An EML file is a single saved email. You get them when someone forwards a message as an attachment, when you export from Thunderbird or Windows Live Mail, or when a backup tool saves mail as loose files.
Most mail programs open EML with a double-click. When that doesn't work, or you have a folder of 5,000 of them, the options below will help.
Classic Outlook opens EML files. Double-click the file, or right-click it and choose Open with > Outlook. The message opens in its own window with attachments you can save.
To make Outlook the default, right-click any EML file, choose Open with > Choose another app, select Outlook and tick Always use this app.
In Thunderbird, choose File > Open > Saved Message and pick the EML file. You can also drag an EML file onto a Thunderbird folder to keep it there.
On a Mac, double-click the EML file and Apple Mail opens it. If another app grabs it, right-click and choose Open With > Mail.
EML is plain text. Right-click the file and choose Open with > Notepad to read the headers: who sent it, when, and which servers it passed through. This is useful for checking whether a suspicious email is genuine.
Attachments and HTML bodies appear as encoded blocks of text, so Notepad isn't a way to read most modern emails comfortably.
Opening files one by one stops being practical fast. Magic Soft EML Converter loads a whole folder of EML files and shows them like a mailbox: folder tree, message list, preview and attachments. The trial previews everything with no time limit.
Click Select EML File or Select Folder and point it at your EML files.
Click through the folder tree and read messages in the preview pane.
Use search to find emails by sender, subject or content.
Export to PST for Outlook, PDF for records, or CSV for a spreadsheet.
message.eml.txt: Windows is hiding the real extension. Turn on View > Show > File name extensions and remove .txt.For a single file, double-click it in Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail. For a folder full of them, use a viewer that shows them as a mailbox. To move them into Outlook, see importing EML files into Outlook.
Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail and most other email programs. Thunderbird is free on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Yes. Use Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or the Magic Soft EML Converter viewer.
Treat it like any email. Check the sender in the headers and don't open attachments you weren't expecting.
Load the folder into an EML viewer such as Magic Soft EML Converter, which lists them like a mailbox.
EML is the standard text email format. MSG is Outlook's own format. See our EML vs MSG guide.
