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How to Get Email Headers

Email headers contain important technical information about an email message, including authentication details like SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI. Below are instructions for retrieving email headers from various email clients.

Important: Always copy the complete email headers, not just a portion. The headers should include all technical information from the beginning of the message.

Microsoft Outlook (Desktop)

  1. Open the email message in Outlook
  2. Click on File → Properties
  3. In the Properties dialog box, look for the Internet headers section
  4. Select all text in the Internet headers box (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A)
  5. Copy the headers (Ctrl+C or Cmd+C)
  6. Paste the headers into the validation tool

Outlook on the Web / Office 365

  1. Open the email message in Outlook on the web
  2. Click the three dots menu (•••) in the top-right corner of the message
  3. Select View message source or View message details
  4. A new window will open with the full message source
  5. Select all text (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A)
  6. Copy the headers (Ctrl+C or Cmd+C)
  7. Paste the headers into the validation tool

Gmail

  1. Open the email in Gmail
  2. Click the three dots menu (⋮) next to the Reply button
  3. Select Show original
  4. A new tab will open with the email source
  5. Click Copy to clipboard button at the top of the page
  6. Paste the headers into the validation tool
Tip: Gmail's "Show original" includes both headers and body. The validation tool will automatically extract just the headers.

Apple Mail (macOS)

  1. Open the email in Apple Mail
  2. Click View in the menu bar
  3. Select Message → All Headers
  4. The headers will be displayed in the message
  5. Select all the header text
  6. Copy the headers (Cmd+C)
  7. Paste the headers into the validation tool
Alternative method: You can also use View → Message → Raw Source (⌥⌘U) to see the complete message source.

Yahoo Mail

  1. Open the email in Yahoo Mail
  2. Click the More menu (•••) above the message
  3. Select View raw message
  4. A new window will open with the complete message source
  5. Select all text (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A)
  6. Copy the text (Ctrl+C or Cmd+C)
  7. Paste the headers into the validation tool

Mozilla Thunderbird

  1. Open the email in Thunderbird
  2. Click View in the menu bar
  3. Select Message Source (or press Ctrl+U)
  4. A new window will open with the complete message source
  5. Select all text (Ctrl+A)
  6. Copy the text (Ctrl+C)
  7. Paste the headers into the validation tool

ProtonMail

  1. Open the email in ProtonMail
  2. Click the three dots menu (•••) in the top-right corner of the message
  3. Select View headers
  4. A popup will show the email headers
  5. Click Copy button or select all and copy
  6. Paste the headers into the validation tool

Mobile Devices (iOS/Android)

Most mobile email apps have limited support for viewing email headers. We recommend:

  • Access your email through a web browser on your mobile device
  • Use the desktop version of the website
  • Follow the instructions for your email provider above
  • Alternatively, forward the email to yourself and view it on a desktop computer

Other Email Clients

If your email client is not listed above, look for one of these options in the menus:

  • View Source
  • View Original
  • View Raw Message
  • View Full Headers
  • Message Headers
  • Properties (usually under File menu)

Need more help? Consult your email client's documentation or support resources. Search for "view email headers" along with your email client's name.

What to Look For in Email Headers

When you copy email headers, make sure they include these important fields:

From: sender@example.com

To: recipient@example.com

Subject: Your email subject

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2023 10:30:00 -0500

Message-ID: <unique-id@example.com>

Authentication-Results: ...

DKIM-Signature: ...

Received: ...

The headers typically start with "Delivered-To:" or "Return-Path:" and end just before the email body begins.