Turn auto-read on or off
With auto-read on, a chat is marked read as soon as you open it, and the client sees the read mark. With it off, the chat stays unread until you mark it yourself.
Before you start · for owners and agentsThe Update permission on the channel’s row
- You need: The Update permission on the channel’s row
Steps
How it works
The setting is for each session separately, and it’s on by default when the session is created.
Turn it off if you don’t want the client to know you’ve read their message before you’ve prepared a reply, or if your team uses “Unread” as a to-do list. See Cortex Chat: your complete guide to the inbox.
On WhatsApp Cloud: when it’s off, the client doesn’t see the “typing...” indicator either, because Meta marks the message read along with the indicator.
If something goes wrong
A real example
Patients get annoyed when they see the read mark and don’t get a reply straight away.
- The clinic turned off auto-read on the reception number.
- The receptionist marks the chat read when she replies.
There are fewer “You saw my message and didn’t reply” messages.