What Are Full E-mail Headers?

All e-mails have two parts: a header and a body. The body is the main part of the e-mail, which contains the sender's message. The header is the part that contains technical information about the message, including the identity of the sender and the recipient, the date and time the message was sent, and its subject. In addition, there are portions of the e-mail header that are usually not visible, since many users are not interested in the technical details they contain, such as formatting and routing information.

This article gives an overview of how to make these hidden headers visible in various e-mail programs. The "full headers" of your e-mail can be helpful when diagnosing any sort of some e-mail problems you may encounter. For example, the ITS Client Services Center uses the routing information in these headers when we want to determine the origin of a message (see the "About "Mail Delivery Subsystem" E-mail Messages" section, below). If you have a question about an e-mail message you received, and you would like to send it to the Client Services Center (its.clientservices@nyu.edu) for analysis, be sure to follow the instructions below.

To View Full E-mail Headers

Select your e-mail program:

1. Messenger Express
2. Outlook Express
3. Microsoft Outlook
4. Eudora
5. Netscape 7 / Mozilla
6. Netscape Navigator 4.x
7. Netscape Communicator 4.x
8. Opera 7
9. Pine
10. Microsoft Entourage
11. Apple Mail

Messenger Express

Click on the "headers disclosure" triangle, on the far right side of the headers section. This button is used to toggle between displaying full headers and brief headers (see figs. #1 and #2).

Fig. #1 - Messenger Express Window with Brief Headers

Fig. #2 - Messenger Express Window with Full Headers

Outlook Express

Open the e-mail message, then go to the File menu and select Properties. Click on the Details tab. This will display "Internet Headers for this message".

Fig. #3 - Details Tab in Outlook Express

MS Outlook

Open the message, then go to the View menu and select Options... This will display the Message Options window, with "Internet Headers:" information at the bottom.

Fig. #4 - Outlook Message Options

Eudora

Open the message; then, in the message window, click the "Blah Blah" button. This will display the full message headers.

Fig. #5 - Full Message Headers Displayed in Eudora

Netscape 7 / Mozilla

Open the message, then go to the View menu and select Message Source. This will display the full headers and message source. Another way to display the full headers is to click the Disclosure button next to the Subject line in the preview panel.

Fig. #6 - Full Headers Displayed in Mozilla

Fig. #7 - Full Headers Displayed in Netscape 7

Netscape Navigator 4.x

Open the message. Click on Options, then Show Headers and All.

Fig. #8 - Full Headers Displayed in Netscape

Netscape Communicator 4.x

Open the message you want to forward. Click on View, then Headers, and All (see fig. #8 above)

Opera 7

Select the message, then click on the "Display All Headers" link in the headers section of the message. This will display the full message headers.

Fig. #9 - Full Headers Displayed in Opera

Pine

Open the message, then press "H" on the keyboard. This will toggle between displaying full headers and brief headers. (NOTE: You must enable the "enable-full-headers" option in the Pine configuration; to do this, press "M" to go to the Main menu, then press "S" to enter Setup, then press "C" to enter the Configuration. Once you are in the configuration, press "W" to search for a string, and enter the string "enable-full-headers" and press enter. This will take you to the "enable-full-headers" option, which you can enable by pressing "X". Then press "E" to Exit the configuration, and press "Y" to answer Yes when prompted to save changes to the configuration. Please note that if this option is not enabled, the "H" key will not execute any command, and you will not be able to see full message headers.)

Fig. #10 - Full Headers Displayed in Pine

Microsoft Entourage

Open the message, then go to the View menu and select Internet Headers. You can also highlight the message in your inbox, go to the View menu, and select Source.

Fig. #11 - Full Headers Displayed in MS Entourage

Apple Mail

Open the message, then go to the View menu and select Show All Headers (or simply press Apple+Shift+H on the keyboard). (NOTE: To return to the simple headers, select Show Filtered Headers from the View menu, or simply press Apple+Shift+H on the keyboard again).

Fig. #12 - Full Headers Displayed in Apple Mail

To Forward an E-mail with Full Headers

After revealing the full headers in your e-mail message (as described above), highlight the entire contents of the headers (see fig. 1 for an example from Eudora). Press and hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard, then press the C key to copy the text. Press the Forward button (to forward the message). If the full headers are not automatically included, paste the copied header text in the body of the e-mail by pressing Ctrl and V. Address the message as appropriate, compose the rest of the message body as you like, and click the Send button.

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Author Biography

Eduardo De León is a User Support Specialist at NYU's ITS Client Services Center. He has been with ITS Client Services since the year 2000. He can be reached at eduardo.deleon@nyu.edu.

 

Page last reviewed: April 8, 2003. All content © New York University.
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