How to Download Email Headers from Outlook?
Published: February 13th, 2026 • 6 Min Read
Are you also not aware of how to download email headers from outlook and you want to capture fake or phishing emails, or you have other reasons? Then don’t worry, in this blog post, you will be going to learn about the process to extract headers from Outlook.
Outlook is the most used email application worldwide, and most users send and receive over 10 million emails every day. These emails include scams, spam emails, late or missing emails, and fake emails. Which is not safe for any user. In such cases, IT teams or cybersecurity experts need email headers to find and track them all.
So, in this blog post, we are going to share both manual and professional methods to get email header from Outlook, and also share the main reasons behind it. Read this complete blog till the end to find the solution to extract email header from Outlook.
Common Reasons to Download Email Headers
There can be many cases of when users need to export email header from Outlook; some of the important ones are shown below.
- When users receive phishing or fake emails, the IT team wants to check.
- If the email goes to the spam and to, find a reason behind the email being marked as spam.
- Email delivered late, wanted to know why the email got delayed
- The email has not received. To track the email, where the email is blocked.
- Displays the wrong sender’s name; headers show the actual name of the sender.
- Security or compliance issue, in some case the company needs proof, then downloading email headers is required.
These were the most common reasons that explain why the need to get email header from Outlook. Now, moving on to the next section to know how to do this.
How to Download Email Headers from Outlook Manually?
Now we know the common reasons why the IT teams and cybersecurity experts, export email header from Outlook. Whether you are a normal user or a team member of an IT company or cybersecurity, you can also get email header from Outlook. Follow the steps below to do so:
- Open the Outlook application in your Windows Operating System.
- Then, go to the Send/Receive Tab from the navigation bar.
- After that, click on the 3 dots or download preferences.
- You will see the option of “Download Headers.”
- Then, click on that option to “Download Headers.”
- Once you have done so, you can see it in the status bar.
Note: Using this method, you can only get email header from Outlook folders.
To download headers from specific folders in Outlook, you need to follow the instructions below carefully.
- Open the Outlook application on your computer.
- Then, click on the Send/Receive tab in the navigation bar.
- After that, click on the Send/Receive Groups option.
- Then, select Define Send/Receive Groups option from the list.
- Here, select the All-Accounts option and click on the Edit button.
- Then, tick the option Include the Selected account in this group.
- After that, select the folders that you want to download the headers only
- Then, select the Download Headers Only option.
- Finally, click OK to finish.
Done! You successfully downloaded your email headers.
Professional Method Download Headers with Email
Now you know the manual methods to export email header from Outlook with email, but if you get complete emails in PDF format with meta headers, such as From, To, CC, BCC, Subject and date, you can try the BitRecover PST to PDF Converter program. This tool can add multiple PST files at the same time. It maintained data integrity during the conversion process.
Steps to Download Headers Using Professional Solution
- Launch the tool in your Windows operating system.
- Then, choose between the Files or Folders option to upload PST files.
- After that, select the folder where your emails are stored and click on the Next button.
- After that, use “Black & White Mode” option for non-searchable PDF file
- Then, check the “Convert attachment as PDF” option.
- Select the destination path from the given list.
- After that, click on the filter option to get export only headers option.
- Check mark the specific areas of PST files so you can get only email headers.
- Then, click on the import settings to start the export process.
Done! You have successfully extract email header from Outlook.
Advantages of Professional Solution
- You can convert multiple Outlook PST files into PDF format without mistakes.
- The software allows you to convert batch PST files at once.
- It keeps the original email structure after export email header from Outlook.
- You can convert your emails with attachments in PDF format.
- The tool allows users to get email header from Outlook easily.
- This program provide option to save emails individually in PDF format.
- You can give a name, as per your choice, to the exported PDF file of the email header.
These were the advantages of using this suggested tool to export email header from Outlook.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does this application allow viewing complete email header details in the Outlook application
Yes, the tool provides a complete preview of email header details after download. - Can I how to extract email header from outlook?
Yes, you can extract email headers from Outlook by following the given approaches. - I have to store my Outlook email header details in PDF format. Does this wizard support the PDF format?
Yes, the wizard successfully supports exporting Outlook email headers to PDF format.
Final Thoughts
In this blog, we described the solution of how to download email headers from Outlook. We shared the common reasons that tell why users need to get email header from Outlook, along with the two manual methods and one suggested professional solution. Both manual solutions will give only headers from the entire mailbox and specific mailbox folders. On the other hand, the suggested wizard can export email header from Outlook easily in PDF format.