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Queen's University
 

Help and Support

Show Email Headers


An email message has 2 parts - the header and the message body. The header is made up of control information, most of which is usually hidden by your email client. This information is essential when trying to diagnose an issue with electronic mail.


If you are asked to provide a copy of an email to the IT Support Centre or someone else within ITServices (or any other support organization) you should provide the header information and depending on the content of the message maybe the message body. Most of the header information won't make sense to you but make sure the lines that start with  Received:  and  Message-id: have been included.


If the ITSupport Centre requests you to send the headers of an email (and the body if applicable) they will create an issue for you and send it to you in email. Once you receive this email you can follow the instructions for obtaining the headers and then copy and paste the headers into the email you received.


You can also start the process by completing the online help form and pasting the header information into it. 


The process for viewing the headers will depend on which email client you are using and may depend on the specific version you are using. To view the full headers you may need to scroll down the screen.  You should see lines including Received and Message-id.  If you do not see these lines, try again.


If you are using an email client not listed below there are public web sites dedicated to trying to prevent spam that provide instructions for displaying the headers in various email clients. Two of these are Spamcop and FraudAid.  Check these sites to see if your email client is listed. 


Outlook 2010

  1. Start Outlook
  2. Open the message you want to see the full headers for.
  3. Click the File menu and select Info.
  4. Click the Properties button.
  5. The Message Options  screen will open
    • The full headers will be displayed in the Internet headers: box 
    • Right click within the Internet Headers: box and choose Select All.
    • Right click again and select Copy
  6. If you are sending the headers to the ITSupport Centre open the email you received with the specifics of your issue
    • Paste the copied header text into the area indicated by the enter your reply above this line.
    • Paste the text of the message (if requested) below the header information.
    • Send this message to the ITSupport Centre. 

Outlook 2011

  1. Right click on the message you'd like to view the header of.
  2. Select View Source.
  3. This will open up a Textedit file of the message header
  4. Copy and paste whatever you need

Mac Mail

  1. Start Mac Mail  and open the message you want to display the headers for 
    • From the View menu in the tool bar select Message
    • Then select All Headers
  2. Your email headers will be expanded to show your full headers. 
    • Using your mouse, select all the header text and copy it.
    • Open the email message you received from the ITSuport Centre with the specifics of your issue.
    • Paste the copied header text into the area indicated by the enter your reply above this line.
    • Paste the text of the message (if requested) below the header information
    • Send this message to the ITSupport Centre. 

Office 365 Web App

  1. Open the email you want to see the headers for. 
  2. Click the message details button from the menu bar.

 

 


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Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6 613.533.2000