What downloading mail from Outlook means

Downloading mail from Outlook means saving your emails to your computer as files so you can read them offline or keep a backup copy. Outlook stores emails on Microsoft's servers by default, but you can export them to your hard drive in a format your computer can open and search.

The most common reason to read is to back up important messages before closing an account, or to read emails without an internet connection. You can read all your mail at once or just specific folders. The process takes 10 to 30 minutes depending on how many emails you have.

Key Takeaways

  • Outlook for Windows and Mac both have a built-in export feature under File menu that saves emails as .pst files your computer can open.
  • Outlook on the web (Outlook.com in your browser) does not have a direct read button, but you can use the desktop app or forward messages to yourself.
  • Downloaded emails stay on your computer even if you delete them from Outlook or lose access to your account.
  • A .pst file containing thousands of emails can be 1 to 5 gigabytes, so check your available hard drive space before starting.

Downloading mail in Outlook for Windows

Open Outlook on your Windows computer and go to File in the top left corner. Click Open & Export, then select Import/Export. A window will open asking what you want to do.

Choose Export to a file and click Next. Select Outlook Data File (.pst) as the file type. On the next screen, choose which folder or account you want to read — you can pick your entire inbox, a single folder, or multiple folders by holding Ctrl and clicking each one.

Click Next and choose where on your computer to save the file. Give it a name you will recognize, like "Outlook backup 2024" or "Work emails". Click Finish. Outlook will now create the .pst file, which may take several minutes if you have thousands of emails.

Downloading mail in Outlook for Mac

Open Outlook on your Mac and click File at the top. Select Export. A dialog box will ask you to choose a location on your Mac to save the file and what to name it.

Before you click Export, make sure you have selected the folder or account you want to read in the left sidebar. If you click File > Export without selecting anything first, Outlook will export only the folder that is currently open. To read your entire inbox, click on your account name in the left sidebar, then go to File > Export.

The Mac version creates a .olm file instead of a .pst file. Both formats work the same way — they are just containers for your emails that your computer can open and search.

Downloading mail from Outlook.com in your browser

Outlook.com (the web version you access in your browser) does not have a built-in read button. The fastest way to get your emails is to read the Outlook desktop app for Windows or Mac and use the steps above, since the desktop app syncs with your Outlook.com account automatically.

If you cannot install the desktop app, you can forward your emails to yourself using a filter. Go to Settings (the gear icon) and click View all Outlook settings. Under Mail, select Rules. Create a new rule that forwards all messages from your inbox to a Gmail account or another email service you control. Then read from that account instead. This method is slower but works if you have no other option.

Understanding .pst and .olm files

A .pst file (Outlook Data File) is a single container that holds all your emails, contacts, calendar events, and notes from the folder you selected. Once downloaded, you can open it by dragging it into Outlook, or by going to File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File and selecting the .pst file from your computer.

A .olm file (Outlook for Mac Data File) works the same way but is created by the Mac version. You can open a .olm file in Outlook for Mac by going to File > Open and selecting the file. Windows Outlook cannot open .olm files directly, but you can convert them using free online tools if you need to move emails between computers.

Both file types are compressed, so a folder with 10,000 emails might be 2 to 3 gigabytes. Store the file somewhere with plenty of space, like an external hard drive or cloud storage (Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox all work). Do not store it only on your desktop or in your Downloads folder, since those fill up quickly.

What to do after you read

Once the read is complete, your .pst or .olm file sits on your computer. You can open it in Outlook anytime to search for old emails, even if you no longer have an active Outlook account. You can also copy the file to a USB drive, external hard drive, or cloud storage as a backup.

If you are closing your Outlook account, read your mail before you delete the account. Once an account is deleted, you cannot recover emails that were not downloaded. If you are keeping your account open, you do not need to do anything else — the downloaded file is just a copy, and your emails remain on Microsoft's servers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I read just one email instead of an entire folder?

The export feature downloads whole folders, not individual emails. To save a single message, right-click it and select Save As, which saves it as a .msg file. You can then open that file in Outlook or forward it to yourself as a backup.

What if the read stops or takes too long?

Large downloads can stall if your internet connection drops or Outlook crashes. If this happens, restart Outlook and try again, but export a smaller folder first to test — for example, just your Sent folder instead of your entire inbox. You can always read multiple folders separately and combine them later.

Can I open a .pst file in Gmail or another email service?

Gmail and most other email services do not open .pst files directly. You must open the .pst file in Outlook first, then forward the emails to your Gmail account or another service. Some third-party tools can convert .pst files to other formats, but the Outlook desktop app is the most reliable way to access what you downloaded.

Will downloading my emails delete them from Outlook?

No. Downloading creates a copy on your computer. Your emails stay in Outlook unless you delete them yourself. The downloaded file is separate and independent — changes you make in Outlook do not affect the downloaded copy, and vice versa.

How do I know if my read worked?

After the export finishes, open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) and navigate to the folder where you saved the .pst or .olm file. You should see the file with today's date. Double-click it to open it in Outlook and verify that your emails are there. If the file is very small (under 100 kilobytes), the read may have failed — try again.