View email headers

by Darrell Kingsley last modified Mar 13, 2014 02:22 PM
Emails carry a load of hidden information which maps the route from sender to recipient, with every server which handles the email along the way leaving its mark. It can be useful to trace an email in case of problems with delivery. Here's how you view them.

Microsoft Office Outlook

In Outlook, how you view the headers depends on the version you have.

Outlook 2010

  1. In an open message, click the File tab.
  2. Click Properties.
  3. Header information appears in the Internet headers box.

 

Outlook 2007

  1.  Open a message.
  2. On the Message tab, in the Options group, click the Dialog Box Laucher Icon image.
  3. In the Message Options dialog box, the headers appear in the Internet headers box.

 

Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003

  1. You must open a message first, and then use the View menu on the toolbar of the message window. Note, if you do not see the Options command, make sure you click View on the toolbar in an open message window. The View menu on the standard Outlook toolbar does not have the Options command.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  3. Header information appears under Delivery options in the Internet headers box.

 

Mozilla Thunderbird

You can view the headers as follows.

  1. Have a message in the preview pane.
  2. Click on the "View" menu.
  3. Select "Headers" and then "All".

This displays the full headers. You'll need to repeat the process but select "Normal" at the end to revert to your usual view when you're done.

If you need to copy the headers into a document or email, then you have to view the email source, as follows.

  1. Have a message in the preview pane.
  2. Click on the "View" menu.
  3. Select "Message source".
  4. Copy the top part down to where the actual email starts. It should look something like the following.

Sample headers

From - Tue Apr 17 12:16:14 2012
X-Account-Key: account2
X-UIDL: UID81377-1228812712
X-Mozilla-Status: 0011
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
X-Mozilla-Keys:                                                                                 
Return-Path: <someone@somedomain.com>
X-Original-To: ben@avmailsystem.lumison.net
Delivered-To: ben@avmailsystem.lumison.net
Received: from nbg01-smtp-09.lumison.net (nbg01-smtp-09.lumison.net [87.246.68.239])
	by nbg01-mail-08.lumison.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 32511600FF
	for <ben@avmailsystem.lumison.net>; Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:53 +0100 (BST)
Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1])
	by nbg01-smtp-09.lumison.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2E6F128010C
	for <ben@avmailsystem.lumison.net>; Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:53 +0100 (BST)
X-Lumison-Scanned: Lumison Mail Scanner at nbg01-smtp-09.lumison.net
Received: from nbg01-smtp-09.lumison.net ([127.0.0.1])
	by localhost (nbg01-smtp-09.lumison.net [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10026)
	with LMTP id df4DWPxcEycm for <ben@avmailsystem.lumison.net>;
	Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:52 +0100 (BST)
Received: from smtp-in-74.livemail.co.uk (smtp-in-75.livemail.co.uk [213.171.216.75])
	by nbg01-smtp-09.lumison.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id D17DF280109
	for <ben@lumison.co.uk>; Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:52 +0100 (BST)
Received: from Postfix filter 42a77884ce2a0a03efc6bb50a6dcdb21 (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1])
	by smtp-in-74.livemail.co.uk (Postfix) with SMTP id 8D517D8060
	for <ben@beetlebrow.co.uk>; Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:52 +0100 (BST)
Received: from smtp05.opal-solutions.com (smtp05.opal-solutions.com [195.74.128.120])
	by smtp-in-74.livemail.co.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7510DD8060
	for <ben@beetlebrow.co.uk>; Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:52 +0100 (BST)
Received: from PhilPC (unknown [213.83.80.137])
	by smtp05.opal-solutions.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6D1214D8ACA
	for <ben@beetlebrow.co.uk>; Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:51 +0100 (BST)
From: "Phil Coomer" <someone@somedomain.com>
To: "'Ben Eveling'" <ben@beetlebrow.co.uk>
References: <4F86DCBB.8050601@beetlebrow.co.uk> <000c01cd18b4$ba8e72d0$2fab5870$@com> <4F8C042D.8080701@beetlebrow.co.uk> <00ce01cd1bc5$7f3772e0$7da658a0$@com> <4F8D4E6E.3060802@beetlebrow.co.uk>
In-Reply-To: <4F8D4E6E.3060802@beetlebrow.co.uk>
Subject: RE: Domains transferred
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:15:00 +0100
Message-ID: <00a601cd1c8b$549adec0$fdd09c40$@com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/related;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00A7_01CD1C93.B65F46C0"
X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 12.0
Thread-Index: Ac0cifnC/JPomnD6R/ifgqNTI1i2/wAAQLPA
Content-Language: en-gb
X-Original-To: ben@beetlebrow.co.uk