Contents
Any email message includes not only the body — the main part containing the message for the addressee — but also many service headers. This is technical data that is not visible when viewing the message normally. When necessary, service headers allow you to perform a detailed analysis and determine:
- additional recipients of the letter (Cc: header);
- type of data in the letter (Content-Type: header);
- the organization from which the letter was sent (Organization: header);
- information about the passage of the email through mail servers, allowing you to determine the real sender - for example, a spammer (Received: header);
- much more.
Just by opening the letter, you will not see the service headers. To view them, you need to consider which webmail service or client you use and apply the appropriate method.
Gmail
Gmail owners can view the service headers of letters in the desktop web version of the service. Neither the Gmail mobile app nor the web version for mobile browsers provide this option.
Open the email in your desktop browser whose service headers you want to view. Find the three dots in the right part of its header and click on them to open the menu. Click on "Show Original". On the page that opens, you will see all the service headers.
Yahoo
The service allows you to view the service headers of emails only in the desktop web version. There is a Yahoo mobile app and a version for mobile browsers, but they do not provide access to the service headers.
Open the email in your desktop browser and pay attention to its bottom. You will see buttons under the body. One of them, located on the right, looks like three dots oriented horizontally. Click on this button. In the menu that appears, select "View RAW message", and you will see the service headers of the letter.
Outlook (formerly Hotmail)
This email service from Microsoft allows you to view service headers in a browser and a desktop application. Using a browser or a mobile application, you will not have access to the service headers of letters received in Outlook email.
Using a computer browser, open the letter and look at the right part of its header. You will see buttons, one of which, located on the right, looks like three dots. Click on it to open the menu. Click on the "View" item, and then, in the submenu that appears, on the "View Message Source" item. On the page that opens, you will see the service headers of the letter.
Using the Outlook for PC application, open the letter you are interested in, and then the "File" menu. Select "Information" in this menu and click on it. A window will open in which you need to find a large "Properties" button. By clicking on it, you will see the service headers of the email.
Yandex Mail
The email service created by Yandex provides access to service headers in web versions for desktop and mobile browsers. Users of the Yandex Mail mobile application are deprived of this access.
When working in a browser on a computer, open the letter and look at the line with buttons located above its header. Find the button in the form of three dots on the right and click on it. In the menu that opens, select "Message Properties" and you will see the required service headers.
Using a mobile browser, open the message and tap on the three dots on the right side of the line where the sender is indicated.
Scroll down the menu that opens and find the last item in it - "Message headers". Tap on it. You will see the required service headers.
Proton Mail
The only way to read the service headers of a letter sent to your Proton Mail email is to use the web version of this service for computer browsers. Neither the mobile browser version nor the Proton Mail mobile application provide this option.
Open the letter in a browser on your computer. In the right part of its header, you will see a button in the form of a downward arrow. Click on it to expand the header. A number of additional buttons will appear under the date and time of receipt of the letter. Click on the right one, which has three dots on it. A menu will appear in which you need to find the item "View headers". Click on it, and you will see the information you were looking for.
Thunderbird
The popular desktop version of the Thunderbird application allows you to view the service headers of an email. There is no mobile version - the company Mozilla, which developed the application, announced that it was suspending work on it.
Open the email you are interested in in the Thunderbird application for PC. On the right side of its header, you will see a row of buttons. Click on the right one - it is called "More". A menu will open in which you need to find the "View source" item and click on it. After completing these steps, you will see the service headers.
Apple Mail
This Apple application provides access to service headers in its desktop version for MacOS. The mobile version of the Apple Mail application for iOS does not have this feature.
Select the letter you are interested in from the general list in the application and highlight it by right-clicking on it. Open the "View" menu and click on the "Message" item in it. Select "All Headers" in the submenu that appears, and you will see the service headers of the letter you were looking for. You can get to them faster in the Apple Mail application - just select the letter and press the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + H.
The methods for viewing service headers vary, but, as we can see, it is not essential. Use the instructions in this article, and you will always have complete information about the emails you are interested in.