Displaying Email Headers
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Displaying Email Headers

Introduction

The full Internet email headers include useful and sometimes necessary diagnostic information. Typical reasons include blocking spammers (unsolicited junk email), problems with delivery or receipt of a particular message and certain identity troubleshooting issues that involve fake "from" addresses. Displaying headers in some email programs is an easy task, however, both Outlook and Outlook Express are more difficult in this regard.

How to Display Full Headers

Select your email client from the list below:

Show me an example of a message with full headers.

Entourage:

From the View menu select "Internet Headers". The full headers will appear in the box above the message text. You will need to copy and paste this information in to the message you are forwarding.

Eudora:

  1. Select "plain text only" to turn off any HTML formatting that may be present. From the Tools menu select Options then Styled Text and click Send plain text only.
  2. Open the message in question so you can see it on your screen.
  3. Click on the "Blah Blah Blah" when reading the message.
  4. Forward the message on to the appropriate staff member. i.e. "support@HostMonster.com"
  5. See the bottom of this document for an example of what a full header should look like.

Gmail:

  1. In Gmail, open 'original' email.
  2. Click for menu button (down arrow next to the Reply button).
  3. In menu, choose Show original.
  4. GMail opens original email in new window or tab.

Horde:

  1. Log into Horde Webmail
  2. Open the email message
  3. Click the "Message Source" link in the text menu at the top of the message.

Hotmail:

To view the e-mail header information:

  1. In the left pane, click Mail.
  2. In the Folders list, click Inbox.
  3. Right-click the message in the message list and then click View source.

Mail for Mac OS X:

  • From the View menu, select "Message"
  • "All Headers".
  • Select the entire contents of the window, then cut and paste it into a new message.
  • Add a subject line, address the message to HostMonster support.

    Mozilla & Netscape (all versions):

    1. Turn off any HTML formatting that may be present.
    2. From the Edit menu select Preferences
    3. Mail & Newsgroups.
    4. Click Send
    5. Format and select Convert the message to plain text...
    6. Open the message in question so you can see it on your screen.
    7. For Mozilla 1.4 and earlier:

      1. From the View menu select Headers and then All when displaying the message.

      For Mozilla 1.5 and later:

      1. From the View menu select "Message Source." You can then cut and paste the full-header from the top of the message. (There is an example full-header at the bottom of this page).
    8. Forward the message on to the appropriate staff member.
    9. See the bottom of this document for an example of what a full header should look like.

    Outlook and Outlook Express:

    1. Open the message in question so you can see it on your screen.
    2. Turn off HTML formatting. From the Tools menu select Options... then click the Mail Format tab. At the "Compose in this message format" area select Plain Text.
    3. Outlook:

      From the View menu select Options... while viewing the message.

      Outlook Express:

      From the File menu select Properties, then select the "Details" tab.

    4. Click anywhere inside the text frame that appears, then press the keys "CONTROL" and "A" which should select all of the text. This will make the text appear as inverse (shown below).
    5. After the text is selected, hold down the control key, and press 'C' to copy the text to the clipboard
    6. Compose a new message to HostMonster support and in the body of the message select paste (hold the control key and press 'V') which should paste the text into a new message. After you have pasted the text, send the message and you have completed the process.
    7. See the bottom of this document for an example of what a full header should look like.

    RoundCube:

    1. Log into RoundCube Webmail.
    2. Double click to open the email message.
    3. Click on the"More" option then select the "Show Source" icon.

    Thunderbird:

    1. Open the message in question
    2. Click the More Button
    3. Click View Source
    4. From the Edit menu select "Select All"
    5. From the Edit menu select "Copy"
    6. Close the window: from the File menu select "Close"
    7. From the File menu, select "New..." then "Message"
    8. Place the cursor in the body of the new email message by clicking in the empty message body
    9. From the File menu select "Paste"
    10. Address the message to HostMonster support
    11. Add a subject line
    12. Click the "Send" button

    AOL:

    The email files are in an html format. The objective is to save the file in html format. This can be done as follows:

    1. Open the email message you want to save, as if you were reading it - Near the top, at the bottom of the To: / From: section, click on "Details" to reveal the header. (you could simply copy and paste this information also).
    2. Move mouse cursor to the top tool bar, click on "File".
    3. Move mouse cursor to "Save as..." and click.
    4. Identify which directory you would like to save the file in. This is done using the normal save function of Windows. If you are not real comfortable with directories, save the file in "Desktop". This will have the file icon visible on you regular desktop screen and very easy to find later on.
    5. Provide a name of the file in the "file name" box.
    6. Select the "type" as "html" if possible. If your browser does not show "html" type, just select the type as "All Files" and add ".html" to the file name generated in step 6, such as email.html. The "dot" before the html extension is important. The objective of this step is to have the extension of the file as an "html" type file. Press "Save".

    To forward the file to someone else (HostMonster support, law enforcement, lawyer, ISP):

    1. Move cursor to the top tool bar and click on "Write"
    2. Insert the email address you want to forward the file to
    3. Type any info in the body of the message, if needed
    4. To add the html file you just generated in the above steps, click on "Attachments"
    5. When the "Attachments Window" opens, click on "Attach"
    6. Find the file in the directory window and highlight the file name. If you followed the "Desktop" instructions, the directory name is "c:\desktop". If there are too many files that appear, type "*.html" in the file name. The use of the asterisk (also called a star by some) lists all files that are html.
    7. Click on "open"
    8. Click on "OK"
    9. Click on "Send now"
    10. The message and attached file have now been sent.

    Please be aware that AOL only keeps messages in your INBOX for two weeks, unless you save it as NEW or save it in a separate folder in your AOL directory on your computer.

    What does a full header look like

    See the example below.

    -----------------------Example Full Header Below----------------------------

                Return-path: 
                Envelope-to: john@example.com
                Delivery-date: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:06:11 -0600
                Received: from [46.165.209.232] (port=36531 helo=delivery.antispamcloud.com)
                	by box309.HostMonster.com with esmtps (TLSv1:RC4-SHA:128)
                	(Exim 4.82)
                	(envelope-from )
                	id 1WVSMM-0003oR-Ny
                	for john@example.com; Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:06:10 -0600
                Received: from mail-ig0-f195.google.com ([209.85.213.195])
                	by mx7.antispamcloud.com with esmtps (TLSv1:RC4-SHA:128)
                	(Exim 4.82)
                	(envelope-from )
                	id 1WVSMJ-00049k-3X
                	for john@example.com; Wed, 02 Apr 2014 23:06:10 +0200
                Received: by mail-ig0-f195.google.com with SMTP id uq10so212231igb.2
                        for ; Wed, 02 Apr 2014 14:06:02 -0700 (PDT)
                DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
                        d=gmail.com; s=20120113;
                        h=mime-version:date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type;
                       hmbhovkRL3Im017b5m7rMRTWVa1olgzE1U+yr8FXykLSM=;
                        b=I9n1lRLh2EbEic44CPWv6doKf6m9+z1G9tVmowbugj99p5jn5ImorW2oBqZ1BRbOFD
                         3CnQkj7koUZfajma0Q0bbjJFB27CHfIMKvFLzOeWjeLP2bu3Z5X/d+lmCdFMSG8FQBoO
                         c2Pz5n0d85zQyxkzy4lvL4D5kVevuJ5n+s7y6nCZTpYw1iwtQciGgr8XO77wGJq0S2FY
                         WZC7jqB5c3CmpT8EytMEJwsH3UQAD7hxYq3FZHL7Ici89x8vDG/ZNQOla9TsfSrmC9qO
                         mMLFWCZs1A1Hfe2gwOxBpRXgAqxf1/hlFfAf0CIIRTcD/03kSaWB7L/lPy++CTvkzpbB
                         Ro4A==
                MIME-Version: 1.0
                X-Received: by 10.42.107.67 with SMTP id c3mr2836464icp.28.1396472762166; Wed,
                 02 Apr 2014 14:06:02 -0700 (PDT)
                Received: by 10.50.216.193 with HTTP; Wed, 2 Apr 2014 14:06:02 -0700 (PDT)
                Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2014 15:06:02 -0600
                Message-ID: 
                Subject: I can haz headers
                From: HostMonster Tutorials
                To: john@example.com
                Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=20cf302075e4ed71d604f615a6cd
                Received-SPF: pass (mx7.antispamcloud.com: domain of gmail.com designates 209.85.213.195 as permitted sender) client-ip=209.85.213.195; envelope-from=hostmonstertutorials@gmail.com; helo=mail-ig0-f195.google.com;
                X-SPF-Result: mx7.antispamcloud.com: domain of gmail.com designates 209.85.213.195 as permitted sender
                X-Filter-ID: XtLePq6GTMn8G68F0EmQveOvoFo7+04sHaU+aQGjobYi0opp2x9AytcIxrAv/iEuaWmMHd4i6wCz
                 ASsx7ILyBvmrHcqsgpX6d4SIG6yP47bDMFgiN2el8cbE99y5VERdERWeKKG4PAQYNyavp7c49C7S
                 5JHQ4xOsiG8cGbGY8Ju2qts0ILWtXEEZmkE2vLlbG/45LuYWJsWNKzGzAznZ/oq+Kj8XsfH6M1iC
                 r9Pl7cS2FeLaw8TKFNoyhNvcmkCU2LIKoGx11NpkPoCtYTihVFvHjmVhGT2LR+SRHRnJSjexOaDD
                 7DhwsYoQmALxTDsg5YE5enyccp7RH4WQio3uGcdGxQ6d5hivGO7oPpIBNraJdlCnvQ+khpxZdnh3
                 Rg+eq6FYx9JcxaWalMnLitersKkGD1ysZpHhKaUh/7HiGlCtDNmfymkhdU0FFLdsJzH+bncTWq+l
                 t2yLUdZkS4XDsBY2SdcAejSFbwPMuc/8+8bnfBK8XMz156Rrx4gJt1rfVwqJrV8TZUiWxNy0V2Qu
                 LFYFvf25LVONYbYifH5OzZDcKP8EIfERgwZdrj+yX3bZ9HVqUY3tkBcsuKQ2aA7N/8zfymEUbuPk
                 n06aNthuTeE=
                Authentication-Results: antispamcloud.com; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=hostmonstertutorials@gmail.com
                Authentication-Results: antispamcloud.com; dkim=pass header.i=gmail.com
                X-Spampanel-Class: unsure
                X-Spampanel-Evidence: Combined (0.15)
                X-Recommended-Action: accept
                X-Identified-User: {0000:box309.HostMonster.com:local:local} {sentby:Delivered locally}
                
    Knowledgebase Article 547,517 views bookmark tags: email header mail


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