HubSpot Sales Free + Microsoft 365 Outlook: Email tracking pixel is inserted, but email opens are ne

Smart CRM & Sales Hub
1

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone can help because I’ve spent several hours troubleshooting this and have narrowed the issue down quite a bit.

Environment

  • HubSpot Sales Free
  • Microsoft 365 Outlook account
  • Outlook for Mac (new Outlook)
  • Also tested Outlook on the web (Chrome)
  • Gmail recipients (multiple accounts)

The problem

Email logging works correctly, but email open tracking never records an open.

Recipients confirm they’ve opened the email, but HubSpot never shows an “Opened” event.

What I’ve verified

:white_check_mark: Microsoft 365 inbox is connected to HubSpot.

:white_check_mark: HubSpot Sales add-in is installed.

:white_check_mark: “Track email opens” is enabled before sending.

:white_check_mark: “Log” is enabled.

:white_check_mark: Emails are successfully logged to the contact timeline.

:white_check_mark: Contacts are created correctly.

Tests I’ve performed

Outlook for Mac

  • Sent tracked emails to multiple Gmail accounts.
  • Emails are logged.
  • Contacts are created.
  • HubSpot displays:

“Tracking data is not available for this email. This email is logged but not tracked.”

Outlook on the web

I then tested using Outlook on the web instead of Outlook for Mac.

Results:

  • Email logs correctly.
  • The “Tracking data is not available” message disappears.
  • Email appears normally in the contact timeline.
  • However, HubSpot still never records an “Opened” event.

Tracking pixel verification

I opened the email in Gmail and selected Show original.

The raw source contains the HubSpot tracking pixel:

<img height="1" width="1" src="https://...hs-salescrm-engage.com/...">

So the tracking pixel is definitely being inserted into the email.

Recipient verification

I’ve tested with:

  • my own Gmail account
  • another personal Gmail account

All recipients confirmed the email was opened.

Still, HubSpot never records any open events.

Additional information

  • Email logging works perfectly.
  • Tracking is enabled.
  • The tracking pixel exists in the raw email.
  • The issue occurs from both Outlook for Mac and Outlook on the web.
  • The issue occurs with multiple Gmail recipients.

My question

Has anyone experienced this before?

Is there an account-level setting, Microsoft 365 setting, or HubSpot Sales Free limitation that would prevent email opens from being recorded even though the tracking pixel is present and logging works correctly?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

3

Hey @jlosa, You’ve already done more troubleshooting than most people would, and the fact that the tracking pixel is present narrows it down significantly.

At this point, I’d check these few things:

  • Make sure Track email opens is enabled under Settings > General > Email (not just at send time).
  • Verify your Microsoft 365 mailbox is connected with the correct permissions, then disconnect/reconnect it to refresh the integration.
  • Test with a recipient outside Gmail (for example, Outlook.com or another Microsoft 365 mailbox) to rule out image caching or privacy features affecting the pixel.
  • If the issue persists across Outlook for Mac, Outlook on the web, multiple recipients, and the pixel is definitely being injected, it starts looking less like a configuration issue and more like an account-specific tracking problem.

Since you’ve already confirmed logging works, the pixel is present, and tracking is enabled, I’d recommend opening a HubSpot Support ticket (or posting this in the Ideas/Support channel if you’re on Free). Include the tracking URL from the email source and a few example tracked emails. They can verify whether the tracking service is receiving any pixel requests.

Based on everything you’ve tested, I don’t think you’re missing an obvious setting. This feels like something that needs HubSpot to investigate on the backend.

4

Hey @Alex_Boissonneault thanks for looking at this! Where can I open a HubSpot Support ticket? I’m on the HubSpot Sales Free plan fyi.

5

Hey @jlosa,

Happy to chime in!

Please note that free HubSpot accounts do not have access to direct HubSpot support. However, the Community is always open for peer-to-peer assistance. You can review the support options for each tier in this article:

For your questions on using the New Outlook for Mac, this Community thread offers some solid guidance. If you continue to run into issues, utilizing Office 365 on the web is often the most reliable alternative for the sales add-in.

Hope this helps!!

Sam, Community Manager

6

Hey @stassey I’m a new user to HubSpot but have found the product unnecessarily difficult to use and not customer support not very helpful in debugging. I will be using another product moving forward. Thanks!

7

Hey @jlosa,

Sorry to hear the experience didn’t meet your expectations. Your feedback is valuable and appreciated. If you decide to revisit HubSpot down the road with your free account, the Community will be here as an option to receive assistance from other folks who use the platform. Wishing you the best – and please feel free to DM me if anything comes up!

Sam, Community Manager

8

Hi @jlosa
You’ve already ruled out most of the common causes, especially since the tracking pixel is present in the email source and logging is working correctly.

From what you’ve described, I don’t think this points to an Outlook issue anymore, as you were able to reproduce it from Outlook on the web as well.

One thing I’d be interested to know is whether the same behavior occurs when sending a tracked email from the HubSpot CRM itself (for example, using the CRM email composer instead of Outlook). If opens still aren’t recorded there, I think that would suggest an account-level issue rather than a problem with the Outlook add-in or Microsoft 365.

Since the tracking pixel is being inserted but no open events are ever registered, I’d also recommend asking a HubSpot moderator to have Support investigate whether there’s an issue with the tracking service or your account’s email tracking.

You’ve already done a thorough job isolating the issue, so hopefully Support can review it from the backend

9

Hi @jlosa, This is a documented issue, Outlook (both Mac and web in some cases) can attach the HubSpot tracking pixel as a CID (embedded content-ID image) rather than a standard hosted image, and HubSpot can’t register an open through a CID-embedded pixel, which explains why the pixel shows in source but opens never register even though logging works fine.

Since you’ve already confirmed the pixel is present, inserted correctly, and logging works, this points to Outlook’s send pipeline itself substituting the image type, which isn’t something fixable from HubSpot’s settings side. Worth confirming with HubSpot Support whether Outlook 365 accounts are still fully supported for tracking or if this is a known limitation right now, since your troubleshooting already rules out the usual culprits (connection, settings, pixel insertion).