Previewing a message: content, headers, and attachments
Every message that passes through Cleanbox can be previewed in detail — whether it was delivered, quarantined, or rejected. The preview modal gives you a full picture of what was received, how it scored, and what you can do with it.
Opening a preview
From the Messages page, or from any alias or contact detail page, find the message row you want to inspect and click the preview button (the eye icon). The preview modal will open on top of the current page.
What you’ll see
The preview modal is divided into several tabs. Each one shows a different aspect of the message.
Message content
The first tab shows the email body as it would appear in a mail client. By default, you see the HTML-rendered version of the message.
- Use the HTML / Plain text toggle to switch between the rich HTML view and the raw plain text version. This is useful when the HTML looks suspicious or you want to see exactly what was written.
- Use the dark / light theme toggle to change the background of the preview area. Some emails are hard to read against a light background — switching to dark mode (or vice versa) can help.
Spam report
The spam report tab shows the full spam analysis for this message. At the top you’ll see the total spam score, followed by a breakdown of every rule that fired.
- Each rule shows its name, the score it contributed (positive means more spammy, negative means more legitimate), and a brief description of what it checks.
- This is especially useful for understanding why a message was quarantined or flagged.
Want to understand what the individual rules mean? Read our article “How to read a spam report” for a deeper explanation of common rules and scoring.
Email headers
The headers tab shows the raw email headers exactly as they were received. You’ll find information such as:
- From, To, Date, and Subject
- Authentication results (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
- Routing information — which servers handled the message and when
This tab is helpful when troubleshooting delivery issues or verifying that a sender is who they claim to be.
Attachments
If the message includes attachments, you’ll see a dedicated Attachments tab. The tab label includes a badge showing the number of attachments.
- Each attachment is listed with its filename, file type, and size.
Actions from the preview
You don’t have to close the preview to act on a message. The following actions are available directly from within the modal:
- Mark as spam or mark as not spam — this sends feedback that helps improve future filtering accuracy for your account.
- Forward — send a copy of the message to another email address of your choice.
- Re-deliver — deliver the message again to its original destination. Useful if a legitimate message was quarantined by mistake.
- View message log — see a timeline of processing steps with timestamps, so you know exactly when the message was received, scanned, and delivered (or held).
Between the content preview, spam report, headers, and available actions, the preview modal gives you everything you need to inspect and manage any message — all without leaving the page you’re on.
