---
url: https://talkjs.com/docs/Features/Messages/Read_Receipts
---

# Read receipts

Show users when their messages have been read.

Ask a question Copy for LLM [View as Markdown](/docs/Features/Messages/Read_Receipts.md)
Read receipts are visual indicators that a message has been read by other participants in the conversation. This can give your users confidence that their message was actually opened by the recipient, not just delivered.

## How read receipts work

In the process of sending, a message can have various statuses including the following:

| Status | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Sending | The system is sending the message to the server. Shown as a loading spinner by default. |
| Sent | The server has received the message. Shown as a single checkmark by default. |
| Read | All participants in the conversation have read the message. Shown as two checkmarks by default. |

The chat UI updates the indicator of the message status in real-time as the message moves through each state.

## In themes

Read receipts are available by default on all chat UI themes.

### Components SDKs

In the Components SDKs, read receipts are rendered with [`messageStatus`](/docs/UI_Components/Theme/Shared_types/#MessageStatus), which is available on the [`<Message>`](/docs/UI_Components/Theme/Theme_components/Message/) theme component. You can edit the `<Message>` theme component just like you would make any other update to your chat UI theme. This way, you have full control over how or whether you render the read receipt indicator based on the message's status.

See the theme customization docs:

- [Customization for React](/docs/UI_Components/React/Customization/)
- [Customization for web components](/docs/UI_Components/Web_Components/Customization/)

### React Native, Flutter, and Classic SDKs

Read receipts are available as [`<StatusTicks>`](/docs/UI_Components/JavaScript/Classic/Themes/Components/UserMessage/#statusticks), which renders ticks to indicate the message's status. `<StatusTicks>` is a subcomponent of the [`<UserMessage>`](/docs/UI_Components/JavaScript/Classic/Themes/Components/UserMessage/) component, which is rendered for each message sent by a user.

Read receipts are only shown for conversations with at most 10 participants.

You can customize the `<StatusTicks>` subcomponent directly from the **Themes** page on your [TalkJS dashboard](/dashboard/themes).

## See also

- [Delivery receipts](/docs/Features/Messages/Delivery_Receipts/)