48

I know how to view the headers of an email message as well as the source of an HTML message. In Outlook Express, however, there was an option to see the entire message source code the exact same way it was received (i.e. headers and any plain-text and/or HTML message parts in the body). Does such an option or something equivalent exist in Outlook 2010?

1
  • Viewing the source of just created mail isn't possible?
    – ThiloL
    Apr 12, 2012 at 9:06

8 Answers 8

41

To view the headers of a message do the following:

  • In Outlook 2010, Open an existing email.
  • Click on the File tab.
  • Click Info.
  • Click the Properties button.
  • Review the Internet Headers. (To copy: Right-click in the field and click "Select All", right-click again to select copy)

To view the source code of the body of a message, do the following:

  • Open the message you want to see the source code of in Outlook.
  • (2010) right click on the message and select "View source"

or

  • (pre 2010) From the menu bar, click Other Actions then View Source from the drop down.
  • (2010) In the "message" tab, look in the "move" section and select "Actions" -> "Other actions" -> "view Source"

In order to view the complete message source code of newly retrieved POP messages in Outlook 2007/2010:

  1. Log onto your PC with an administrator account.
  2. Open the Start menu, type regedit into the search field and hit Enter. The Registry Editor tool will now launch.
  3. Navigate to the right key.
    1. Outlook 2007: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Options\Mail
    2. Outlook 2010: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Options\Mail
  4. Right-click in the open space on the right side of the window and choose to create a new DWORD Value.
  5. Create a new DWord value and enter SaveAllMIMENotJustHeaders as the name of the new value.
  6. Double-click on the new value, set the value as 1 and then press OK
  7. Close the Registry Editor and open Outlook.
  8. Right-click on the message whose source code you want to view and select Message Options. The full source code of the message will now be viewable in the pop-up window that appears.

Sources:

4
  • 3
    worked perfectly on outlook 2013 (obviously 15.0 in the reg path). In outlook 2010 14.0.7106.5001 x86, I can't find the "Mail" folder in that registry key! Adding it isn't working either
    – AndreaCi
    Oct 15, 2013 at 12:39
  • @AndreaCi How did you solve the problem on Outlook 2010? Nov 5, 2017 at 14:25
  • I could not find the mail folder in Outlook 2010 and 2007. What to do in this case? How do I add this DWORD value then? Nov 5, 2017 at 14:31
  • 2
    Does not display the actual source. See old faithful's answer for how to get the real message source.
    – not2savvy
    Apr 16, 2021 at 10:29
12
  1. Open Outlook.

  2. Open up the message you want the source code from.

  3. From the menu bar, click Other Actions then View Source from the drop down.

4
  • 2
    From my Outlook 2010, I had to click: Move / Actions / Other actions / View source. Apr 4, 2013 at 16:25
  • 4
    Note: this is only relevant for viewing the HTML portion of a message, not the full message source (headers, alternate content, etc.)
    – BrianS
    May 30, 2013 at 15:13
  • I've added this to the accepted answer, since it seems like a better solution to me.
    – Wouter
    Mar 28, 2014 at 13:30
  • din't work in outlook 2007 i had to use the file-> saveas
    – Lucky
    May 7, 2015 at 6:54
6

The "view source" method in Outlook 2010 shows you only the HTML code of the body of the email. It does NOT show you the actual source code of the email itself, which is considerably more complex, and may include a text-only version of the body as well. Sometimes it is necessary to look at the actual code of the email, in the form it arrived in, in order to troubleshoot a display oddity, etc.

If I recall correctly, in order to have the email's body code appear along with the header when you click Properties, you'll need to meddle with the registry. The Registry solution given above might or might not be correct. It did NOT work for me. The solution was to drill down in the registry a bit further, as instructed here: http://email.about.com/od/outlooktips/qt/How_to_View_the_Complete_Message_Source_in_Outlook.htm

Remember to restart Outlook 2010 after exiting the Registry. The true email source code will appear under the header code in the "Internet headers" portion of the popup you get with File>Properties. Outlook will show you the full body source ONLY for emails received AFTER you've made the proper Registry edit. For emails received prior to that, you can see their HTML source code using the Actions menu, but their email source code cannot be retrieved. The file size displayed in your list of emails will be a larger number of bytes than would be displayed before making this change. (Something I discovered only because I happened to be getting duplicate emails from my mail provider. Maybe some were received before my change, some after. Time will tell ...)

1
  • 1
    This is the only correct answer to display the real actual message source and should be the accepted answer! I'd like to add that I had to create a DWORD registry despite the article saying that you have to use QWORD for 64bit versions of Outlook. It did not work with QWORD.
    – not2savvy
    Apr 16, 2021 at 10:28
5

For Outlook 2007 I used the following method:

Go to File » Save as » *.html.

2
  • defenitely what i needed and this works even if you are composing and do the same thing..+1
    – Lucky
    May 7, 2015 at 6:52
  • Definitely not the source. It's the output of how Outlook formats the message as XML and HTML for display. It's worse than View Source.
    – Suncat2000
    Mar 29, 2023 at 12:03
2

For Outlook 2007: press CTRL + ALT + F to start the forwarding of the message with the full original message attached, and then forward it to other e-mail address where you can view the full message source. A clumsy method but the only way to show the full message source as any other e-mail client does.

1

In Outlook 2010

  1. Open mail in Outlook
  2. Right Click on the content
  3. Select "View source Code"
1

For Outlook 2010:

  1. In Outlook, open an email.
  2. Click on "File".
  3. Click on "Options".
  4. Click on "Customize Ribbon".
  5. In the drop down "Choose commands from:" select "All Commands".
  6. Scroll down and find "View Source" and highlight it.
  7. Click "Add >>" in the middle of the two drop downs.
  8. Go back to your email and you should see the "View Source" icon as part of your menu. This allows you to easily view source for any email going forward.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PILmx8i9Eo4
1

Outlook 2016:

The most reliable way I found is this:

Open the email message by double-clicking it.
In the menu ribbon find the Move section,
in this section find Actions (may only be an icon) » Other actions » View source.

1
  • I wouldn't call it reliable. It only displays one part of the message body that Outlook uses to show the content, not alternate parts, and not attachments. Even then, it's still a post-processed version. But it may be enough for casual use.
    – Suncat2000
    Mar 29, 2023 at 12:07

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .