Your Gmail account is more than just a repository for your emails. It also offers a wealth of information, including clues that could help you track the location of the person behind a Gmail account. Perhaps you’re curious about where a suspicious email originated, or maybe you’re simply interested in understanding the tools at your disposal. Either way, this article will walk you through the steps needed to track a Gmail account location.
Note: Unlawfully tracking someone’s location is a violation of privacy rights and can lead to serious legal consequences. This article is intended to promote awareness and should only be used for legitimate purposes.
Steps to Track Gmail Account Location
Step 1: Open the Email
To start, you need to open the email whose origin you want to track. Click on the email and then click on the three vertical dots on the right side of the email header. From the dropdown menu, select “Show original”.
Step 2: Finding IP Address
After clicking on “Show original”, a new tab will open which includes the email header information. Here, you are looking for lines that say “Received: from”. Near these lines, you should find an IP address—a series of numbers separated by periods.
Example:
Received: by 10.223.176.16 with HTTP; Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:46:59 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [12.123.123.123] ([12.123.123.123]) by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id h7sm3910089oig.4.2019.03.13.13.46.59
Here, 12.123.123.123 is the IP address.
Step 3: Tracing the IP Address
Once you have grabbed the IP address, it’s time to track its location. There are many online services available that provide IP lookup and trace route services. One such service is IP2Location.
Go to www.ip2location.com, enter the IP address into the search bar, and hit “Search”. The website should provide you with the approximate location of the IP address.
Conclusion
Now you know how to track the location of a Gmail account using the IP address found in the email header. Remember, this method can only give you an approximate location, and it might not be accurate. Furthermore, this method is not foolproof as the IP address could be masked or altered.
Lastly, always respect privacy and use this information responsibly. It’s not a tool for stalking or harassment, but for understanding more about the digital world around you.
