# How to track open rate for plain-text newsletters?

In GetResponse we offer open rate tracking for HTML newsletters. Open rate allows to see how many people have opened your messages to read their content. This is a good indicator of how engaged your contacts are with your messages.

Open rate tracking is a way to measure how many of your contacts have opened your message. In your account, you’ll see the open rate presented as a percentage. We calculate it by dividing the number of email messages opened by the total number of messages sent.

How do we track message opens?
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We calculate the open rate based on the images downloaded from the message. In each HTML newsletter, we include a small, one-pixel image. When downloaded, our tracking system records that the message has been opened. Now the open rate for your message can be calculated.

You need to remember a few important things about how open rate tracking works:

*   It doesn’t work for plain text messages because they don’t include images. If a subscriber decides to open your message using the plain text option, it won’t count as opened unless there’s a link inside that message that the contact clicks.
*   Every time your subscriber opens an HTML message, we count it as a separate open, however we show unique opens there.

![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2022/05/0928/Screenshot-2022-05-20-at-09.57.38-1024x696.png)

How is open rate calculated for plain text messages?
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Plain text messages do not allow any formatting or including images. As a result, we’re unable to attach that small tracking pixel to them. This means that open rates can only be calculated based on tracking clicks.

*   Make sure you have click tracking enabled. You can set this up when creating your newsletter, in the Newsletter Settings step.

How to enable link tracking?

1\. Go to **[Email Marketing](https://app.getresponse.com/newsletters/manage)**.  
2\. Click on the **Create newsletter** button.  
3\. Scroll down and click on **Tracking** to expand the section.  
4\. Press the switch under **Click tracking** to enable link tracking.

![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2020/12/2006/image.png)

*   We track every time someone clicks a link in your message. When a link is clicked, we also record that the message had to be opened in order for the reader to open your link. As a result, your open rate will be exactly the same as your click rate.
    
*   Example: If 4 people click a link in your plain-text newsletter, the system will also record 4 opens for the messages.
    
*   When people open your plain-text message, but don’t click on a link, we can’t record that the message has been opened.

Where can I see my open rate?
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You can view your open rate in detail in message statistics.

1\. Go to **[Email Marketing](https://app.getresponse.com/newsletters/manage)**.  
2\. Locate the **Actions icon** (vertical ellipsis) to the right of your newsletter name and hover over it.  
3\. Select **Statistics** from the list of options.

![Message statistics menu.](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/2019/02/Picture3-e1551207022317.png)