Export Office 365 to EML Files: A Complete Tutorial

Read time: 5 minutes

Summary: When you export Office 365 emails to EML, it helps you create accessible backups, preserve important messages, and move data between email platforms with ease. While manual methods work for limited emails, bulk mailbox exports require a more efficient approach for speed, accuracy, and data integrity.

When you need to save important Office 365 emails outside your mailbox, you can export them to EML format. Want a backup, need to share individual messages, or prepare for a migration to another email client, EML files offer flexibility and easy accessibility.

But, most of the users are unsure which method is ideal and how to perform the export. In this article, let us get through the most effective methods to export emails from Office 365 to EML.

What is the EML format?

EML format stands for Electronic Mail that stores email messages, and all their content, including sender, subject, date, attachments, and recipients, in simple plain text (specifically RFC-822/5322), and each message is saved in a single file. Many popular email clients like Windows Live Mail, Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and many others use this file format. You can open an EML file using Text Editors like Notepad or TextEdit.

Why Export Office 365 Emails to EML?

Here we will talk about different benefits of exporting your essential Office 365 emails to EML format. Let’s have a look at them:

Offline access
Once you have saved your email data on your system, it has the flexibility to access it even in situations of low or no internet connectivity.
Selective backup
Office 365 saves emails as a bulk mailbox and saving individual, selective emails as EML can help in creating a selective data backup on your system.
Restore accidentally deleted emails
While working on your application, if you delete an email accidentally, then you can restore it with EML files. It will help you to get back your accidentally deleted items.
Switching to another account
If you are switching your email client from Office 365 to another (entirely non-Microsoft email platforms or services), then you must export Office 365 mailboxes to EML.

Read Also: Find Old Emails in Office 365

Methods to Export Emails to EML

The exporting process of Office 365 emails can be conducted using the manual as well as automated approaches. You can decide among these methods based on your requirements.

Method 1. Export Office 365 emails to EML using Outlook

New Outlook, Outlook Web Access, and Outlook for Mac allows users to export Office 365 to EML files directly. But this process will only export your single email message to the EML format. It is a simple method but hardly effective since only one message can be downloaded at a time.

Export Office 365 to EML Files With Outlook Web Access

Open Outlook.com and sign into your Office 365 account.
Look for the email you want to export and open it.
Click on the three dots, then scroll down to select Download >Download as EML.

Export Office 365 to EML Files With New Outlook

Open New Outlook on your system and login into your account (if not added).
Open the email you want to save in EML.
Right-click on it and select Save as >Save as EML.

Export Office 365 to EML Files Outlook For Mac

Open Outlook for Mac and configure your Office 365 account (if not configured).
Select the email you want to export and click File >Save As.
Provide name in the Save As field, select Email Message as saving type and click Save.

Method 2. Export Office 365 mailboxes to EML using Thunderbird

Thunderbird allows users to configure an Office 365 account in it and export Office 365 mailboxes to EML format. The method needs to be performed in three parts. Here are the steps to do so:

Part A. Configure Office 365 Account in Thunderbird

Open Thunderbird and click on three bars, then select Account Settings.
Click on Account Actions, then click Add Mail Account.
Enter full name, Email address and Password, then click Configure manually.

Enter necessary details (mentioned below) and click Done.

Incoming Server
Protocol	IMAP
Hostname	outlook.office365.com
Port	993
Connection security	SSL/TLS
Authentication method	OAuth2
Username	Your full Office 365 email address
Outgoing Server
Hostname	smtp.office365.com
Port	587
Connection security	STARTTLS
Authentication method	OAuth2
Username	Your full Office 365 email address

You’ll be redirected to a new window, enter your Password, then click Sign in.
Agree with the permissions and click Accept.
Once your account will be successfully added, you’ll receive an Account successfully created message, click Finish.

Part B. Add ImportExportTools NG add-on

In Thunderbird, click three bars and select Add-ons and Themes.
Type ImportExportTools NG in the Find box and hit Enter, then click Add to Thunderbird.

Part C. Export Office 365 to EML format

Select the required Office 365 folder you want to export as EML.
Right-click on the folder and select ImportExportTools NG> Import EML Messages >select any option from the three options.

Note: You can also drag and drop emails directly to your desired location on your system and it will automatically be saved in .eml format.

Automated Method to Export Office 365 Emails to EML in Bulk

Manually you can only save a few emails, which are time-consuming and needs to be performed repeatedly. An automated method to export Office 365 mailboxes to EML files would be the best option. Kernel Export Office 365 to PST can export your Office 365 emails into EML and other formats.

It offers a wide range of filters such as Date Filter, Item Type Filter, Exclude Deleted folder, Exclude empty folders, etc. You can even execute incremental data export to prevent data duplicity. Further, the tool allows users to run multiple instances to export large mailboxes in a matter of time. There are zero restrictions on the number and size of mailboxes; all those can be saved locally on your system.

Free Download 100% Secure

Concluding Note

Exporting Office 365 mailboxes to EML format is crucial work since it holds plenty of data and needs technical expertise. But with the help of this article, you can easily migrate your entire office 365 mailboxes into EML. However, manual methods are limited and risky. So, to avoid risk and time-consuming process use Kernel Export Office 365 to PST software. Users can easily take Office 365 backup into EML using this tool.