to log into.
• Sign in with the Google account you send from, so your opens are recorded against the right mailbox.
• Send an email as you normally would. Tracking is on by default and can be switched off per message before you send.
• Open your Sent folder. Each thread now carries a status: unopened, opened once, or opened several times.

What changes for you

Very little, which is the point. You compose in the same window, send with the same button, and the status appears in the folder you already use. There is no new inbox, no sync step, and nothing to migrate.

What changes for your recipient

Nothing visible. No banner, no footer, no "sent via" line, no rewritten links. The message arrives exactly as you wrote it — the only addition is an invisible pixel that loads when the email is displayed.

If a tracking tool adds a signature to your emails, your recipients can tell you are tracking them. Check this before you install anything.

Turning it off

Tracking is per message, so you can disable it on the ones where it would be inappropriate — personal email, sensitive threads, anyone who has asked you not to. That switch sits in the compose window, before you send.

Does it work on mobile?

The extension runs in desktop Chrome, so tracking is applied to emails you send from Gmail in the browser. Opens are recorded wherever your recipient reads them — phone, tablet or desktop — and the device type shows up in the activity feed.