How to get an email's source, step by step
A plain-English walkthrough of saving an email as a file or copying its original source, so you can check it properly. No technical knowledge needed.
Choose the explanation that suits you. Both versions cover the same topic.
1. What Jatzo actually needs
Jatzo does not read the email the way you do. It reads the hidden delivery information that travels with every message: who really sent it, which computers passed it along, and where each link truly goes. That hidden part is called the source, or the original message. Copying the words out of an email throws all of it away, which is why a pasted screenshot or a forwarded copy gives a much weaker result.
2. The quickest way: save the email as a file
Most email programs let you drag a message straight out of your inbox and onto your desktop. Open your inbox in its own window, click and hold on the message in the list, then drag it onto the desktop and let go. You will get a file ending in .eml, which is the whole message including the hidden part. Upload that file to Jatzo and you are finished. If dragging does not work, use step three instead.
3. The reliable way: copy the original message
Open the email, then look for a menu on the message itself. It is usually three dots, a small arrow, or a More option near the reply button. In that menu, look for wording like Show original, View source, View message source or Message details. Choosing it opens a page of text that begins with lines such as Delivered-To, Received and From. Select all of that text, copy it, and paste it into the box on the Jatzo analyser.
4. What the text should look like
You have the right thing if the first thirty or so lines look like a list of labels followed by colons, including words like Received, From, To, Subject, and often DKIM-Signature or Authentication-Results. It will look messy and technical, and that is exactly right. If what you copied starts with Hello or Dear, or is just the message you can read normally, you have the readable version rather than the source. Go back and look for the Show original option again.
5. Do not forward it to yourself
Forwarding feels like the obvious way to move an email somewhere, but it replaces the original delivery information with your own. The sender, the routing and often the real link destinations are lost, and Jatzo can only report on what survives. Save the file or copy the source instead. If you must send a suspicious email to someone else, attach it to a new message rather than forwarding it.
6. Safety while you are doing this
Looking at an email and copying its source does not trigger anything. What causes harm is clicking a link, opening an attachment, replying, calling a number printed in the message or scanning a QR code inside it. You can do every step above without doing any of those. Do not open an attachment to find out what it is, and if the message is asking for a payment or a password, leave it alone until Jatzo has explained it.
7. Paste it in and read the answer
On the Jatzo analyser, upload the .eml file or paste the source text into the large box, then choose Analyse message. You will get a risk rating from Low risk to Very high risk, a plain-English line telling you what the message is trying to get you to do, and a list of every reason that changed the score. Start at the top. The detail underneath is there if you want it, and you can ignore it if you do not.