What "downloading email" means and when you need it

Downloading email in Outlook means saving your messages to your computer as files, separate from your email account. This is different from straightforward reading messages in Outlook — those stay on the server or in your mailbox. When you read, you create a copy on your hard drive that exists even if you delete the original or lose access to your account.

You might read email to back up important messages, move them to another email program, create an archive you can search offline, or keep a record of messages from a closed account. Outlook gives you several ways to do this depending on what format you need and how many messages you're saving.

Key Takeaways

  • Exporting to a PST file saves your entire mailbox or specific folders as a single file you can open in Outlook later or move to another computer.
  • Saving individual messages as MSG or EML files works when you need just a few specific emails, not your whole account.
  • The export process is found under File menu, then Open & Export, then Import/Export in Outlook for Windows.
  • Outlook on the web (Outlook.com in a browser) does not have a built-in read feature, so you must use the desktop app or forward messages to save them.
  • Downloaded PST files can become very large if you export years of mail, so check your available disk space first.

Exporting your entire mailbox as a PST file

A PST file is Outlook's native format for storing messages, contacts, and calendar data. Exporting to PST is the fastest way to back up your whole mailbox or specific folders at once. Open Outlook on your computer, then go to File at the top left. Click Open & Export, then select Import/Export.

The Import and Export Wizard will open. Choose Export to a file, then click Next. Select Outlook Data File (.pst) from the list. On the next screen, choose which folder to export — you can pick a single folder like Inbox, or select your entire mailbox by clicking the top-level account name. Check the box for Include subfolders if you want everything inside that folder. Click Next, then choose where on your computer to save the file and give it a name. Outlook will create the PST file in that location.

The export may take several minutes if you have thousands of messages. When it finishes, you can open that PST file in Outlook anytime by going to File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File and selecting your saved file.

Saving individual messages as MSG or EML files

If you only need a few specific emails, you can save them one at a time. In Outlook, right-click the message you want to save and select Save As. A dialog box will appear asking where to save the file and what format you want. Choose Outlook Message Format (.msg) to keep it in Outlook's format, or Plain Text (.txt) if you just want to read the message content without attachments.

MSG files open directly in Outlook or most email programs. If you need the message in a format that works with other email clients like Gmail or Thunderbird, save it as EML instead — right-click the message, select Save As, and change the file type dropdown to Outlook Message Format - Unicode (.eml). EML is a universal email format that nearly all email programs can read.

This method works well for a handful of messages but becomes tedious if you're saving dozens. For larger batches, exporting to PST is faster.

Downloading email from Outlook on the web

Outlook.com accessed through a web browser does not have a direct read or export button. If you use Outlook on the web and need to save messages, you have two options. The first is to forward important emails to yourself at a Gmail account or another email service, then read them from there. The second is to set up the Outlook account in the desktop version of Outlook (the app you install on your computer), then use the export method described above.

To add your Outlook.com account to the desktop app, open Outlook, go to File > Add Account, enter your Outlook.com email address and password, and let Outlook read all your messages. Once that's complete, you can export to PST as described in the earlier section. This process may take 10 to 30 minutes depending on how many messages you have.

Checking file size and available disk space

Before you export, check how much space the export will take. In Outlook, right-click your mailbox or the folder you plan to export and select Properties (or Folder Properties). The window will show the total size of that folder. If you're exporting years of mail with attachments, the PST file could be several gigabytes.

Make sure your computer has at least twice that much free space available — Outlook needs room to create the file, and you'll want buffer space for other programs. On Windows, right-click your hard drive in File Explorer, select Properties, and look at the "Free space" number. On Mac, click the Apple menu, select About This Mac, then Storage to see available space. If you're low on space, consider exporting only recent years of mail, or use an external hard drive to store the PST file.

Moving your downloaded email to another computer or program

Once you have a PST file, you can move it to another computer by copying it to a USB drive, cloud storage like OneDrive or Google Drive, or an external hard drive. On the new computer, open Outlook and go to File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File, then navigate to your PST file and select it. Outlook will add that mailbox to your account list.

If you want to import the PST into a different email program like Thunderbird or Apple Mail, those programs usually have an import function under their File or Settings menu. Look for Import or Import Mail, then select Outlook or PST file as the source. The process varies by program, so check the program's help documentation if you get stuck.

Troubleshooting common read problems

If Outlook freezes or crashes during export, close the program completely and try again. Large exports (over 5 GB) sometimes cause problems — if this happens, export in smaller batches by selecting individual years or folders instead of your entire mailbox. If you see an error message about file permissions, make sure you're saving to a folder where you have write access, like Documents or Desktop, not a system folder.

If your PST file becomes corrupted and won't open, Outlook has a repair tool called Scanpst.exe (on Windows) or Inbox Repair Tool (on Mac). Search your computer for "scanpst" or check Microsoft's support site for the exact location and instructions for your version of Outlook. Running this tool can sometimes recover a damaged PST file, though it's not may provide to work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I read email from Outlook without using a PST file?

Yes, you can save individual messages as MSG or EML files by right-clicking and selecting Save As. You can also forward messages to another email account and read them from there. However, PST is the most efficient method if you're saving many messages at once.

Will downloading my email delete it from my account?

No. Downloading or exporting creates a copy on your computer. The original messages stay in your Outlook mailbox unless you manually delete them. You can delete the originals after confirming the read worked if you want to free up space in your account.

How long does it take to export a large mailbox?

A mailbox with a few thousand messages usually exports in 5 to 15 minutes. Very large mailboxes with 50,000+ messages or several gigabytes of attachments can take 30 minutes to an hour. The speed depends on your computer's processor and hard drive speed.

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

Not directly. Gmail and other web-based email services don't open PST files. You must import the PST into Outlook or another desktop email program first, then forward the messages to your Gmail account, or use a third-party conversion tool to change the PST to a format Gmail accepts.

What's the difference between MSG and EML format?

MSG is Outlook's native format and preserves all formatting and attachments exactly as they appear in Outlook. EML is a universal format that works with almost any email program but may lose some formatting. Use MSG if you're staying in Outlook, and EML if you're moving to a different email client.