Does Google Chat Have Read Receipts? Yes, in DMs Only

Yes, Google Chat has read receipts in direct messages. When someone reads your message, their small profile picture (avatar) appears next to the last message they read. Google Chat Help puts it this way: "When one or more people read your message, their avatar displays next to their last read message." It works in one-to-one DMs and in group DMs of 20 people or fewer. It does not work in spaces, where you get a view count instead. And you cannot turn it off: we read all six pages of Google Chat's settings and found no read receipt option, and Google says admins have no control either.

The receipt shows that someone read up to a message. It does not show when they read it.

Slack takes the opposite approach and has no read receipts; see does Slack have read receipts.

Where Google Chat shows read receipts

The limits come from the Google Workspace Updates post "See read receipts for messages in Google Chat group direct messages" (29 June 2023): "Read receipts will only be shown in Chats of 20 people or less, and will not be shown in spaces." The feature is on for Google Workspace accounts and personal Google accounts alike.

How to tell if someone read your Google Chat message

• Open the direct message in Google Chat, in Gmail, or in the Chat app on your phone.
• Look just below your messages on the right side of the conversation.
• Find the other person's small avatar.
• • The avatar is next to your newest message: they have read everything you sent.
• • The avatar is next to an older message: they read up to there and have not opened the conversation since.
• • No avatar under your messages: they have not opened the conversation since you wrote.

In a group DM, each person's avatar moves on its own, so you can see who has caught up and who has not.

In a space, hover over your message, click More options, then See message views. You get the number of people who viewed it. Google notes that view counts are not available for in-line replies.

What a read receipt proves, and what it does not

A read avatar tells you that the person opened the conversation after your message arrived. It does not give a time. Google Chat shows no "seen at 3:42 PM" and no "last seen" time anywhere; the full picture is in Google Chat last seen.

Some other gaps:

• • Notification previews. Reading your message in a phone or desktop notification without opening Chat may not count as reading it, so the avatar may not move.
• • Email reminders. If someone has email notifications on, Google emails them about Chat messages unread for more than 12 hours. Reading that email is not the same as opening the chat.
• • Whether they are there now. For that, look at the status dot: green Active, orange Idle, grey Away, red Do not disturb. See Google Chat status icons meaning.

Can you turn off read receipts in Google Chat?

No. We checked every page of Google Chat's settings on 3 October 2026 (chat.google.com, personal Google account). There are six: Notifications, Message & Media, Appearance, Accessibility, Access Restrictions and Data Privacy. None has a read receipt, "seen" or read status option:

Settings page	What it controls
Notifications	Desktop and reaction notifications, sounds, email for unread DMs, call ringing, Do not disturb schedules
Message & Media	Smart Compose, Smart Reply, Auto-correct, Live Markdown
Appearance	Color, light or dark mode, density
Accessibility	Animations
Access Restrictions	Who can message you, who can invite you to spaces, blocked users and conversations
Data Privacy	Google Workspace smart features



That matches Google's announcement, which says "there is no end user setting for this feature and it cannot be toggled ON or OFF". Google Workspace admins have no switch in the Admin console either. Videos and posts that promise a way to disable it describe notification settings, which change what you hear, not what others see.

What you can do:

• • Read in a space. Spaces show only view counts to the sender, not who read what.
• • Read from the notification. A short message is often readable in the notification itself, and you can open the chat later.
• • Mute the conversation. Muting stops notifications. Opening the chat still moves your avatar. How muting and Do not disturb differ is in Google Chat do not disturb.

FAQ

Does Google Chat show "seen"? Not as a word. It shows the reader's avatar next to the last message they read.

Can someone see if I read their message in Google Chat? Yes, in DMs and group DMs of up to 20 people. Your avatar moves to the last message you read.

Why is there no read receipt on my Google Chat message? The other person has not opened the conversation since you sent it, the conversation is a space, or the group has more than 20 people.

Does Google Chat tell you when someone reads your message in a space? No. You can see how many people viewed a message, but not who.