Understand How Email Tracking Works

Learn how Pipeline CRM tracks email opens and clicks — and why your tracking data sometimes looks unexpected.

How Pipeline CRM tracks opens and clicks
Pipeline CRM uses two methods to track email engagement:

Open tracking — A tiny invisible image (1×1 pixel) is embedded in each tracked email. When the recipient opens the email and their email client loads images, that pixel fires and registers an open.
Click tracking — When a recipient clicks a link, the click routes through Pipeline CRM's servers before reaching the destination. This registers a click regardless of image-loading settings.

You can view tracking activity in the Activity Feed on the contact's record, listed as a Trackable Email Action.

Which emails are tracked

Campaign emails — tracked automatically
Individual emails — toggle tracking on or off by clicking the Tracked option when composing
Emails with multiple recipients — tracking is not supported when using To, CC, or BCC for multiple recipients simultaneously

Why an email shows a click but no open
Many email clients — including Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail — allow users to block automatic image loading. If your recipient has this setting enabled, the tracking pixel never loads, so no open is recorded. However, if they click a link, that action still routes through Pipeline CRM's servers and registers as a click.

In short: a click without an open just means your recipient clicked a link with image loading turned off.

⚠️ Note: A click always means the recipient engaged with your email — even if no open was recorded.

Why an email shows as opened when it wasn't read
An open can be recorded even if your recipient didn't actually read your email. Common causes include:

Email security scanners — Corporate spam filters and security tools often open emails automatically to scan for threats, which loads the tracking pixel
Email preview panes — If your recipient's client loads a preview of the email, even briefly, the pixel may fire
Antivirus software — Some antivirus tools pre-load email content in the background to check for malicious links or content

Why an email shows multiple opens
Multiple opens from a single recipient are normal and can happen for several reasons:

The recipient opened the email on more than one device
The recipient forwarded the email to someone else who also opened it
A security scanner re-checked the email at a later time
The recipient re-opened the email to reference it again

💡 Tip: Rather than treating open count as an exact metric, use it as a general signal of engagement. Click data tends to be more reliable.

⚠️ Note: Email tracking only works when the email is sent through Pipeline CRM. Emails sent from your personal email client — even with a Pipeline extension — won't include a tracking pixel.

Need help? Contact support at [email protected].

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Understand How Email Tracking Works