How to Trace Emails Through IP Address

Whether you’ve received disturbing emails or want to investigate your correspondence, knowing the location of the sender can be helpful. There are many ways to do so, but one of the simplest methods might be to track the IP address. But how do you find this information and use it to pinpoint the sender’s whereabouts?

You’ll find out right here. This article will show you how to trace emails through IP addresses.

How to Trace an Email Through IP Address

A lot goes into receiving an email. Once your correspondent presses the “send” button, the message is processed by several servers. Scratch the surface of these servers, and you’ll find headers with plenty of useful information, including the sender’s IP address.

Therefore, accessing the header is key to retrieving the address.

1. Open the message.
   
2. Press the prompt that allows you to view the source of the message. You should now see a large window on your display with lots of code.
   
3. Use the Ctrl + F shortcut to activate your search feature.
   
4. Type in the following line into the box: Received.
   

The data after “Received from” shows the IP address of the sender.

Like with most other complex email tasks, you may encounter setbacks when looking for the location of your sender. One of which might be that the header shows multiple “Received from” lines. Why does this happen, and how do you go about resolving this problem?

In general, spammers send emails using several servers to help conceal their true location, which is why you may get multiple lines. The good news is that there is a simple workaround:

1. Open your email and access the header of the message.
   
2. Use the search function to find the “From” information.
   
3. If there are multiple lines, start from the last one and work your way up. Chances are, the first one and two “From” lines will have different “from” and “by” IP addresses. The first line where these two details match represents the legit “Received from” line. Use it to track down your sender.
   

Now you have the IP address of the other party. However, it’s not doing you any good, is it? You’re not a super-computer that can instantly match the numbers to a physical location anywhere on the globe. Fortunately, you don’t need such advanced knowledge because several websites can perform this role.

Here’s how to utilize some of those websites:

• IP-Lookup.net – This is a straightforward website that shows your IP address. On top of that, you can see a field in the lower part of the page that lets you enter any other IP address. Paste the information found earlier into this box, and you’ll see the location of your sender.
• IP Tracker – IP Tracker is another user-friendly website for finding IP addresses. Simply browse to the bottom of the page until you find the field for entering your address. Copy-paste the content from your email and strike the red “Trace IP With IP Tracker” button.

How to Trace an Email Using Social Media

Social media is primarily designed for connecting people to each other. That said, linking you to others isn’t the only purpose of these platforms. You can also use them to narrow down the whereabouts of your email senders if the above methods don’t work.

The most reliable website you can utilize is LinkedIn, as this is where most people state their email addresses in their bio.

1. Open the message of the sender you want to trace.
   
2. Copy their email address.
   
3. Create a LinkedIn account or use your login credentials if you’ve done so already.
   
4. Paste the email address into the search box. If you’re lucky, the sender will have created a LinkedIn account of their own, allowing you to find out who they are. Browse their profile and check if they’ve listed their location.
   

You can try this method on many other social media websites, such as Facebook and Instagram. However, not that many people share their email addresses in their public profiles nowadays. Therefore, stick to LinkedIn for the best results.

How to Trace Emails Through IP Address with Time Zones

Another alternative to the headings method and IP address locators is tracing emails using time zones. Again, it’s nowhere near as accurate as the first two techniques because dozens of countries can be found in a single time zone. Nevertheless, this way can be useful if you’re suspecting where your sender is from and want to narrow down their whereabouts slightly.

The first step in using time zones is – you guessed it – to determine when you received your message.

1. Go to your email app and access the email.
2. Explore the heading and find the “Date” section.
3. Find out when you received the email and go to a website that presents time zones. Timeanddate.com is a dependable option.
4. Find the place(s) whose time zone matches that of your recipient.

FAQs

Why would you want to trace an email?

There are several reasons you may want to trace the sender of your emails. For example, they might have sent disturbing or threatening messages, and you’re worried about your safety. In that case, you can report the person to the authorities or get a better idea of who might be behind the correspondence.

Can you trace an email through the IP address if the sender uses a VPN?

Technically, you can trace the origin of an email using its IP address, but it’s pointless if the sender used a VPN. Don’t forget that a VPN masks the sender’s true address. As a result, you may get a location that’s halfway across the world from their actual whereabouts.

How do you access the header of an email?

As previously mentioned, finding the header of your email is crucial for determining the location of the sender. We’ve outlined the general process of doing so, but there can be some variations, depending on your app:

• Gmail

o Access your account and open the message whose IP address you wish to retrieve.

o Navigate to the upper-right section of the message.

o Press the three vertical dots.

o Choose “Show Original,” and you’re good to go.

• Microsoft Outlook

o Log into your account.

o Go to the message.

o Explore the window and select “More.”

o Choose the prompt that allows you to view the raw message. You’ll now see another tab that contains your email header.

• Apple Mail

o Log into Apple Mail and find your email.

o Choose “View” and press the “Message” option.

o Press “Raw Source.”

• Yahoo

o Access your account and open the email.

o Explore the upper part of the email and pick “More.”

o Choose “View Raw Message.”

No Location Remains Out of Sight

You don’t need to be tech-savvy to figure out the whereabouts of your sender using their IP address. All it takes is a few clicks to discover their location. From there, you can determine if you need to take further action to protect your privacy by blocking the person. Regardless of your choice, knowing the location of your correspondent is always handy.

Have you ever checked the location of your email senders? If so, what method did you use? Do you track the location of every unknown email sender? Tell us in the comment section below.