An IP address is a numerical code that belongs specifically to your computer and identifies it to the network it belongs to. It is a way for devices linked to the same internet service provider to communicate with each other. Many people with blogs can track the IP addresses of their readers, so they can get an idea of where the bulk of their readership is, as well as how far it extends. Other people want to find out where an email came from. Whatever the reason, there are different ways you can run a reverse IP address search.

You can first start by looking at the email you received. When you display the full header, the IP address will appear. Chances are your email account doesn’t display the full headers, so to view them, simply go into your account. Select the email that you want to look at. Double click to open it. There should be an option for Full Headers somewhere on the page. Yahoo, for example, has it on the bottom of the page. Click on that option to view the full header. There should be a line reading, “Received from,” and then a numerical code. This is the IP address.

Now that you have it, what do you do with it? You can run a reverse IP address search. There are various sites online that run IP address searches. You can find a site, plug in the IP address, and access the following information: the IP state and region, as well as a satellite map of the location. What it does not give you is the name and address of whomever sent the email. This is not accessible except to law enforcement officials.

If you want to know who sent you an email, running a reverse IP address search may help, but you might want to consider saving yourself some time and effort. You can go to a site that allows you to do a free email lookup. This will give you the name of the sender. When you need information on an email, an IP address can help, but you will probably find a free email lookup much more useful.
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