How to Show Email Headers in Yahoo Mail

View and inspect Yahoo Mail message headers

Bakery business owner working at laptop
Hero Images / Getty Images
by Heinz Tschabitscher
An independent writer who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
Updated June 10, 2019

Email headers are normally hidden in Yahoo Mail, but you may want to view them to get additional information about a message. For example, if you receive a suspicious email, inspecting the header lines can provide insight into where it really came from.

Information in this article applies to web versions of Yahoo Mail.

How to View an Email Header in Yahoo Mail

To view message headers in the standard web version of Yahoo Mail:

  1. Open the message for which want to view the header in Yahoo Mail.

  2. Select the ellipses (...) at the bottom of the message body (to the right of the forward and reply arrows).

    Select the ellipses (...) at the bottom of the message body (to the right of the forward and reply arrows).

  3. Select View raw message from the menu that appears.

    Select View Raw Message from the menu that appears.

  4. A new tab will open with the full message data including the header information.

    A new tab will open with the full message data including the header information.

How to View an Email Header in Yahoo Mail Basic

In Yahoo Mail Basic, select Raw Message above the message body (located next to Printable View) to view the message header.

In Yahoo Mail Basic, select Raw Message above the message body (located next to Printable View) to view the message header.

What's Included in the Yahoo Mail Header

The header information includes 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 conduct a search for the IP address (listed beside X-Originating-IP:) with a service like WhatIsMyIPAddress.com to see if it's legitimate.

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 check the IP address in the header. If you find that the IP address points to a server from a domain other than your bank's website, then the message probably didn't come from your bank.