How to block email tracking pixels on Mac
Updated October 2026
In Apple Mail, choose Mail › Settings, click Privacy and turn on Protect Mail Activity. Mail then loads every picture privately as soon as a message arrives, so senders can't tell when you open it or where you are. To stop pictures loading at all, choose Block All Remote Content instead. In Gmail on the web, choose “Ask before displaying external images”. None of these settings stop tracked links.
What a tracking pixel tells the sender
A tracking pixel is a tiny picture, often a single dot you can't see, with an address made for you alone. When your mail app downloads it, the sender's server learns:
- That you opened the email, when, and how many times.
- Your IP address, which gives away your rough location, often down to the city.
- Your device and mail app, from what your app says about itself when it asks for the picture.
They're common. A University of Delaware study of 44,449 emails from 928 domains found trackers in up to a quarter of them, and in 57.8% of emails about travel.
Block trackers in Apple Mail
- In Mail, choose Mail › Settings, then click Privacy.
- Select Protect Mail Activity.
That's all most people need. Mail still downloads the pixel, but through two separate relays, and as soon as the message arrives, whether or not you open it. Every message looks opened to the sender, at a time that has nothing to do with you, and your IP address stays hidden. Apple says pictures are never shown in junk mail. Mail asks about this the first time you open it on macOS 13 and later, so it may be on already.
To keep pictures from loading at all, deselect Protect Mail Activity, then select Block All Remote Content and Hide IP Address. A message with remote content then shows a banner, and its pictures load only if you choose to.
One catch: if you turned off Limit IP address tracking for your Wi-Fi or Ethernet network in System Settings, Mail can't hide your IP address on that network.
Block trackers in Gmail on the web
- Click Settings (the gear), then See all settings.
- On the General tab, find Images and choose “Ask before displaying external images”.
- Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
To see the pictures in one message, click “Display images below”. Gmail asks first anyway when a sender looks suspicious.
With pictures on, Gmail already loads them through Google's own servers, so senders don't get your IP address or your device. They can still see that you opened the message, at least the first time. Asking first is what keeps the pixel from loading at all.
If you read Gmail in a Mac app, that app's settings decide instead. Browser extensions such as Trocker block trackers in Gmail on the web, but they need permission to read your mail pages, so choose one you trust.
Other Mac mail apps
| App | What it does about trackers | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Outlook for Mac | Doesn't download pictures from the internet unless you allow them, for your contacts or always | Outlook › Settings › Email › Reading › Download external images |
| Spark | Blocks 1×1 tracking pixels by default, which Spark says doesn't catch every kind; can stop all remote images | Settings › General › Load remote images |
| Mimestream | Blocks common trackers, on a best-effort basis; can stop all remote images | Settings › Viewing |
| Canary | Blocks tracking pixels by default and can show which ones; can stop all remote content | Settings › Reading › Show Blocked Trackers, Load Remote Content |
| Airmail | Can stop remote content from loading on its own | Privacy settings › Load remote content automatically |
| Thunderbird | Blocks remote content by default; allow it for one message or one sender | The bar above a message, or Settings › Privacy & Security |
| MailMate | Blocks everything from the web in HTML mail by default | Settings › Security › Image Blocking |
| eM Client | Can block external content; paid versions can load pictures and leave out the trackers | Settings › Mail › Privacy |
| Lambda Mail | Blocks known trackers and tiny or hidden images by default, and says what it blocked; can stop all remote content | Settings › Privacy |
From each app's help pages, read October 29, 2026. Menu names can differ a little between versions.
Two more things worth knowing. Canary also has read receipts of its own for the mail you send, and its help page says they're on by default. HEY, an email service with its own addresses rather than an app for Gmail, removes trackers, loads pictures through its own servers and tells you who tried to track you.
What these settings don't stop
- Tracked links: most newsletter links go through the sender's tracking address first, so a click is counted whatever your picture settings are.
- Pictures you load: when you choose to load a message's pictures, any pixel in it loads too, unless your app removes it first.
- A VPN alone: it hides your IP address, but the pixel still loads, so the sender still sees the open.
Is a tracking pixel the same as a read receipt?
No. A read receipt is a request inside the email, and your mail app can answer it or ignore it, often after asking you. A tracking pixel doesn't ask: it works by being downloaded. The read receipts in Messages are something else again, and have nothing to do with email.
How Lambda Mail blocks trackers
We make Lambda Mail, a Gmail app for Mac, and it blocks trackers without breaking the pictures you want to see.
- On by default: Block email trackers, in Settings › Privacy. Before a message is shown, Lambda takes out tracking pixels from 21 services on its own list, including Mailchimp, SendGrid, HubSpot, Substack, Constant Contact, Yesware and Streak, along with any remote image that is 2 pixels or smaller or hidden in the message. Ordinary pictures still load.
- It tells you: a small shield appears next to the message's time. Point at it to see what was blocked, like “Blocked a tracker from Mailchimp”.
- Or nothing from the web: turn on Block all remote content, and a message shows “Remote images are blocked.” with Load Images and Always Load from the sender. Pictures sent inside the email still show, and trackers stay blocked even after you load images.
- Spam waits: in Spam, nothing from the web loads until you choose Load Images.
- All on your Mac: the list is built into the app, and nothing is sent to us or anyone else to check a message.
It's best effort, and we'd rather say so. Most services don't publish the address of their pixel, so the named list is short, though their tiny pixels are still caught by size. Ordinary pictures can still show a sender that you opened the email, and your IP address, since Lambda doesn't load them through a relay the way Apple Mail does. And it doesn't change links, so tracked links still count clicks. Block all remote content is the setting for when you want none of it.
Lambda Mail works with Gmail and Google Workspace on macOS 14 and later, and the beta is free.
More guides
Sources, read October 2026: Apple's Mail User Guide, Change Privacy settings in Mail and Protect email privacy in Mail; Apple, Mail Privacy Protection and privacy (December 2025); Google, Turn images on or off in Gmail and Images now showing (December 2013); Xu, Hao, Sari and Wang, Privacy Risk Assessment on Email Tracking, University of Delaware; Microsoft, Automatically download pictures in Outlook for Mac; Spark, Read Statuses; Mimestream, Viewing settings; Canary, macOS preferences, security and read tracking; Airmail, Privacy settings for macOS (May 2026); Mozilla, Remote content in messages; MailMate, preferences; eM Client, external content; HEY, spy trackers; Trocker, Chrome Web Store (July 2026).