Viewing Email Message Headers

Message headers are the hidden routing and authentication data attached to every email. They are essential when troubleshooting deliverability problems, investigating suspected phishing, or working with Exact Hosting Support. This article shows how to retrieve the full headers of a message in the most common email clients.

About email headers

Every email carries a block of headers in addition to its subject, body, and attachments. The headers record the path the message took, the authentication results at each hop, and the sender's claimed identity. For an explanation of what each header means, see Understanding Email Headers.

Tip: When you submit a deliverability or phishing ticket to Exact Hosting Support, paste the full headers into the ticket. The headers tell us where the message originated and why a filter or remote server made the decision it did.

Viewing headers in Mozilla Thunderbird

1. Open Thunderbird and select the message.
2. Click More and choose View source.
3. Copy the header text from the source window and paste it into your support request.

For more help, see Mozilla Thunderbird support.

Viewing headers in Outlook (desktop)

1. Open Outlook and select the message.
2. Click File > Properties.
3. Copy the headers from the Internet headers field and paste them into your support request.

For more help, see Microsoft support.

Viewing headers in Outlook.com

1. Open Outlook.com and select the message.
2. Click the ... menu at the top right of the message.
3. Choose View > View message source.
4. Copy the header text and paste it into your support request.

Viewing headers in Apple Mail (macOS)

1. Open the message in Mail.
2. Choose View > Message > All Headers.
3. Copy the displayed headers and paste them into your support request.

For more help, see Apple Mail support.

Viewing headers in Gmail

1. Open Gmail and open the message.
2. Click the ... menu and choose Show original.
3. Click Copy to clipboard to copy the full headers, or Download original for the complete raw message.
4. Paste the headers into your support request.

For more help, see Google Mail support.

Viewing headers in iOS Mail

The iOS Mail app does not expose full message headers natively. To get them:

• Use a desktop client. Open the same mailbox in Apple Mail on macOS and follow the Apple Mail steps above.
• Use webmail. Open the message in your provider's webmail. See the steps below.

Viewing headers in Exact Hosting Webmail

1. Open the message in Webmail.
2. Click Details.
3. Click All headers.
4. Copy the headers and paste them into your support request.

About Windows Mail

The built-in Windows Mail client does not provide a way to view full message headers. To investigate header data for a message you received in Windows Mail, open the same mailbox in Outlook, Thunderbird, or webmail and follow the steps above.

Next steps

• Decode the headers you collected. See Understanding Email Headers.
• Investigate a suspicious sender. See Am I Being Spoofed or Has My Email Been Compromised?
• Troubleshoot delivery failures. See Troubleshooting Spam and Rejections in Exact Hosting Hosted Email.

Questions? Contact Exact Hosting Support.