How to Receive an Email Header?
An email header
is often hidden and requires a bit of exploring before they can
be revealed. Don't worry - every email has a header as email clients do not
accept messages that doesn't come with this piece of information. Through the
email header, you can easily extract the
IP address
which could be used later to
determine the physical location of the message sender.
Before the message is received, it goes through various processes involving the
ISP or internet service provider of the sender and the recipient. Through this
process, the email address of the recipient is validated and a response is
dispatched if the email account does not exist. These processes are indicated in
the email header.
Since the ISP connects to the sender before message is sent,
it has to use the IP address since the ISP has to learn where it came from.
Finding the Email Header in Popular Clients
Finding the email header is relatively simple in popular clients. In this article, we'll look at Gmail (Google's email), Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, AOL and other popular websites offering email accounts.
Gmail
Google's email client has two versions: the standard and HTML format. For standard, just click on the message and look for the reverse triangle link after "Reply". Click on it and it will drop down options. Click on "Show Original" and the email will be displayed with the header. For HTML format, the "Show Original" link is found after the "Delete "link.
Yahoo Mail
The email header in Yahoo's email client is simpler compared to Google. Look for the link that says "Full Headers" in the lower right side of the email. Click on the link and the full header will be displayed on top of the message.
Hotmail
Determining the email header for Hotmail is a lot like Gmail. Look for the arrow after the "Reply" button and click on it. A menu of options will is displayed and one of them is "View Message Source" click on that option and email header will be immediately displayed.
AOL
Open the message, click on the triangle facing downward after the word "Action". A menu will be displayed for additional options. Click on view "View Message Source". AOL has a Basic Version (HTML-based) which features almost the same interface for viewing the email header.
Bigstring
Finding the email header is a lot easier in this account. The link "Header" is located in the right side of the sender's email address. Click on the link and the complete header will be immediately displayed.
Fastmail.fm
Like Bigstring, the link to show the header is located in the upper right side of the message. Click on "Show Full Header" so that the complete information about the email will be displayed.
Gawab
There are two ways of accessing the email header in Gawab. First, look for the link saying "Show More Headers". The link is located on the upper left side of the message, just below the word "Labels". The second method is to click on the link "View Source". This is located on top of the Subject of the email.
GMX
After opening the message, click on "Open E-mail". That should display the full message on another tab. Once the message is completely loaded, look for another link saying "Extended Header". The email header will immediately pop-up.
Lavabit
After opening the message, click on the link "View Full Header" found just below "To". Note that clicking on this link will hide the original message. To view the message, click on "View Message" on the upper right side of the page of the header.
Mail.com
Open the message and click on "Show Full Headers". The link is located just on top of the message.
These are the processes in determining the email header of popular email clients. Other email clients have almost the same process. If you can't find it, there is always a help link where you can find the information needed. The best thing to do is to explore your account and click on links that offer additional options or data related to the message received.
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