Email: Find the Full Headers of an Email Message

Overview

Email headers are the metadata of an email that show where the message is from and information on the mail servers that it was sent through.
Headers are needed to verify where an email originated and whether or not the email is legitimate.

Outlook for Windows (2016, 2019 and Office 365)

1. Double-click on the message to open it in a separate window.
2. Choose File in the top left corner.
3. Select Properties.
4. Highlight all of the text in the field labeled Internet headers and paste it into the message you are sending.

Outlook 2016/2019 for Mac

1. Right-click (or ctrl+click) the message and choose View Source.
2. The headers will open in TextEdit for you to Copy/Paste.

Outlook on the Web

1. Access Office 365 in a web browser.
2. Right-click the message in the mailbox OR from the message, select the ellipses(...) in the top right of the message.
3. In the dropdown menu, choose View > View Message Details.
4. A window called Message Details will open.
5. Copy the contents of Message Details and paste them into a blank message.

Gmail

1. Access Gmail in a web browser.
2. Open the message and select the down arrow in the top right corner of the message.
3. Choose Show Original from the dropdown menu.
4. A tab called Original Message will open.
5. Copy the contents of the lower part of the page and paste them into a blank message.

Apple Mail

1. Select the message for which you want to see the full header information.
2. Select View on the menu, and then choose Message and All Headers, OR press Command-Shift-H on the keyboard.
3. Select the Forward button, OR click the Message on the menu and choose Forward Message, OR press Command-Shift-F on the keyboard.
4. Fill in the address in the "To:" field as well as the subject. If forwarding the headers to the OIT Abuse Team, send them to abuse@utk.edu.
5. Then, proceed to send the message as normal.