Import MBOX Files to Thunderbird & MS Outlook

Read time 7 minutes

If you’re thinking of importing MBOX files and wonder how you can do that without compromising your mailbox items, we’ll guide you on how you can import the MBOX file in Mozilla Thunderbird and MS Outlook.

Email Clients like Mozilla Thunderbird, Entourage, Apple Mail & Qualcomm Eudora use MBOX file format. If you’re moving from any of these listed email clients, then this article would be the right stop for you.

Understanding the need for importing MBOX files to MS Outlook

MS Outlook offers a wide range of outstanding features like offline accessibility, mailbox organization, anti-spam features, password protection, advanced configuration & settings, and a lot more add-on features.

• For better accessibility than the Apple Mail MBOX email client
• MS Outlook only supports PST file format
• MBOX cannot be used in another applications file format

Before we jump on Importing step directly, we first need to figure out the MBOX file location on your system. So, where to find the MBOX file?

MBOX File Location – Windows all Versions

To find the location of MBOX files on your system, follow the steps:

1. Launch RUN utility by pressing + R keys together.
2. Type %APPDATA% in the box and press Enter.
3. Double-click on Thunderbird > Profiles.

Every folder inside the Profiles folder is a profile on your MBOX email client.
Alternately you can go to the path:

Import MBOX Files into Thunderbird

On Windows

Mozilla Thunderbird requires the installation of an add-on using which you can proceed with the import process. After installing the ImortExportTools add-on in Thunderbird, you can proceed to import MBOX files to Thunderbird:

1. Open Thunderbird, click on Tools, select ImportExportTools, and click Import MBOX file.
2. In the pop-up, the option Import directly one or more MBOX files is set by default; click Ok.
3. Browse for the MBOX file in the specific location.
4. As shown below, after the import, you can see all your mailbox items.
   

On Mac

The importing steps would be slightly different if you’re a Mac user. Follow the steps below to import MBOX files into Thunderbird on Mac:

1. Open Thunderbird for Mac, click on the Tools tab and click the Import option.
2. In the pop-up window, select the Mail option; click Next.
   
3. Select Apple Mail in the dialog box and click Next.
   
4. Upon completing the import process, a folder named Apple Mail will be listed in Thunderbird, and you can see all the mailbox items on the left-hand side of the email client on Mac.
   

Import MBOX Files into MS Outlook

Importing MBOX files or migrating Thunderbird emails to Outlook is a common requirement for many Outlook users. Migration with the assistance of manual methods may sound handy and fuss-free, but it doesn’t guarantee a complete migration.

You should not consider manual methods unless you’re geeky enough. For example, you can import only a single MBOX file at once. So, you have to migrate multiple MBOX files, but you cannot. Data loss and vulnerability are other major factors to be considered during manual migration. Moving MBOX files to Office 365 is another desired action that the users want to perform. But the lack of support for the platforms reduces the chances of any such manual attempt.

But Kernel for MBOX to PST Converter tool helps you in all these circumstances. The tool offers various features like file repair, data recovery, cross-platform migration, filtered migration, etc. Multiple file migration in a single go, live preview, Apple Mail & Thunderbird support, etc., are a few of the many salient features of the tool.

Conclusion

If you try to import MBOX file to Outlook without a proper understanding of the steps, you may get stuck somewhere in the middle and possibly risk the integrity of your MBOX file; then, the chances of file corruption also bubble up. So, it is recommended to use a specialized MBOX file to PST conversion tool for the task.

FAQs