---
title: "How to View Full Email Information in Thunderbird"
description: "In this article, we show you how to view full email header and body information in the Thunderbird email client. This can help you detect phishing scams such as the “on this day I hacked your OS”..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/email/view-full-email-information-thunderbird/
date: 2019-10-22
modified: 2021-11-18
author: "InMotion Hosting Contributor"
categories: ["Email"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# How to View Full Email Information in Thunderbird

In this article, we show you how to view full email header and body information in the [Thunderbird email client](/support/email/thunderbird-avast/). This can help you [detect phishing scams](/support/security/identifying-phishing-scams/) such as the *“*[on this day I hacked your OS](/support/email/scam-email-on-this-day-i-hacked-your-os/)*”* email. These steps will work on shared hosting as well as [managed VPS with cPanel](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/vps-hosting) and other hosting plans.

- [View Email Header and Body Information](#view)
- [Page Source](#source)

## View Full Header and Body Information

To change the view for all emails within Thunderbird:

1. [Open Thunderbird](/support/email/creating-an-email-account-in-thunderbird/).
2. Click the menu button in the upper-right corner.
3. To see full email headers, click **View**, **Headers**, and **All**.
4. To view email bodies in plain text, click **View**, **Message Body as**, and **Plain Text**.

Now, you can view the entire *alleged* path (because [this information can be spoofed](/support/email/strengthen-overall-email-authentication/)) from the sender to you within the email headers.

You’ll also see entire markup – [Markdown](/support/website/website-design/understanding-markdown/), [HTML](/support/website/understanding-basic-html-tags/), etc. – in the email body. For example, you’ll see `*Hello !*` or `<b>Hello !</b>` instead of **Hello ****!**

## Page Source

1. To view an individual email’s full header and body text info without modifying Thunderbird preferences:
2. To the right of the Reply and Forward buttons, click **More**.
3. Click **View Source**.

This will open a new window with in-depth information you could use to decipher the true origin of an email to determine whether whether it’s legitimate.

[Improve your email authentication](/support/email/strengthen-overall-email-authentication/) and [use secure settings](/support/email/view-email-settings/) for better protection.