How to see second timestamp

Question

How to see second timestamp

R A K 20

I want to be able to see the exact second that an email was sent on outlook. There is nothing showing in the 'internet headers' section of properties. How else can I see the exact second an email was sent?

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Answer accepted by question author

Kai-L 19,830 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear @R A K,

Good day, and thank you for reaching out to the Q&A Forum. I understand that you are trying to find the exact second an email was sent in Classic Outlook through the Internet headers section of the message properties. From my research, the exact second-level timestamp is generally available only for received emails. For sent emails in Classic Outlook, Outlook does not currently expose the timestamp in the interface or Internet headers.

As a workaround, you may try using New Outlook or Outlook on the web, which can display the sent time with greater precision (hour and minute). However, at this time, they still do not display the exact second the message was sent.

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If this is a feature you would like to see, I suggest keeping an eye on the Microsoft Outlook blog or the Microsoft 365 Roadmap | Microsoft 365 for any updates on this feature. In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause. I also strongly recommend that you share your detailed experience and feedback directly with the Microsoft product team through their official channels. This is the most effective way to make your voice heard and influence future feature improvements and adjustments.

You can visit the Outlook · Community to submit a new idea or vote on existing one. The product team is in charge of this site, and they constantly check customer reviews and feedback. The higher the number of votes, the more attention the team will pay to it. Many features are developed and improved based on customer feedback. As a moderator, I will also pass along your feedback to the appropriate team for further consideration. While we don't directly influence product design, user feedback is actively reviewed and helps prioritize future development. If you’re unable to submit feedback yourself, please feel free to reach out to me, and I’ll be happy to submit it on your behalf.

I truly appreciate your kindness and understanding as Outlook continues to evolve and improve over time. Please feel free to reach out again if you have any additional questions or need further assistance.

Have a wonderful day!

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Answer 1

In classic Outlook for Windows, the exact second an email was sent is only visible in the full internet message headers. Outlook’s normal “Sent” field in the message window shows time only to the minute.

To see the second-level timestamp, the message must actually have full headers available. Then use one of these methods:

Open the message in its own window (double-click it).
Select File > Properties.
In Internet headers, look for the Date: header (for example: Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:38:31 -0800). The :31 is the exact second.

If nothing appears in Internet headers for that message, Outlook has no additional header data to show, and there is no other built-in Outlook view that will display the sent time down to the second.

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