How to view email headers in any email program

Do you have a spam problem and you need help to understand why you got it or what happened? Do you have a message failure or bounce error? The tecnician helping you with this problem will probably ask for this information.

Hotmail

• Select the spam message
• Click the down arrow next to to the reply arrow
• Select "View message source."

Apple Mail

• Select the spam message
• Click View > Message > All Headers

Outlook

• Double-click to select the spam message and open it in a new window.
• Click File > Info > Properties.
• The header is displayed under "Internet Headers."

Thunderbird

• Select the spam message.
• Click View > Headers > All.

Yahoo!

• Select the spam message.
• Click "Full Headers" below the email.

Gmail

• Select the spam message.
• Click the down arrow next to the reply arrow.
• Select "Show Original."

Choosing a default email application

How to tell your Mac which program you want to use to send an Email.

Open Mail (/Applications/Mail).

Do this even if you don’t want to use Mail! Yes, it’s counterintuitive, but, work with me here.

From the Mail menu, choose Preferences.

Click the General button.

Choose your desired default email application from the "Default email reader" pop-up menu.

Top 5 Effective E-mail “Do’s

Top 5 Dos

5. Put important information in bold, so it’s easier to see. Likewise, if you’ve addressed an e-mail to several people and there’s an action for a certain person, bold his or her name when you address the issue. Use bold sparingly, though.

4. If action is required, say so at the start of the e-mail. Don’t tell a long story with the requested action at the bottom. This is called the BLUF method, but I also tend to call it “getting to the verb.”

3. Keep your signature short and professional. Lose the pithy quote and just include your title and phone number.

2. Keep the subject line relevant. If the topic changes over the course of a long thread, update the subject so it’s relevant.

1. Proof your e-mail before you send it. And make sure your spell checker is running.

via Top 5 Best Practices for Writing Effective E-mail | Business Hacks | BNET.

Top 5 Effective E-mail “Dont’s

Top 5 Don’ts

5. Don’t ever type anything in ALL CAPS, even to get someone’s attention. If you need to catch someone’s eye with something important, put it in bold.

4. Don’t include your entire team or your boss on every e-mail you send. Be selective.

3. Don’t send large attachments unless absolutely necessary, especially to a mailing list or distribution list. If possible, upload your files to the cloud, such as DropBox or MemoPal and provide a link.

2. Don’t send e-mail when you’re emotional. If you’re responding to someone that has made you angry, save the message in your drafts folder until you can proof-read it more objectively, and then send the e-mail.

1. Don’t try to be funny, especially to a mixed audience. The chances of being misunderstood are astronomical.

via Top 5 Best Practices for Writing Effective E-mail | Business Hacks | BNET.

Mail.app – About reindexing messages

If there are problems with information in your mailboxes, it may be necessary to reindex your messages. During this process, certain Mail folders on your computer are moved to another location, such as your desktop. When Mail is reopened, it rereads and reindexes all messages in all local mailboxes. The reindexing process can take several minutes depending on how many messages are in your local mailboxes.

When Mail detects a problem with your mailboxes, it may alert you that it needs to repair them by reindexing your messages. At other times, you can reindex messages yourself. To do so, quit Mail and, in the Mail folder in your home Library folder, move the Envelope Index file and any folders that begin with “Mac-“, “Exchange-“, or “IMAP-” to a different location, such as your desktop. When you reopen Mail, it reindexes all messages.