When troubleshooting email-related issues, screenshots or forwarded messages are often not enough. In many cases, you need the original version of the email (also called the full email source, raw message, or .eml file).
The original email shows precisely what the mailbox provider received, including:
- full email headers (for example, Message-ID, Received, Return-Path)
- the complete HTML and plain-text body
- encoding, charset, and delivery metadata
You can't recover this information from forwarded emails or screenshots, and it is essential for accurate troubleshooting.
When do you need to extract the original email?
You usually need the original email whenever you can't confirm an issue from the project, email service provider (ESP) logs, or screenshots alone.
1. Deliverability, sender verification, and suspicious emails
Extract the original email if a recipient:
- Claims they received an email that can't be found in the logs
- Reports a suspicious, phishing-like, or non-compliant email
The email original allows you to:
- Confirm the actual sending domain and IP
- Inspect the complete Received chain
- Verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC alignment
- Determine whether the message truly originated from your project or was modified in transit
2. Header-related issues
You need the original email to verify whether the mailbox provider actually received specific headers.
Platform or ESP logs may not always reflect what the inbox provider received. The original email is the most reliable source.
3. Content, pre-header, and rendering issues
Extract the original email if the message content doesn't appear as expected in the inbox or across devices, for example:
- The inbox preview or pre-header shows unexpected text (tracking links, HTML fragments, and more)
- The email renders differently across clients or devices (spacing, fonts, images, dark mode behavior)
- Characters or personalization appear broken or corrupted
The original email allows you to:
- Inspect the exact HTML and plain-text structure
- See which content the mailbox provider uses for preview text
- Verify encoding, charset, and content-transfer settings
- Identify whether the issue originates in the template or from transformations applied after sending
The original email contains identifiers such as:
- Message-ID
- Sending domain
- Bloomreach / ESP-specific headers
These are required to match an inbox example to the correct event in logs and confirm timestamps and delivery routes.
How to extract the original email
Ask the recipient to download or copy the original email, not forward it.
Gmail (web)
- Open the email
- Click More (⋮)
- Select Show original
- Click Download original
This action downloads a .eml file.
Outlook (MacOS desktop app)
- Right-click the email in the message list
Select View Source in the context menu.
This opens the email header information in the default text editor for your review
- Copy the content to a separate file
- Alternatively, select Save to store the message.
Outlook (Web and Windows desktop)
- Open the email
- Click More actions (⋯) at the top of the message window.
- Select View > View message details.
Important: You can only view the headers here. To save them, copy the content and paste it into a text editor.
Apple Mail (macOS)
- Open the email
- Click View (very top of your screen, next to the Apple logo) → Message → All Headers
- Click File → Save As…
Important: You can only view the headers here. To save them, copy the content and paste it into a text editor.
Apple Mail (iOS)
iOS doesn't support exporting the full original email. Ask the recipient to:
- Access the mailbox on a desktop device, or
- Open the message via webmail