Why do people not reply to the questions I ask in email?

When I am emailing, it feels like interviewing a question-dodging politician. Like my emails are pseudo-interviews with that stereotypical official that says 'I think the question you're really asking is...' and avoids the actual answer at all costs! But surely in an email, if you ask a question is it not reasonable to expect an answer? Why then do I so rarely get one? In my quest to become more minimalist (digitally) I am finding I need to get more out of the emails I send. I.e. spend less time emailing but get more out of it. So finding a solution to getting questions answered felt like a good place to start. I'm obviously asking them for a good reason! So I invented a fix, implemented it in [Memo](https://sendmemo.app) and called it Highlighted Questions. But there must be some simple reasons why questions don't get answered so here are a few suggestions: 1. Your reader doesn't notice them. 2. The reader doesn't want to answer them. 3. The reader perceives the question to be rhetorical. 4. The reader does not have time to answer the question *and* reply to the rest of your message. Thinking about a typical email client design, number one seems quite likely. When replying to an email you have to scroll up and down to reference the sentences you are responding to. Honestly, the idea that your questions just go unnoticed seems pretty reasonable. As does point two - if you don't want to answer it you just don't. The sender might think you didn't notice it in the first place and give you the benefit of the doubt. Rhetorical questions, on the other hand, are certainly a thing but the language I think rules this one out. Direct questions such as 'Please can you explain why X is not working?' are in a different league to 'hey, how goes it?' One is clearly more likely to be perceived as rhetorical than the other and you probably don't care if the reader doesn't answer 'hey, how goes it?' The final point - no time to answer - must be true in some cases. I don't have time to answer that question right now. **A solution** We have a solution and it is highlighting questions. I mean, it's not rocket science, we just pull out the question in the reply box so it's really obvious it exists. And you know what? It works. ![https://sendmemo.app/images/feat... The reader doesn't have to parse your email over and over, the questions you're asking are made expressly clear. It's a massive reduction in mental strain for the writer and as a result, you'll get more, better quality answers. Sure, if the reader really doesn't want to answer the question then they won't but at least you'll know because it's hard to ignore a highlighted question. I was concerned it might come across pushy or weird but it doesn't at all. It just comes across as super-helpful. Kinda like software should be. If you hate unanswered questions, ask me a question and I'll show you how it gets answered.