Read receipts are sent from a public folder mailbox instead of from a public folder

• Applies to:

  Exchange Online

When you send a message to a mail-enabled public folder, you can request that a read receipt be sent to you after the message is marked as Read. In your email client, such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook on the web, you can select the option to request a read receipt before you send the message. Also make sure that you enable the following setting in your email client for any message received that includes a read receipt request:

• In Outlook, select Always send a read receipt.
• In Outlook on the web, select Always send a response.

For the public folder to comply with your read receipt request, the value of the PerUserReadStateEnabled parameter on the public folder must be set to False. This value indicates that data should not be maintained about which messages are read and unread by each user who has permissions to the public folder.

To check the current value of the PerUserReadStateEnabled parameter on the public folder, run the following cmdlet:

Get-PublicFolder \<Public Folder Name> | FL Identity,PerUserReadStateEnabled

The output of the cmdlet will resemble the following screenshot.

However, you see that even though both these conditions are met, the read receipt you receive is not sent by the public folder but by the public folder mailbox that hosts the public folder. This issue is shown in the following example:

Message sent from user John to the mail-enabled public folder PF2:

Read receipt received from the public folder mailbox MSExchangepf2 instead of from PF2:

Status

This is a known issue that affects read receipts from public folders. Microsoft is researching this problem and will post more information in this article when the information becomes available.