KnowledgeBase Articles » How can I find the "message headers" using Microsoft Outlook?

Friday, February 07, 2014, 10:19

How can I find the "message headers" using Microsoft Outlook?

Category: Troubleshooting

Solution ID: 00000265

Summary:

My mail administrator has asked me to forward the "message headers" of an email that I want them to analyze. What are "message headers" and where can I find these in Microsoft Outlook?

Answer:

Message Headers are the email header information that is usually displayed at the top of a message in your mail client (e.g. Outlook). They usually contain information such as the 'From', 'To', 'Date' and 'Subject' fields. Not all Message Headers are displayed by your mail client. There are many more headers that describe the format and encoding of your email, and additional information supplied by each mail server that handled the message.

The "hidden" Message Headers are very useful when your email administrator is investigating an email issue. Sometimes mail clients will remove Message Headers when messages are forwarded, so you may be asked to copy and forward this information to your email administrator.

Different versions of Outlook organize their menus in different ways. In general, to find the Message Header information in Microsoft Outlook do the following:

1) In an open message, click the File tab. You may not see the file tab in your mail client. In this case click the "Quick Access" icon at the top left corner of the message (which will give you access to other commands such as "New", "Print", "Save", and "Properties".
2) Click Properties.
3) The Message Headers appear in the "Internet headers" box, which may be located on the "Details" tab.
4) Highlight the headers with your mouse and press Control+C to copy the information.

You may also find the "Message Source" available on this page. This contains the complete email message in its raw form, which is also very useful for message analysis.

Tags: email, message, header, microsoft, outlook, diagnostic, analysis

Link to this article: https://perfectmail.com/kb/microsoft_outlook_mail_headers

Updated: Friday, February 07, 2014, 10:19

-- David Rutherford