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Save an email as an .eml file

An email saved as a file keeps everything: the body, the attachments and the technical headers. A printout or a screenshot keeps only how it looked. Here is the step in each mail program.

Step by step

  1. Gmail

    Open the message, click the three dots to the right of the sender, then "Download message": an .eml file lands in your downloads.

  2. Outlook on the web and new Outlook

    Open the message, the "…" menu (more actions), then "Save as": the message is saved as .eml.

  3. Classic Outlook for Windows

    Drag the message from the list to the desktop or a folder, or File, Save As: Outlook saves it as .msg, which Klarinbox opens the same way.

  4. Apple Mail

    Drag the message to the Finder, or File, Save As, format "Raw Message Source": the file is an .eml.

  5. Thunderbird

    File, Save As, File: an .eml.

Good to know

  • Forwarding a message does not keep it as it was: the original headers are lost. To send it to someone, "Forward as attachment" keeps the whole message.
  • Printing to PDF from the mail program loses the technical headers and often the attachments.
  • Menu labels change between versions; the step stays the same: download or save the message, do not print it.

Then, in Klarinbox

Drop the .eml or .msg on Open an .eml file or Open a .msg file. Its headers are read for a human, its attachments come out in one archive, and it can be turned into a PDF.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between .eml and .msg?
The .eml is the standard message format, written by almost every program; the .msg is Outlook for Windows's own. Klarinbox opens both.