I can't figure out how to ask for a delivery or read confirmation from the mail recipient. Outlook has a checkbox, so I figure mac mail must have something comparable...
As far as I know, it is a feature of the email client. So Outlook will work with Outlook, but none others! Thunderbird will do it on the Mac but again only with another Thunderbird user. The reality is that part of the sending process is a confirmation from your intended recipient's server. So you know the email at least got as far as the right server. But then there is no standard to further know if an email actually ended up on the recipient's computer.
Different e-mail programs have different levels of support of this function. Mac OS X's built-in Mail program can do it if you do a hack which has been scripted by the following script with certain side effects:
A small clarification - your mail client delivers the message to your mail server, not to the recipient's server. You don't know if it got any further than that - though if it didn't you would normally get an error message back from your mail server.
If you know how to edit your email-header you can insert
"Return-Receipt-To" = "your_receipt@goes.here"
(where you substitute "your_receipt@goes.here" with your email-address).
If you want every email-header to contain this entry open up a terminal and copy/paste the following:
Mail receipt confirmation has to be configured on the recipient's mail program, in addition to the sender's. If the recipient has confirmation turned off, you won't get a confirmation not matter what the settings are on your mail program. So you need to contact the recipient and ask him to turn on the issuance of receipt confirmation when he gets his mail from you.
I would
never enable that feature on my e-mail program because I consider it an invasion of my privacy to send out receipt or read confirmations of my private e-mails.
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Delivery Confirmation
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