{"id":224778,"date":"2020-04-17T07:12:29","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T01:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qcsglobal.com\/?p=224778"},"modified":"2020-04-18T17:10:17","modified_gmt":"2020-04-18T11:40:17","slug":"email-headers-what-they-are-how-to-read-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/email-headers-what-they-are-how-to-read-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Email Headers: What They Are &#038; How To Read Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"\">\n<h2>What are email headers used for?<\/h2>\n<p>Email headers are usually used to see information such as who has sent and received a message, where the message has passed through a server, and what kind of errors may have prevented the email from reaching its intended destination. For <strong>email deliverability<\/strong>, headers can provide helpful information about positive or negative interaction with a message.<\/p>\n<p>Since the header contains the email\u2019s routing information, you can view exactly which servers, ISPs, and email platforms the message has been through. You can easily see if the email message was secure and <strong>if it reached its recipient without errors or changes<\/strong>. If the message encountered a problem on its way to its destination, or was never delivered at all, a tech-savvy user can review the header and figure out exactly what affected the message. Did Harry\u2019s email go to <em>Aberfoth<\/em> Dumbledore, instead of Albus? \ud83e\udd14<\/p>\n<p>After identifying issues, the user can then fix problems that help new emails get where they need to go.<\/p>\n<p>Due to their ability to quickly help solve many delivery issues, headers are a valuable resource for organizations concerned with deliverability and the technical process of sending an email. That\u2019s why it is important, if you are beginning an email campaign, to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/app.mailjet.com\/docs\/spf-dkim-guide\">correctly configure your delivery systems beforehand<\/a><\/strong> and send a few test emails. With the right tools in place, you will be able to give yourself a leg up in deliverability before your email even leaves your outbox.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/newsletter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-19993\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/EN-NL-Signup-Banner.png\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/EN-NL-Signup-Banner.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/EN-NL-Signup-Banner-768x108.png 768w\" alt=\"Sign up to the newsletter\" width=\"1536\" height=\"216\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>What are the standard parts of an email header?<\/h2>\n<p>Email headers provide you with information you may want or need. The <strong>standard parts of an email header<\/strong> are below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>From<\/strong>: This section refers to the name and email address of the sender, which is the origin of the email.<\/li>\n<li><strong>To<\/strong>: This section refers to the name and email address of the recipient. If there is more than one recipient, the name and email address of each recipient will appear in this section.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Date<\/strong>: This section refers to the day and time the email was sent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Elsewhere in the header, we can also find the following technical sections:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Subject<\/strong>: This section refers to the subject line used in the email message.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Return-Path<\/strong>: If an error is found while the email is being sent or, for any reason, the email cannot reach the intended inbox, the mail will be sent to the address specified in this section. It will generally be send back to the sender \u2014 via the \u201c<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/blog\/news\/return-path-customization-explained\/\">return path<\/a><\/strong>\u201d \u2014 specified in the \u201cfrom\u201d section.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Received<\/strong>: This section refers to all of the places the message has been specifically delivered to. For each successful point of receipt, we can see the IP address and the different authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM-signature, DMARC) that have (or have not) been validated by the different servers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Message-ID<\/strong>: This section refers to the unique identifier of each specific email message.<\/li>\n<li><strong>MIME-version<\/strong>: When present, MIME-version (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) refer to programs that support email attachments outside of the main message, like static images and video and audio components.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Content-type<\/strong>: This section refers to the different content types in each message (text, jpeg, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How do you find an email header in your email client?<\/h2>\n<p>There are many popular webmail providers used by both businesses and individuals, and all of them contain email headers for each message. Below, you can see <strong>instructions for finding headers on several popular email clients<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3>Email headers in Gmail<\/h3>\n<p>In Google Mail, you can click on the three dots in the top right corner of any email message in your account (next to the reply arrow), and then click the \u201cshow original\u201d option. This will show you the header.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-19980\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-02.png\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-02.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-02-768x415.png 768w\" alt=\"Show email header on Gmail\" width=\"1536\" height=\"830\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Email headers in Microsoft Outlook (Hotmail) email client and app<\/h3>\n<p>On the Microsoft Outlook website, you can click the three dots in the upper right corner of the email, next to the reply and forward options. You can then click \u201cview message source\u201d in the menu to view the full email header.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19997\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-06.png\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-06.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-06-768x433.png 768w\" alt=\"Show email header on Microsoft Outlook website\" width=\"1536\" height=\"866\" \/><br \/>\nIn the Microsoft Outlook app, you can double click the email to see it in a separate window. Then, click \u201cfile\u201d and then click \u201cproperties.\u201d You can see the header information in the \u201cinternet headers\u201d section at the bottom of the screen.<\/p>\n<h3>Email headers in Yahoo! Mail<\/h3>\n<p>In Yahoo Mail, open the message and click the \u201cmore\u201d button above it. Then, click \u201cview raw message.\u201d This will show you the header.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19998\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-05.png\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-05.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-05-768x433.png 768w\" alt=\"Show email header in Yahoo\" width=\"1536\" height=\"866\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Email headers in Apple Mail<\/h3>\n<p>In Apple Mail, you can open the message and select the \u201cview\u201d option in the menu pane. Then, choose the \u201cmessage\u201d option and finally click on the \u201craw source\u201d option. This will display your message\u2019s email header.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-19981\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-01.png\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-01.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Mockup-01-768x415.png 768w\" alt=\"Show email header on Apple Mail\" width=\"1536\" height=\"830\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>What should you remember about email headers?<\/h2>\n<p>Email headers may seem unfamiliar to those who have never viewed them, whether you\u2019re a business veteran or a powerful wizard. However, they are a quick and easy way to find out <strong>detailed information about your emails\u2019 journey and if they are being properly delivered<\/strong>. They are an important part of good deliverability strategy, and becoming familiar with them will help you launch successful email campaigns and view their results.<\/p>\n<p><em>Want more tips and information about email deliverability? Sign up for <strong>the Mailjet newsletter<\/strong>!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mailjet.com\/blog\/news\/how-to-read-email-headers\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are email headers used for? Email headers are usually used to see information such as who has sent and received a message, where the message has passed through a server, and what kind of errors may have prevented the email from reaching its intended destination. For email deliverability, headers can provide helpful information about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":224779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224800,"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224778\/revisions\/224800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qcsglobal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}