We know that the MBOX file format is supported by several email clients, which hold a large number of users. On the other hand, Microsoft Outlook is also one of the most popular email clients, but it does not support the MBOX file format.
Sometimes the user needs to migrate the data from an MBOX-based email client to Outlook. The Outlook email client supports PST file format and here comes the need to convert MBOX data to PST file format.
Need To Move MBOX To Outlook
Many users may be unaware that Outlook has been a frequent user attraction since 2007, simply because of its valuable features.
Outlook has been providing a new and highly efficient suite of users with each update, due to which it now has more than 1 million users worldwide. In addition, the Outlook application is also available for Smartphone, so that the user does not have to roam around with a laptop or depend on the desktop.
That’s why users are looking for different ways to transfer mbox data to Outlook.
Convert MBOX to Outlook PST using a Manual method
Here we have covered all the rules and free methods to export MBOX data to Outlook PST. Any user who wants to transfer mail messages from MBOX to PST can try any of the methods listed below.
First Method: MBOX to PST Conversion via Gmail
Phase 1
- Open your Gmail account OR create a new Gmail account.
- Click on the “gear icon” and press on the “See All settings” button.
- Go to the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab and enable IMAP protocol under IMAP status >> Now scroll down to hit the save button.
Phase 2
Now set up a new account with your email client like Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and Entourage, etc.
Like in Thunderbird
- Open Mozilla Thunderbird and click on Setup a new Email account
- Fill in Your Name & Gmail account detail then and click on the continue button.
- If any problem persists, click on “Configure Manually” and change port and SSL type >> test and continue.
- Once the Gmail account is configured with Thunderbird (or your chosen email client), create a new folder inside and drag all the emails into it.
Doing so will automatically sync the entire data with the Gmail online platform. Now you need to set up an account in Outlook with Gmail again to open the MBOX file in PST.
Phase 3
- Click on your Gmail profile icon and press the “Manage Your Google Account” button.
- Select the “Security tab” and Turn on 2-Step Verification >> click on App passwords >> drop-down menu and hit other (custom name) >> Type Outlook and press Generate button.
- Once it is created an app password, save and hit the “Done” button.
- Launch MS Outlook to set up a new account with Gmail.
- Click on the File tab and choose the Account Settings option.
- In the Account Settings window, click on the New tab to set up an account.
- Type same Gmail account detail and click on Connect button >> Paste the password that was generated in the Google security tab, click again Connect.
Notable point
To use the first method, the user needs strong internet connectivity to sync the data from Thunderbird MBOX (or any other) to Gmail and again to Gmail MBOX to Outlook.
Second Method: MBOX to PST Conversion using email clients
Here, we need Outlook Express, Eudora, and Outlook in the same system so that we can follow the below method.
Note: All email clients are configured with any email client.
First, locate the MBOX file and move to the local system where MS Outlook is installed.
(For Gmail, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc. first export the MBOX file then follow the below steps.)
Phase 1
- Install Eudora email client and configure with any email account.
- Copy your MBOX mailbox and Go to the default location of Eudora.
- Paste the MBOX file and change the file extension like mbox to ABC.mbx. (Eudora MBX file and MBOX file are family format and hold a similar folder hierarchy.)
Phase 2
- Run Outlook Express and click on File tab >> Go to import >> Click on Import messages option
- Select & Browse Eudora mailbox location and add MBOX file
- Click on Next >> Save the destination >> Next and Finish the process.
Phase 3
- Open Microsoft Outlook >> File Tab >> click on Import – Export
- Choose “Import Internet Mail & Address” and click on the Next button
- Choose “Outlook Express 2x, 3x, & 4x and Windows Mail” and press the Next button.
- Browse the Eudora mail location and select your MBOX data file (You can also enable “Do not import duplicate item”) after that click on the Next button.
- Browse the destination to save the MBOX file and press the Finish
In both methods, the user has to move around email clients other than MBOX and Outlook which is time-consuming. Apart from this, it is also necessary to have a huge amount of technical knowledge because due to continuous updates, any problem can come at any time which frustrates the user. Sometimes it is also seen that even if any of these methods is completed, the output is not as we want.
To overcome these issues, users opt for automated or third-party applications to convert and import MBOX files directly in Outlook 2019, 2016, and other earlier versions.
Third Method: MailsDaddy MBOX Converter
In the online MBOX Converter market, various trusted brands are available that provide a variety of email solutions on different types of email conversion.
So if you want to migrate MBOX to Outlook PST format then I would like to recommend MailsDaddy MBOX Converter Tool . This smart tool easily exports MBOX to PST, Office 365, EML, MSG, Live Exchange , etc. with similar folder Hierarchy and properties. The software runs on all Windows OS and easily migrates mailboxes to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, etc.
Steps to migrate MBOX to Outlook
- Download and install the application on Windows OS
- Run the tool and click on the Browse button to add a mailbox
- After loading the mailbox, click on the export button to import the MBOX file to Outlook PST in bulk.
- Enable PST file with one conversion option: Single PST or Separate PST for all mailboxes.
- Browse the destination to save exported MBOX file in PST file format then hit the Export button again.
Now, wait while the process window is running. After that, you can go to that selected location and open the data in Outlook.
Fourth Method: Freeware MBOX Viewer
If your only purpose is to open and read the MBOX file then you can also try the MailsDaddy Free MBOX Viewer tool. It supports all MBOX-based email clients and provides a clear preview of the loaded mailboxes. Users can browse multiple mailboxes at once and can open them in MBOX Viewer for reading.
In the future, if you wish to convert the MBOX file, you can also upgrade the software to the Pro version.
Conclusion
In this post, I have described step by step all the possible methods to load and convert MBOX files to Outlook PST format. Any user who wants a manual process of MBOX to Outlook PST conversion can try it for free. The user can convert the first 20 messages using the free version of MailsDaddy MBOX Converter.