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Email status & tracking guide

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When you send emails through SortScape, you can see delivery and engagement statuses. This guide explains how email sending works, what each status means, and how to interpret them correctly.

How email sending works in SortScape

Section titled “How email sending works in SortScape”

Emails sent from SortScape are sent in the background, not instantly like a personal email.

What this means:

  • Emails are queued and handed off to our email delivery service
  • This usually happens within seconds, but can occasionally take longer
  • During this time you may see Pending or Processed — this is normal
  • Closing your browser or logging out does not stop the email being sent This approach helps ensure reliable delivery and reduces the chance of emails being flagged as spam.

Delivery statuses

Section titled “Delivery statuses”

Delivery statuses show whether your email was successfully sent and delivered.

Pending (gray)

Section titled “Pending (gray)”
  • The email is queued and will be sent shortly
  • Usually appears for a few seconds after sending
  • Action: None

Processed (gray)

Section titled “Processed (gray)”
  • The email has been accepted by our email service and is awaiting delivery confirmation
  • This is a normal step in the sending process
  • Action: None

Delivered (green)

Section titled “Delivered (green)”
  • The email was successfully delivered to the recipient’s mail server
  • This means it reached their inbox
  • Action: None

Deferred (yellow / orange)

Section titled “Deferred (yellow / orange)”
  • Delivery was temporarily delayed (for example, the recipient’s mail server was busy)
  • The email will be retried automatically
  • Usually resolves within a few hours
  • Action: If it persists, verify the recipient’s email address

Bounce (red)

Section titled “Bounce (red)”

  • The email could not be delivered Common causes

  • Invalid email address

  • Recipient’s inbox is full

  • Recipient’s mail server rejected the email Action

  • Verify the email address

  • Ask the recipient to check their inbox and spam settings

Dropped (red)

Section titled “Dropped (red)”

  • The email was not sent Common causes

  • Recipient has unsubscribed

  • Email content triggered spam filtering

  • Sending was blocked by our email service Action

  • Check the recipient’s email preferences

  • Review the email content

Engagement statuses (opened & clicked)

Section titled “Engagement statuses (opened & clicked)”

Engagement statuses show whether a recipient interacted with your email. These are best-effort indicators, not guarantees.

Engagement tracking is only available when email tracking is enabled.

Opened

Section titled “Opened”

An email is marked as Opened when the recipient’s email app allows a small tracking image to load.

Important to know

  • Many email apps block tracking by default
  • The email may be read even if it never shows as “Opened”
  • Privacy features in Apple Mail, Gmail, and Outlook can affect accuracy What this means
    “Opened” is a strong signal the email was viewed, but the absence of it does not mean it wasn’t read.

Clicked

Section titled “Clicked”

An email is marked as Clicked when a tracked link in the email is clicked.

Important to know

  • Click tracking is generally more reliable than open tracking
  • Some email security systems automatically scan links
  • In rare cases, clicks may be automated What this means
    “Clicked” usually indicates engagement, but is not always a deliberate human action.

How to interpret statuses

Section titled “How to interpret statuses”

  • Delivered + Opened / Clicked Email was likely seen and engaged with

  • Delivered only Email reached the inbox, but engagement can’t be confirmed

  • Clicked without Opened This is normal and usually means open tracking was blocked

  • Deferred Wait a few hours — delivery often completes automatically

  • Bounce / Dropped Delivery failed — action may be required

Failed email notifications (bounce / dropped)

Section titled “Failed email notifications (bounce / dropped)”

When an email cannot be delivered and is marked as Bounced or Dropped, SortScape may send a failure notification to administrators.

These notifications are sent to each active administrator who has Failed notification alerts enabled, and include a summary of the failed email (such as the recipient and subject).

You can manage this setting under:
​User menu → Notifications → “Email me when a customer notification fails”

Key things to remember

Section titled “Key things to remember”
  • Emails are sent in the background and may take a moment to show as delivered
  • Delivery statuses are the most reliable indicators
  • Engagement statuses depend on the recipient’s email app and privacy settings
  • Statuses update automatically as the email progresses