How to Find Who an Email Address Is Registered To

By Melly Parker

Email addresses cannot always be traced to the original sender.
i Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images

Some email addresses are easy to track – when a sender includes his first and last name in his mail, it's a simple matter to know who he is. When a username is something like "Sportsfan183," though, it's not easy to tell who sent the email. There are a few ways to try and find out who the email address belongs to, though none of them are foolproof.

Step 1

Log onto Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or another social networking site. Use the search function to look for both the complete email address including the @ symbol and the username without the @ symbol. The person may have the email linked to a personal Web page.

Step 2

Search your email account for emails from the same address. An earlier email might include a signature or a clue as to who the recipient is.

Step 3

Check the email headers that came with the message. They may show from where the email was sent. Knowing the location of the sender may help you know who the person sending the email is.

Step 4

Hit "Reply" and send a message back asking who the sender is. When all else fails, directly asking may yield results. If you think you're supposed to know who the sender was, just explain that you don't recognize the email address and wanted to get confirmation on who the sender is.

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