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How to Report Read and Unread Emails in Exchange Online
Question details
The user wants to know how to generate reports on read, received, and unread emails using Exchange Online.
- Product
- Exchange Online
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- An administrator is attempting to track email engagement metrics for users within an organization.
- Observed behavior
- The administrator needs to measure email activity but requires clarification on whether the usage report accurately reflects unique read messages and current unread counts.
Ensure you have the necessary administrator permissions in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) to view usage reports, and verify that your organization's privacy settings allow user-level details to be displayed.
Generate the Exchange Email Activity Report
Use the built-in Usage Reports in the Exchange Admin Center to view send, receive, and read activities per user.
The Exchange Admin Center provides a dedicated email activity report that tracks general mailbox usage. While it provides detailed metrics on actions performed, it is important to understand what data is actually being counted.
Log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center and navigate to the Exchange Admin Center.
In the left-hand navigation menu, click on 'Reports', then select 'Usage'.
Choose 'Exchange' and then click on 'Email activity' to view the metrics for your organization.
Review the per-user metrics for Send, Receive, and Read actions. You can click 'Export' to download this data as a CSV file for advanced sorting and filtering.
Address Shared Mailbox Distortions and Privacy Settings
Adjust administrative settings to account for shared mailbox usage and organizational privacy restrictions that may hide user data.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can the Exchange email activity report show exactly how many unread messages a user currently has?
No, the Exchange email activity report does not show the current number of unread messages in a user's mailbox. It only tracks actions taken during a specific period, such as sending, receiving, and reading emails.
Why is my 'Read' count higher than the number of emails I actually received?
The Read metric in the activity report counts every individual read action, rather than unique messages. If a user opens or marks the same email as read multiple times, the read count will increase each time.
Why are specific user names hidden or anonymized in my Exchange usage reports?
By default, Microsoft 365 privacy settings may anonymize user data to protect sensitive personal information. Administrators must adjust the organization's privacy settings in the admin center to reveal specific user-level details in the reports.
