Every email you receive will have a trail of technical data. Hidden in the message header are the servers that the message passed through, and sometimes, the sender’s IP address. People are interested in this information when they receive a suspicious email, a phishing attempt, or spam. Knowing what to look for and what it means will save you time and prevent confusion. This tutorial will explain the process for the major email providers.
So, how to find out ip address from email? Open the complete message header and look at the “Received” lines from the bottom up. The process is slightly different in every email program, and in some cases the sender’s IP is hidden, so it is helpful to know what to expect.
What Is an Email Header?
An email header is a part of an email message that contains technical data about the message. It contains the route the message took, timestamps, and other information. Most of the time, email clients do not show this data, so you need to know how to view raw headers in your email client.
How to Find Out IP Address from Email in Gmail
In Gmail, you can view the header of a message by clicking on the three dots in the top right corner of the message, and then choosing “Show original.” For the latest steps, you can also check Google’s official guide to tracing an email with its full header.
If you are trying to get the IP of another Gmail user, you will not find the expected result. If the sender is using Gmail’s website, they will appear to be using a Google server. This happens because of encryption, and the same thing happens in other email services.
How to Find Out IP Address from Email in Outlook
In Outlook desktop, you will need to double-click the message to open it, then go to File > Properties, and view the “Internet headers” field. In Outlook on the web, you will need to open the message, click the three-dot menu, go to View > View message details, and scroll to the top of the message. You will see the message headers there.
How to Find Out IP Address from Email in Yahoo Mail and Apple Mail
In Yahoo Mail: Open the message and click the three-dot menu, then select “View raw message.” In Apple Mail: select the message, then View > Message > All Headers. The process is rather similar for both, and you will need to look at the bottom of the headers and the “Received: from” lines.
How to Find Out IP Address from Email: Reading the Header
The headers are read from the bottom up. The lowest entry is the first “Received” header. This is the first server that processed the message, so it is the closest to the sender. Above it will be another line with a similar structure, which represents the next server in the chain.
Search for an entry that has an address formatted like this: a series of four numbers separated by dots. Examples of valid IP addresses include 203.0.113.25 or 198.51.100.1. You should avoid using the ones that have your email provider’s name or that otherwise obviously belong to you. The first public IP address is most likely the one you need to track down.
You can simply paste this address into a free IP lookup tool or WHOIS service to find out which company owns it. This will give you a general idea of the location of the sender.
What an IP Address Can and Can’t Tell You
In most cases, an IP address will give you limited information about the sender. You will be able to find out which company provides Internet access to the person and approximately where this person is located. However, this data is often not enough to identify the person. Law enforcement agencies are the only ones who have the right to demand IP disclosure, and they usually do so with a court order. Keep in mind that
- anonymity tools like VPNs and proxies can hide real IP addresses.
- Some people use email clients that send all messages through the same IP address, for example, at the office.
- Many webmail services also replace the sender’s IP address with their own.
- In addition, email spoofing tricks you by falsifying the address fields, changing the value of the lowest entries in the header.
When You Can’t Find the Sender’s IP
If you have tried to learn how to find out ip address from email and cannot find any IP addresses except those that belong to your provider or the recipient, this probably means that the sender uses Google, Outlook, or another email service. These companies are registered under their own IP addresses, which are often shared with users of these services. In this case, you may want to examine the SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in the header, which verify that the email actually came from the specified domain.
Use This Information Responsibly
If a phishing email tricked you into sharing financial details, it’s also worth checking your credit report for anything unfamiliar. Our guide on how to raise credit score in 30 days explains how credit reports and scores work.
Knowing how to find out ip address from email is a basic skill in the field of information security. In most cases, this knowledge is useful for determining the authenticity of suspicious messages, since IP addresses act as identifiers of persons in the digital world. However, this information alone is not enough to determine the identity of the sender. Do not try to personally confront the person whose email you found, for example, on a phishing site. If the email threatens you in any way, save the header and, if possible, forward this email to the appropriate authorities.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to find out ip address from email without opening it?
You generally can’t view the header without opening the message in your email client, but you can open it in a safe way by viewing the original or raw source, which doesn’t load remote images or trackers.
How to find out IP address from email on a phone?
The steps are nearly the same. In the Gmail app, tap the three-dot menu and choose Show original; in the Outlook app, look for the message details or view source option.
Can you always find out ip address from email?
No. Many providers, VPNs, and marketing platforms mask the sender’s real IP address, so the header may only show server addresses.
Does an IP address show the sender’s exact location?
No. It typically shows the internet provider and an approximate city or region, not a home address.
Is it legal to view an email header?
Yes, viewing the header of an email you received is legal and routine. Using the information to harass someone is not.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to find out ip address from email comes down to opening the full header, reading the “Received” lines from the bottom up, and understanding the limits of what an IP can show. Use it to spot phishing and report abuse, and let the proper authorities handle anything beyond that.