Email Header Trace

What is email header tracing?

Every email carries metadata called headers that record how it was routed through the internet. The most informative of these are the Received headers, which each mail server stamps onto the message as it passes through.

Reading these headers from bottom to top reveals the chronological path the email took from the sender's mail server to your inbox, including server names, IP addresses, and the time spent at each hop.

How to use this tool

1. Open your email client and find the option to view full headers or "show original."
2. Copy the entire header text (everything above the email body).
3. Paste the headers into the text area above and click Trace.
4. Review the timeline showing each server hop, the IP addresses involved, the protocol used, and the delay between hops.

Common use cases

• Delivery delays: Identify which hop introduced the most delay in an email's journey.
• Spam investigation: Find the originating IP to check against blacklists or report abuse.
• Phishing analysis: Verify whether the email actually came from the claimed sender domain.
• Server troubleshooting: Confirm that your mail server is correctly routing through expected relays.