Open rate
Open rate is the share of delivered emails that were opened.
It is measured with a tiny hidden image in the email. Apple Mail's Mail Privacy Protection downloads that image when the email arrives, not when it is read. So many emails look opened when they were not, and open rates look higher than the truth.
Treat open rate as a rough warning light, not a goal. If it drops sharply, check your email deliverability. For cold email, judge by reply rate; for newsletters, by clicks and replies. Your aim is to get repliessoon, not opens.
Go deeper
- How to get replies to cold emailsComing soon
- How to grow a newsletter from scratchComing soon
Sources
- Protect email privacy in Mail on Mac, Apple Support, checked 24 September 2026
Last checked 24 September 2026.