Can I keep the original headers when saving Gmail emails? To answer this, this article will explore expert solutions to save Gmail emails with original headers. For this, we will first understand the issue. Then, seek the solution.

What are Email Headers?

An email consists of a header, a body, and a signature. The body is the part that contains the message and any attachments. The signature, where text or image appears at the end of the email message. The header contains all the information about the message. It is an essential part of an email, where it includes sender and recipient’s addresses, date and time, subject, and other important information. The email header is located at the beginning of the email.

Email header helps to verify the authenticity of the email, track the route of the emails, prevent spam and phishing, and many more. That is why it is very important to carefully export Gmail emails with full metadata.

Issues When Saving Gmail Email with Email Headers

However, sometimes, there can be problems in saving email headers from Gmail. This can happen for many reasons, which we will explain below.

• PDF or Text formats are designed for the reading, therefore, they often ignore the original header or include basic header information.
• When you print Gmail emails, only a few details will be shown such as sender and subject.
• Utility tools like Google Takeout may download your whole Gmail emails however it does not always preserve the full headers.
• Some email services simplify the header information for security reasons.

Whether you use Google Takeout, save the emails in PDF/Text format or import them to different platforms. There are chances that it removes your original header formatting when downloading Gmail emails. To avoid that you can use some precautions.

How to Save Gmail Emails with Original Headers?

There are many tricks you can use to download Gmail emails without compromising the headers. EML file format allows you to save single email headers intact. If you have a few emails you can use this. But if you are exporting a complete Gmail mailbox. MBOX format is a good choice. There can be issues using these methods so professional software will be an excellent option to save your Gmail emails. So the methods are.

• Download Gmail emails in EML files
• Export emails from Gmail to MBOX format.
• Use professional software to save your emails.

Download Gmail Emails in EML Files

EML file is one of the common formats to save individual emails in one file. This works to save individual emails.

1. Go to the emails in your Gmail account. Open an email.
2. Click on the three dots and select the download option.
3. Repeat the above steps to download your emails.

Export Emails from Gmail in MBOX Format

MBOX file saves multiple emails in one file, which can help you export complete Gmail mailboxes. For this, Google Takeout will help you. Here you can do the process.

1. Go to Google Takeout. Click on the Select All option.
2. Scroll down to the Mail option and select it. Click on the All mail data included option.
3. Uncheck the Include all messages in Mail. Then, choose the option which you want and press OK.
4. Scroll down to the bottom and click on Next Step.
5. Choose the destination, frequency, file type, and size. Press the Export.
6. The downloaded file will be in ZIP format to save it in MBOX format. Extract it.

These two are the manual ways to export Gmail emails with full metadata. These are free to use but there can be issues during the process. To avoid this, follow the next method.

Professionally Export Gmail Emails without Losing Header Information

For better results, the Corbett Gmail Backup Tool would be a great choice. The software is created to securely download your Gmail emails with proper email headers and file structure. It has an option to save your Gmail emails in different file formats like PDF, EML, PST, MBOX, etc. The tool allows you to save the email programs in other email programs as well. To use this program follow the steps below.

Steps to Save Gmail Emails with Original Headers

1. Download and launch the software.
2. Click on open >> email accounts >> add account.
3. Enter your Gmail account details and then press the add option.
4. After that, all your data will be displayed on the screen. Preview the emails.
5. Click on the Export option and then any option you like.
6. Browse a location and then click on the save button.

Conclusion

Email headers are a crucial component of emails and there are very chances that you lose some of the meta properties during downloading your Gmail emails. Therefore, this article helped you by saving Gmail emails with original formatting. Here we have explained how your headers are losing and provide you three different ways to retain the headers when downloading your Gmail emails.