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Introduction

Email headers contain essential metadata about the journey and origin of an email message, such as sender and recipient information, timestamps, and the email's route through mail servers. This information is critical for troubleshooting email issues, ensuring compliance, and enhancing security measures.

When an issue arises that requires deeper insight into an email's path or origins, technical teams may request the email headers for analysis. Email headers are particularly useful in diagnosing delivery problems, identifying potential spoofing attempts, and verifying the authenticity of the sender. However, due to the sensitive nature of the information contained in email headers, it is crucial to handle them with care.

Important Notice: Only provide email headers if a request comes directly from our technical support team.

Extracting Email Headers in Different Versions of Outlook

Table of Contents

  1. Outlook 2016 and 2019 for Windows
  2. Latest Version of Outlook for Windows
  3. Outlook for Mac
  4. Outlook Web App (OWA)
  5. SmarterMail

Outlook 2016 and 2019 for Windows

  1. Open Outlook and select the email for which you want to view the headers.
  2. Click on File in the top menu.
  3. Select Properties.
  4. In the Properties dialog box, the headers will be displayed in the Internet headers field.
  5. Copy the headers from the Internet headers field.

Latest Version of Outlook for Windows

  1. Open Outlook and select the email for which you want to view the headers.
  2. Click on the three dots (more actions) in the top menu and select View Source or Properties depending on the interface.
  3. If you select Properties, the headers will be displayed in the Internet headers field.
  4. If you select View Source, a new window will open displaying the email headers.
  5. Copy the headers from the respective field or window.

Outlook for Mac

  1. Open Outlook and select the email for which you want to view the headers.
  2. Click on View in the top menu.
  3. Select Message and then All Headers.
  4. A new window will open displaying the email headers.
  5. Copy the headers from the window.

Outlook Web App (OWA)

  1. Open your web browser and navigate to Outlook Web App (https://outlook.office.com/).
  2. Log in with your credentials and select the email for which you want to view the headers.
  3. Click on the three dots (more actions) in the top right corner of the email.
  4. Select View message source.
  5. A new tab will open displaying the email headers.
  6. Copy the headers from the new tab.

SmarterMail

  1. Access the webmail interface using your credentials.
  2. Navigate to the folder containing the email (e.g., Inbox, Sent Items, or Junk Email).
  3. Click on the subject line of the email to open it.
  4. Click the menu (represented by a three dot) in the email view.
  5. Select View Headers
  6. Click Copy content to clipboard
  7. Open up Notepad and paste into it.