
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. You can easily see if the email message was secure and if it reached its recipient without errors or changes. Since the header contains the email’s routing information, you can view exactly which servers, ISPs, and email platforms the message has been through. For email deliverability, headers can provide helpful information about positive or negative interaction with a message. What are email headers used for?Įmail 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. Check out what an email header looks like below. This includes any email addresses that are involved in the conversation, the servers the email passed through while being sent, and more. It contains information that gives readers details in regards to the sender, receiver, and the message. Then, the message writer hits “send” and creates this information before the mail lands in the recipient’s inbox.įinally, the email header is a log of an email’s technical details that both the sender and recipient can see, though it can’t be as easily viewed as the email body. The envelope is the information that the email program and outgoing server use to communicate and deliver the message to the correct email address. The message envelope is something that neither the sender nor recipient see. The message’s sender and recipient can both see this information. Everything written in an email, from “ Dear Professor Dumbledore” to “ Sincerely Yours, Harry Potter,” is considered the body of the message. You probably already know what the body of an email refers to - the main text of the message. What should you remember about email headers?Įmails contain three main elements: the body, the envelope, and the header.Email headers in Microsoft Outlook (Hotmail) website and app.

