How to export an email message to the MSG and EML format

Problem:

You would like to save an email as an .msg or .eml file.

Solution:

In this article you will find out about the most common email formats and learn how to export your messages.

• About email file formats
• How to save a message from Outlook for Windows as an .msg file
• How to save a message as an .eml file in:
  • Outlook for Mac
  • Outlook on the web (Microsoft 365)
  • Gmail

About email file formats

MSG is a proprietary file format used by Microsoft to store individual email messages and other single items (tasks, meetings, appointments, contacts, etc.) outside of Outlook. This format is compatible with any version of Outlook for Windows.

EML is a standard used by a variety of email clients. This format is similar to a text file, and you can open it in any text editor (such as Notepad). This allows you to convert a .txt file into an .eml file if your email client does not export emails directly into .eml. You can use this format to export emails in Office 365 or many other email clients, for example Gmail.

How to save a message from Outlook for Windows as an .msg file

This short video shows how to save an email to a file in Outlook for Windows:

There are two ways to save an email as an .msg file if you're using a desktop version of Outlook for Windows:

• On the message list, select an email and drop it to a local folder or desktop. A new MSG file will be created (Fig. 1.).

Fig. 1. An email saved on a local drive in an .msg format.

or

• As shown in the video above. Select an email on the message list, click the File menu and choose the Save as option. The Save As dialog box will open. Point to the desired folder and choose Outlook message format or Outlook message format - Unicode from the file type drop-down menu (Fig. 2.).

Fig. 2. Choosing a file format for the exported email.

How to save a message as an .eml file

Outlook for Mac

The video below shows how to save an email to an EML file in Outlook for Mac:

In short: on the Outlook’s message list, select an email and drag & drop it to a local folder or desktop. A new EML file will be created (Fig. 3.).

Fig. 3. An email saved in the EML format in MacOS.

Legacy Outlook for Mac

Select an email on the message list, click the File menu and choose the Save as option – the file saving dialog box will open. Point to the desired folder and choose Email Message from the file type drop-down menu (Fig. 4.).

Fig. 4. Saving a message to EML in legacy Outlook for Mac.

Outlook on the web (Microsoft 365)

Watch this video to see how to save an email to EML format in Outlook on the web:

To export an email to the EML format in Outlook on the web (OWA), click the email to open it, then click the ellipsis (three dots) icon in the top right corner and select Save (Fig. 5.). You will be able to save the .eml file on your local drive.

Fig. 5. Saving the chosen message to an EML file.

Alternatively, you can also export an email to EML in OWA in the following way:

1. Click New message.
2. On the message list, select an email you want to export and drop it onto the body of the new email. This will attach the email as an .eml file to the new message, as shown in Fig. 6.
3. Click the down-arrow button on the attachment and click Download (Fig. 6.) to save the .eml file on your local drive. 

Fig. 6. Saving an EML email file attached to a new message in Outlook on the web. 

Gmail

To export an email from Gmail to the EML format, you need to:

1. Open the email message you would like to export.
2. From the message menu, choose Show original (Fig. 7.).

Fig. 7. Locating the Show original option in Gmail.

3. This will open the full message as a text document in a separate window. Click Download Original (Fig. 8.).

Fig. 8. Downloading an email from Gmail to a local drive.

4. In the Save as window, select a download location, name the file the way you want, and click Save (Fig. 9.). Your email is now exported to the EML format.

Fig. 9. Saving email exported from Gmail as an EML file.