ContactMonkey only tracks emails you send with the Send & Track button in the Add-in. This article explains why that button matters, what breaks when you skip it, and how to confirm which method an email was sent with.
Note: This applies to Outlook 365 and Outlook on the web (OWA). Outlook Non-365 works differently—you send tracked emails with Outlook's native Send button after inserting your email. If you're on Non-365, don't treat "the native button was used" as a sign tracking failed; the recipient, link, and confirmation checks below still apply. Click here for more information.
Why You Must Use Send & Track
Clicking Send & Track lets ContactMonkey process your email before it sends. This does two essential things:
- Enables tracking and analytics: ContactMonkey inserts tracking pixels and link trackers that capture opens, clicks, and engagement data in your campaign reports.
- Preserves your email's formatting: ContactMonkey embeds code that stops Outlook from breaking your HTML email's design and layout.
What Happens If You Use Outlook's Native Send Button
On Outlook 365 and OWA, the native Send button bypasses ContactMonkey entirely and causes four problems:
- Broken formatting: Images appear enlarged or distorted, content blocks stretch too wide, buttons stop working and show a thin black line, and mobile recipients see the desktop layout.
- No tracking data: No opens, clicks, or engagement are captured.
- No support records: ContactMonkey can't log the send, so our support team has no record to help you troubleshoot.
- Exposed recipients: ContactMonkey can't BCC your recipients, so everyone can see each other's addresses in the To or CC field.
How to Tell Which Method Was Used
Check any of these on a sent email:
- Recipient visibility. Open the sent email. If every recipient is visible in the To or CC field, it was sent with Outlook's native button—ContactMonkey automatically BCCs recipients to keep addresses private.
- Tracked links. Hover over a link in the email. If the URL points to your ContactMonkey tracking domain, the email went through ContactMonkey. If it's the plain destination URL, it didn't.
- Confirmation email. After a Send & Track send, ContactMonkey emails you a delivery confirmation with a 7-digit campaign ID, usually within a few minutes. No confirmation means the email wasn't sent through ContactMonkey.
- Dashboard data. A ContactMonkey email appears in your dashboard with engagement data. A natively sent email either won't appear in the Sent section.
Seeing zero opens despite a success notification? That's a separate issue — click here for more information.