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Important: Microsoft retired consumer Skype on May 5, 2025. There is no supported Skype app or Windows 11 setting where you can now change read receipts. Microsoft directs personal Skype users to Microsoft Teams Free, which has its own read-receipts control.
The short answer: Skype no longer has a working read-receipts setting
Microsoft’s current Skype support site identifies Skype as retired. An old Windows 11 tutorial may show a path such as Profile picture → Settings → Messaging → Read receipts, but that describes a historical Skype interface, not a current service. Reinstalling an old Skype package or searching for a legacy menu is not a supported solution.
Microsoft retired Skype on May 5, 2025 and recommends Microsoft Teams Free for personal communication. Teams Free is a different product, although Microsoft says eligible users can sign in with Skype credentials and may have contacts and chats transferred under its migration rules.
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Change read receipts in Microsoft Teams Free on Windows 11
Use the Teams Free desktop app, not a work or school Teams account:
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- Open Microsoft Teams Free on your Windows 11 PC.
- Select Settings and more (…) near your profile picture.
- Select Settings.
- Open Privacy.
- Find Read receipts.
- Switch the setting on or off.
Microsoft says read receipts in Teams Free are enabled by default and work in one-to-one and group chats. Its support pages show the control under Privacy; some Teams builds or locales label the relevant area Chats or Messaging. If you do not see it under Privacy, check those sections in the full Settings window rather than a chat’s individual menu. See Microsoft’s current instructions at Use read receipts for messages in Microsoft Teams Free.
What “Sent” and “Seen” mean
- Sent: The message has been sent, but Teams has not shown a read confirmation.
- Seen: Teams has recorded a read confirmation where the conversation and participants support it.
- Read by: In supported one-to-one or group chats, hover over your message, open More options, and choose Read by to see who has read it.
Read receipts are not the same as delivery, online status, typing indicators, or a notification preview. Seeing text in a notification does not necessarily mean that opening the chat—and generating a receipt—has occurred.
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Why a read receipt may not appear
- The other participant disabled read receipts. Microsoft states that the relevant participants must have read receipts enabled for a message to be counted as read or seen.
- The message was viewed in a preview. A lock-screen, pop-up, or other quick-view surface may not produce the same result as opening the conversation.
- The setting was enabled later. Turning read receipts on does not retroactively create confirmations for messages viewed before the change.
- You are using another Teams product. Teams Free, Teams for work or school, and Skype for Business have different account types, controls, and administrative rules.
- The chat does not expose the expected indicator. Group-chat behavior and available Read by details can vary by conversation and current Teams build.
If Teams Free does not show the Read receipts option
- Verify that you signed in to Teams Free with a personal account, rather than a work or school tenant.
- Open the complete Teams Settings window through Settings and more (…) → Settings; do not rely only on a chat’s menu.
- Check Privacy, then look for Chats or Messaging if your build uses different labels.
- Update Teams through Microsoft’s official distribution channel.
- Sign out and sign back in if the settings page is blank or fails to load.
- If the account is organization-managed, ask the administrator about policy restrictions. That situation applies mainly to work or school Teams, not ordinary Teams Free accounts.
What turning read receipts off changes
Disabling the control is a privacy choice: contacts are less able to treat your opening a message as an acknowledgment. The trade-off is that you may also lose visibility into whether other people have read your messages, and read-status information can be less useful in group chats. This setting does not unsend messages or hide every other activity indicator.
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Skype, Teams Free, Teams work or school, and Skype for Business
| Product | Status and audience | Where this article applies |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Skype | Retired by Microsoft on May 5, 2025. | No current read-receipts procedure exists. |
| Microsoft Teams Free | Microsoft’s recommended destination for personal Skype users. | Use the Teams Free Settings path above. |
| Microsoft Teams for work or school | Organization-managed service with potentially different policies. | Do not assume the Teams Free control or defaults apply. |
| Skype for Business | Separate business product; Microsoft’s consumer Skype retirement notice excludes it. | Follow your organization’s Skype for Business documentation instead. |
What happened to old Skype contacts and chats?
Microsoft’s migration guidance says users could move to Teams Free with Skype credentials, and that contacts or chats might transfer when eligibility and activity conditions were met. That was not a guarantee that every historical conversation would remain available indefinitely. Microsoft’s cited transition update gave June 15, 2026 as the deadline for Skype data-export requests; that date has passed. For current account or data questions, use Microsoft’s Skype Help & Learning pages and the retirement notice at Microsoft’s Skype retirement announcement.
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If you are following an old Skype guide
Stop at the point where the instructions ask you to open Skype’s Messaging settings. The missing option is not a hidden Windows 11 control; the consumer Skype service itself is retired. Do not hunt for an unsupported installer or rely on screenshots from an earlier Skype release. Install or open Teams Free, then use its current read-receipts setting instead.
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