Can Outlook Import MBOX Files? Explore

Written By

Nick Rogers

Published On

March 13th, 2024

Reading Time

7 Minutes Reading

Can Outlook import MBOX files, and if yes how…? Let’s delve deeper into this query with this helpful blog post. Here we will explain whether it is possible to import MBOX to Outlook, and what are the correct procedures. So, let’s start with this post.

MBOX is a universal file format that contains a large number of email messages in a single file in rich text format. These files are compatible with many email applications such as Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Postbox, etc. While MBOX files are compatible with many email applications, they are not supported by Outlook.

Microsoft Outlook provides native support for multiple file formats. Its default format for storing data is basically PST. The location of Outlook data depends on the version of Outlook, as in Outlook 2016 and 2019, the default location for Outlook files is

Can Outlook import MBOX files? Well, it is not possible for Outlook to add MBOX files directly due to compatibility issue. However, there are alternative ways in which we can achieve this. We have detailed the possible ways to help you import MBOX email file to Outlook and why it is useful. Let’s explore everything.

Why Is It Useful to Import .mbox File into Outlook?

• Microsoft Outlook offers advanced and powerful user interface to manage, send and receive emails. It offers cross platform support. You can manage multiple accounts with MS Outlook, including Exchange, Office 365, Gmail, Yahoo and more.
• You can configure Outlook to work offline to access and manage your emails, and calendar without an internet connection. You may later make changes when you reconnect.
• Best of all, Outlook is the only email client that offers anti-spam protection for all spam emails.
• Also, it provides a password protection service to encrypt e-mail communications to prevent hackers and spammers from sending e-mail. MS Outlook has a calendar function that enables users to record notes, organize events and tasks, among other things.

These are some of the Outlook features due to which users needs to perform this data transfer process. Now let’s get back to our main topic that is how to import MBOX file to Outlook. Kindly discover all the manually and professional solutions below.

How to Import MBOX to Outlook? 

There are basically two ways to import MBOX data file to Outlook. You can do it manually or with the expert utility. The manually process is a multi-steps process and involve using an alternate email application such as Thunderbird. With the manual process, you need to follow the following stages:

• Configure email account on device
• Install extension and import MBOX files
• Export MBOX file to Outlook data file

Alternatively, you can take advantage of a specialized utility, which is time-efficient and allows you to import MBOX extension file to Outlook directly in easy steps. Let’s explore both methods in detail below.

Method 1: A Manual Way to Help Outlook Import MBOX Files

• Download, install and setup Thunderbird client on your computer.
• Now, open email app and configure your email profile in it like Gmail and Yahoo.

Once you’ve setup your email account, you’ll need to import MBOX files into Thunderbird.

• Click “Tool” and go to “Import”
• Now, select “Mail” and click “Next”
• Go to “Select a mail folder to import from” and click the “Browse” button to access the location of your MBOX file.
• Now, select all the MBOX files you want to import and press “Open“.
• Select or create a new folder where you want to import MBOX files.
• You can right click Local Folder >> New Folder >> Next to create a new folder.
• Finally, check your import settings and click Finish.

The account will start importing your MBOX files. Once you are done with this stage, you need to move to the next stage, where you need to convert MBOX to EML – an Outlook compatible file format. Please follow the following steps

• Go to the Tools menu and click Add-ons.
• Search for “ImportExportTools” and install
• Then restart
• Right-click the MBOX folder that you imported into Thunderbird in the previous step.
• Choose “ImportExportTools” then “Export Folder“.
• Select “Export all messages in the folder” and choose a location to save the EML file.

Once you have completed this second stage, you need to move on to the next and final stage. Here, you need to import EML to Outlook finally. Follow the process below.

• Open Microsoft Outlook
• Create a new folder to import all EML files.
• Now, just drag and drop all the files into the newly created folder in Outlook.

So, that is how you may import MBOX to Outlook using manual method. However, this manual method have some limitations, that you must review.

Limitations of the Manual Method

• The manual method involves using the email application to add MBOX file in Outlook.
• The procedure is very long and time consuming.
• You may encounter an error when manually importing large MBOX files into Outlook.

To overcome all these limitations and make the data export procedure easier for you, we recommend that you try the expert utility that we have mentioned below.

How Can Outlook Import MBOX Files with Expert Software?

• Firstly, free download and install the software in order to import MBOX to Outlook.
  
• Choose the Emails Data Files and then hit the MBOX files option and choose the MBOX files/folder.
  
• Hit the Export button and choose a PST as the Saving option (in order to import MBOX file to Outlook).
  
• Enter the destination location and hit on Save button to import MBOX to Outlook 2019..
  

After converting MBOX files to PST, you need to import them to Outlook account. Follow the procedure below:

• Open the MS Outlook application on your computer.
• Go to File >> Click on Open Outlook data file. That’s it.

Now, you can add MBOX file in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier editions with ease.

Watch the Video to Learn the Easy Tutorial:

Advanced Features of the Expert Recommended Software

• This software can add MBOX archive to Outlook from Gmail, Apple Mail etc.
• Allows you to add MBOX email to Outlook with all attachments, headers etc.
• No need to setup additional email client to import MBOX to Outlook.
• Compatible with all latest or older versions of Windows operating systems
• The software has no file size restrictions for the conversion process.
• Allows you to export individual or batch MBOX files to Outlook data file.
• Maintains data integrity during converting MBOX files into Outlook Account.
• A freeware demo version is available for testing this software capability first.
• Additionally,  it allows you to export MBOX files to PDF EML, HTML etc.

In Conclusion

Transferring from one email client to another is always a laborious task. An incorrectly done data conversion can result in serious problems, including data loss and complete corruption. As a pioneer, 4n6 Software has developed such a powerful solution that it will help users to import MBOX to Outlook on Windows. We have offered you both manual and professional solution. Choose your preferred one.