PstViewer Pro by Encryptomatic LLC is a multi-purpose Windows software tool for people who work with email. Think of it as one of those handy multi-tools that provides a screwdriver, knife and other tools, all in a single convenient package. Most people will never be interested in or have a purpose to root around inside the hidden data that every email contains. But you’re here because that is exactly what you need to do.
For exploring email meta data, PstViewer Pro’s Properties feature is a great place to start. You’ll find it on the mail tab. Simply click on an email from the list, and then choose the Properties button.
A window with 3 panes will appear on your screen.
The first pane shows general information about the email, including its subject, the date the email was sent as well as the time it was received, the To/From/CC information, the size of the email, its file format and the path to the email messages.
The Transport header pane show the stamps that email collected on its journey. It will include the email servers the message passed through on the way to the recipient, and can include spam ratings and other information. It may give a clue as to why an email was not delivered, whether encryption was used during the transport of an email, can reveal server ip addresses, software used, transport protocols, and much more. Transport header info can help prove the legitimacy of an email. Transport headers are read bottom to top. Some technical expertise is necessary to be able to locate and extract information that could be useful to your project.
The 3rd pane gives you full access to the email’s MAPI properties ID tags. These properties describe something about the email object you are viewing, perhaps a subject line of a message or the address type of a messaging user. There are hundreds of MAPI properties, some containing encoded data. Most of these fields will not be useful to anyone but a knowledgeable developer or forensic analyst, so again, some expertise and understanding is required to extract useful information from all but the most obvious and basic properties.
Once you locate important emails, you can export them to PDF or other email formats. PstViewer Pro has many tools that useful for investigating email content, and then converting it into useful information.