Viewing and Understanding Email Internet Transport Headers in .EML Files

A screen shot of Pst Viewer Pro displaying email internet header info.


An EML (Electronic Mail) file is an open file format used to store individual email messages. It is a standard file format often associated with email clients like Thunderbird that follow the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) standard. EML files contain the complete content of an email message, including the text, attachments, and metadata.

An email internet transport header, also known as an email header or message header, is a block of metadata information that provides details about the origin, route, and content of an email message. This information is not typically visible in the body of the email when you read it but can be viewed by accessing the email’s header section.

Email internet headers are usually not visible to users. A useful tool for managing EML files and viewing the internet header is a Pst Viewer Pro (formerly known as EML Viewer Pro) by Encryptomatic LLC, a U.S. based software developer.

Here are some key components typically found in an email internet header:

  1. Return-Path:
  • The email address to which bounce notifications and delivery errors are sent.
  1. Received:
  • This section contains information about the servers through which the email passed on its way to the recipient. It includes details like the server’s IP address, timestamp, and authentication information.
  1. From:
  • The email address of the sender.
  1. To:
  • The email address of the recipient.
  1. Subject:
  • The subject line of the email.
  1. Date:
  • The timestamp indicating when the email was sent.
  1. Message-ID:
  • A unique identifier assigned to the email for tracking and reference purposes.
  1. MIME-Version:
  • The version of the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) standard used in the email. MIME is a standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs.
  1. Content-Type:
  • Specifies the type of content contained in the email, such as text, HTML, or attachments.
  1. X-Headers:
    • Additional custom headers that may be added by email servers or applications for specific purposes.

The email header is crucial for various reasons, including:

  • Routing Information: It shows the servers and paths the email took to reach its destination.
  • Authentication: Some headers provide information on email authentication methods used, helping to verify the legitimacy of the sender.
  • Spam Filtering: Email headers can contain information used by spam filters to assess the likelihood that an email is spam.
  • Troubleshooting: When dealing with email delivery issues, the header can be analyzed to identify potential problems in the routing process.

To view the email header in most email clients, you can look for an option like “View Source,” “Show Original,” or “View Message Source.” Analyzing email headers can be useful in understanding the journey of an email and in troubleshooting email-related problems.

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Convert .EML Emails to PDF with Encryptomatic PST Viewer Pro: A Step-by-Step Guide

An envelope labeled EML is visible beneath an envelope labeled PDF to illustration eml email to PDF conversion.

An EML file is a common file format produced by email client software for storing individual email messages. It stands for “Electronic Mail” and is typically associated with email clients like Microsoft Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, and other email applications. EML files contain the content of an email message, including the email text, sender and recipient information, subject, date, and any file attachments.

EML files are plain text files, making them relatively easy to view and manage. They can be opened and read using various email clients or dedicated email viewer software. EML files are sometimes used for email message archival or migration between email programs.

In addition to being readable and portable, EML files are a standard format for exporting and importing email messages, making them a valuable tool for email management and transfer. Because they are so common, they often end up as evidence in litigation. EML is also a good format for archiving and sharing emails. The ability to search EML files and convert them in bulk to PDF and other formats is useful feature in Pst Viewer Pro, a Windows software product by Encryptomatic LLC.

Encryptomatic’s PST Viewer Pro is a versatile software solution for Windows that simplifies the process of converting .EML files to PDF. In this article, we’ll guide you through the steps of using PST Viewer Pro to seamlessly perform this conversion.

Step 1: Download and Install PST Viewer Pro

First, visit the Encryptomatic website and download the PST Viewer Pro software free trial. Once the download is complete, follow the installation wizard to set up the program on your Windows computer.

Step 2: Launch PST Viewer Pro

After the installation is complete, launch PST Viewer Pro from your Windows Start menu. The software’s user-friendly interface makes it easy to get started.

Step 3: Import Your .EML Files

Use the left hand folder navigation to choose the location of your EML files. If you select a directory, then Pst Viewer Pro will read in all of the EML files in that directory. You can also choose to open multiple .EML files simultaneously by holding down the Ctrl key and selecting multiple files.

Step 4: View and Edit .EML Files

Once your .EML files are loaded into PST Viewer Pro, you can view, search, and make necessary edits if required. This is a useful feature for reviewing and making any adjustments to the emails before converting them to PDF.

Step 5: Convert .EML to PDF

To convert .EML files to PDF, click on the “Export” menu and select among the various options for EML to PDF email conversion. PST Viewer Pro will prompt you to choose a destination folder for the PDF files. Navigate to your preferred location and click “Save.”

A screen image of Pst Viewer Pro by Encryptomatic LLC showing the Export tab and the drop down list of export options for Eml to PDF conversion.  Options include: PDF attachments embedded, PDF - attachments imaged, PDF - attachments saved to disk, PDF/A, Single PDF with various attachment processing options.

Step 6: Configure Conversion Options

PST Viewer Pro offers various options to optimize your PDF conversion. Any of the Export profiles on the drop down list can be modified by 1. selecting the profile and 2. clicking on the edit button. You can configure settings such as page orientation, paper size, and quality. These options allow you to customize the output to best fit your needs.

Screen image of Pst Viewer Pro by Encryptomatic LLC, showing the location of the edit PDF profile button and the resulting options that can be changed, which include paper size, custom width, height, orientation and options for naming the resulting pdf files.

Step 7: Handling Embedded Attachments

One of the standout features of PST Viewer Pro is its ability to handle embedded file attachments within .EML files when converting to PDF. The software gives you options to select how file attachments should be processed, whether included in the PDF document, embedded as files within the PDF so they can be extracted later, ignore attachments or save them to a folder as files and not include them in the PDF. Whatever attachment handling process your project calls for, Pst Viewer Pro can accommodate. Whether it’s an image, document, or any other attachment, PST Viewer Pro ensures that nothing is left behind during the conversion process.

Step 8: Monitor the Conversion Progress

As the conversion process begins, PST Viewer Pro provides you with a progress bar and status updates, ensuring you can monitor the process in real-time.

Step 9: Access Your Converted PDF Files

Once the conversion is complete, navigate to the destination folder you selected in Step 5. You’ll find your .EML emails, now neatly converted into PDF format, complete with any embedded attachments.

Step 10: Review and Share

With your .EML emails successfully converted to PDF, you can now easily review, share, or archive them. PDFs are widely supported across platforms and devices, making it a versatile format for various purposes.

In conclusion, converting .EML emails to PDF is a straightforward process with Encryptomatic PST Viewer Pro. Its user-friendly interface, advanced conversion options, and handling of embedded attachments make it a powerful tool for managing your email communications. Whether for archiving important correspondence or sharing emails with others, PST Viewer Pro streamlines the process, ensuring that your .EML files are accurately converted into PDFs, while maintaining the integrity of embedded attachments.

For all your “EML to PDF” needs on a Windows platform, Encryptomatic PST Viewer Pro is the go-to solution. It simplifies the process, preserving the content and structure of your emails in the portable and widely compatible PDF format.

If you are working with volumes of hundreds of thousands of emails or greater, you should consider Encryptomatic MailDex. MailDex was built for higher volumes of emails. It creates an index of all emails you add to a project, resulting in fast searches. It is optimized for bulk processing of emails. Learn more about MailDex.