Reporting problems such as spam or undelivered emails may need you to get hold of email headers. An email header is a hidden part of an email which holds information about who sent it, plus the route the email took before it was delivered to you.

This is a short guide to how to get email header information using Outlook Express. You'll find other email programs like Outlook and Thunderbird allow you to get headers in a similar way. For help with different email software read Spamcop's Help With Headers. (Note: Spamcop is an external site, PlusNet is not responsible for its content).

Finding message headers using Outlook Express

Go to your Outlook Express inbox and right-click on the message you want the header for. Choose the Properties option.

header properties

Now choose the Details tab and you should be able to see the full email header.

header details

Right-click on the email header, then choose 'Select All'. Right-click again on top of the selected text and click 'Copy'.

header copy

Now click the Windows Start Button, choose Run and type 'notepad' in the white text box. Click OK.

Run

In notepad choose Edit and Paste to copy the full headers into this file. Save this document by clicking File then Save As. Name the file and save it to your hard drive.

Then go to the Help Assistant to tell us about your problem. Click on the Help Assistant path that most closely describes what your problem is about. E.g: Technical Support > Email, Spam, Webmail & News > Email Security, Spam & Viruses. Click on any link and you'll see that you can then raise us a Question by clicking 'Alternatively, ask your question to the Support Team' in the Help Assistant screen. We'll then be able to look into your problem.

Once your Question has been raised you can refresh the Help Assistant screen (press F5) to see your new open Question.

You can now add the email header to your Question - this will mean our Support Team can see this information and try and solve your problem. To do this click on Amend/Upload File and choose the file you saved earlier in Notepad.