How to Show Headers in Yahoo Mail

Show the email header in a Yahoo Mail message

Bakery business owner working at laptop
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by Heinz Tschabitscher
An independent writer who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
Updated October 02, 2018

You don't normally need to peek behind the scenes when using Yahoo Mail. However, emails sometimes don't work properly, and since every message comes with its own log that details all the steps it has taken, you can take advantage of that.

The email headers in Yahoo Mail are normally hidden, but if problems occur - like you get a message long after it's been sent - you can take a look at all the header lines for more detail.

How to Find an Email Header in Yahoo Mail

  2. Open the email that you want the header from.

  3. In the toolbar at the top of the message, next to Spam, is a button for more options. Click it to open the menu and then choose View Raw Message.

  4. A new tab will open with the full message, including the header information and the whole body message.

What's Included in the Yahoo Mail Header

The header information in Yahoo Mail messages is included in the full, raw message details.

All the information starts from the top with the email address that the message was sent to. There are also details about when the email was sent, the IP address of the sending server, and when the recipient received the message.

Knowing the IP address of the server that the message was sent from can be helpful if you suspect that the true identity of the sender has been spoofed or faked. You can do a search for the IP address with a service like WhatIsMyIPAddress.com.

For example, if you find that your bank has sent you an odd email and you want to investigate who really sent the message, you can read the IP address at the top of the header. If you find that the IP address points to a server from a domain (xyz.co) that's different than your bank's website (realbank.com), then it's possible that the email address was spoofed and the message didn't originate at your bank.