# How to know if someone opened your document

> An attachment or a plain share link never tells you if it was opened. Read receipts and pixels guess. A tracked link with a reader door tells you who opened it, when and for how long.

Updated November 1, 2026. By Vela Partners. https://artifactsend.com/guides/know-if-someone-opened-your-document

## The short answer

Send the document as a tracked link instead of an attachment. ArtifactSend emails you when someone opens it, and the report shows who, when, how long and which pages they read. It works for PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, HTML pages and Claude artifacts, and it is free.

## Why you cannot tell today

- An email attachment leaves your control once it is sent. Nothing reports back when it is opened.
- Read receipts in Outlook and Gmail work only for some accounts, and the reader can refuse them. They tell you the email was opened, not the document.
- Email open pixels are blocked or pre-loaded by many mail apps, so they report opens that never happened and miss real ones.
- Google Drive shows viewers only for work or school files and signed-in viewers. Dropbox ended its Send and Track feature in 2025.
- Claude's share links show no views at all.

## Three ways to know, compared

| Method | Who opened it | When | How long and which pages | Works outside your company |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Read receipt | Sometimes, if the reader agrees | Email open only | No | Sometimes |
| Email open pixel | Guess | Often wrong | No | Often blocked |
| Tracked link with a reader door | Yes, by verified email | Every visit | Yes | Yes |

## How to send a document you can track

1. Go to artifactsend.com and sign in with Google.
2. Drop in the file, or paste a claude.ai artifact link.
3. Choose a door. Email asks for an address, email code proves it, and Google sign-in is the fastest.
4. Turn on the first-open alert.
5. Copy the link and paste it into your email or message instead of attaching the file.

## What you see after they open it

- Who opened it, by email.
- Each visit, with active reading time and how far they read.
- Time on each page, slide, sheet or section.
- Clicks, copied text and the questions they asked the document.
- A replay of each visit, and an email when someone opens it for the first time.

## Is it fair to the reader?

The reader sees the door before the document, so they know the sender will see the visit. The privacy page at artifactsend.com/privacy says what is collected and for how long.

## Questions

**Can I tell if someone opened my email attachment?**

No. Once an attachment is sent, nothing reports back. Send a tracked link instead.

**Do read receipts show if a document was opened?**

No. A read receipt shows the email was opened, and only if the reader agrees to send it.

**Can I see who opened a Google Doc?**

Only for work or school files and signed-in viewers who have not hidden their view history. Outside your company it usually shows nothing.

**Is there a free way to know if someone opened my document?**

Yes. ArtifactSend links, reader doors, alerts and reports are free and unlimited, with no card.

## Sources

- [Google Docs Editors Help: View the activity on your Google Docs, Sheets and Slides](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/7378739)
- [Dropbox Community: Send and Track discontinuation](https://www.dropboxforum.com/discussions/docsend/send-and-track-discontinuation/823053)