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How to Understand the Date and Time in Email Headers

Discover the location of the servers the email passed through

By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on May 27, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email

In This Article

Expand Jump to a Section An Example Interpret Date and Time Information Deciphering Time Zones An email passes through several mail servers on its way to a recipient. Each server records the time and date in the email header. By reading the header, you can find out when the message was sent, as well as where and for how long it was delayed.

An Example of Date and Time Info

Date and time information in email headers typically looks like this: Sat, 8 Jun 2019 11:45:15 −0500 Here's what each of these snippets means: Sat: The day of the week, using its three-letter abbreviation.8 Jun 2019: The date with a three-letter abbreviation for the month.11:45:15: The time in hours, minutes, and seconds using a 24-hour clock.-0500: The time zone offset, which is the difference between the time and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time. The value is preceded by a plus sign if the time is ahead (east) of UTC, or a minus sign if it's behind (west). In this example, the time is five hours west of UTC, which is the Eastern time zone in the U.S. If the time zone offset value appears as zeroes only, the time zone is unknown.

Review Date and Time Information

In the email's header, look for lines beginning with Date and Received. Compare these areas to get an idea of how long the message took to arrive in your inbox. The process for showing an email's header is simple but varies slightly among email clients. For example, from an open Gmail message, click Show Original. In Outlook, go to File > Properties.

Deciphering Time Zones

The most difficult parts to understand are the time and time zone offset. To convert the time to your time zone, use a time zone calculator. Some email clients, such as Outlook, provide an option to adjust the settings to show the time based on your time zone. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Change the Date and Time on a Mac Manually How to Change the Time on Android Phones How to Set Your OS System Clock How to Fix It When Your iPhone Time Is Wrong How to Adjust Your Time Zone in Gmail How to Postpone an Email in Outlook for iOS How to Change the Time on a Kindle Paperwhite How to View Full Message Headers in Mozilla Thunderbird How to Show Email Headers in Windows Mail and Outlook How to the Change Date on iPhone How to Reset Your Mac's PRAM or NVRAM (Parameter RAM) How to Schedule an Email in Gmail How to Find the IP Address of an Email Sender How to Forward an Email as an Attachment in Outlook 5G Speed: How to Understand the Numbers How to Use AOL Mail Through an Email Client Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies