Outlook to Text: How to Convert Outlook Email Messages to Text Files

Converting Outlook emails to .txt files isn't very difficult. In fact, Microsoft Outlook 365/2019/2016/2013/2010 includes this ability out of the box.

To export multiple emails into a single text file with Outlook, you must first select the message or messages in the Outlook mail list.

Select the emails you want to save as text files

From the Outlook menu, choose File > Save As, and then choose "Text Only." Click Save to begin the operation.

Choose Text Only to Export

Outlook's native text export is useful for quickly saving one or more email messages into a single text file.  Messages are arranged in the order they appeared in the mail list.

If you need to manage the file attachments that are included in the email, or if you want to export each email message into a single text file, and give each text file a specific name, you will need an app for Outlook called MessageExport.

MessageExport is an add-in that extends and automates Outlook's export abilities. After installation, it appears as part of the Outlook toolbar.  In addition to text files, MessageExport lets you save Outlook emails to PDF, HTML, MHT, JPG, GIF, TIF, PNG, CSV, and many other formats. You can export a single email, or bulk export selected emails, or an entire folder and sub-folders.

To follow along with the rest of this article, first download a free trial of MessageExport. You'll also need Microsoft Office Outlook 2003/2007/2010/2013. MessageExport works with either 32-bit or 64-bit Outlook.

Begin using MessageExport by first selecting the email messages you want to export, just as you did in the earlier operation with Outlook.  Next, select the export target format from the drop down list.  In this example, we will use "Export to TXT."  Click the "Export" button to start the conversion operation.

Choose the target export format from list

Click Export to start saving Outlook messages as txt files

 Clicking the little "hammer and wrench" icon from the MessageExport toolbar lets you customize how MessageExport's text conversion function works by editing the settings.

Text profile settings can be edited.

Export From:  lets you select where the messages are stored.

Export attachments: lets you choose how MessageExport processes file attachments in the email.

Export Name tab: set specific naming scheme for the text files.

Compress output tab: tell MessageExport to compress all of the text files into a single smaller .zip file. Below is the Compress output tab.  click "Compress all items into same archive," and specify a file name.  From then on, MessageExport will save all of your text-converted emails into a single .zip.

Compress Output tab lets you save text emails to a zip file.

We hope this article has given you an understanding of how you can save your Outlook email messages into simple text files. To learn more about MessageExport, visit the product home page, and connect with us on Facebook!

We also made this short video to accompany this article, where we step you through the process of saving Outlook email to text.

Outlook to PDF: Saving Multiple Outlook Emails to a Single PDF File

MessageExport is an add-in for Microsoft Outlook that expands Outlook's ability to export email messages to different formats.  A useful feature is the ability to export multiple emails and file attachments into a single PDF file. 

MessageExport integrates tightly with the Outlook toolbar.  Export operations are done by way of "export profiles" which can be customized to fit specific purposes.  MessageExport ships with many standard export profiles, including three variations that will allow you to export email to a single pdf file.
 

MessageExport toolbar in Outlook

To select these profiles, click on the drop down list. MessageExport supports three different processes for converting Outlook mail to a single PDF. You can convert the email and attempt to convert document file attachments into the PDF image; you can convert the email and embed file attachment as distinct files within the PDF file; or you can convert the email and save the file attachments to a location on your hard drive.

In our example below, we have selected the profile called "Single PDF - attachments converted/included."



Choose Single PDF profile from MessageExport add-in for Outlook

Next, choose the email messages you want to convert to a single PDF file.  Although there is no limit, we recommend no more than 500 emails in a single pdf file. They can become very large very quickly. 

After the emails are selected, click MessageExport's blue Export button to begin the conversion process.

MessageExport will continue until the operation has completed, and all selected emails have been processed into a single pdf file.

For more information about MessageExport, or to download a  15 day free trial visit the MessageExport home page. If you decide not to purchase MessageExport after the trial is finished, leave it installed! It will still allow you to convert single email messages to PDF and other formats, free.  You can purchase MessageExport at a later time if you decide you want to enable to bulk export functions.

Learn How to Use MessageExport for Outlook in One Minute

MessageExport for Microsoft Outlook is an add-in that helps you do more with your email messages. Use MessageExport to export, convert, copy and save Outlook emails to different formats, either manually or automatically.  This very short tutorial will get you up and running with MessageExport in about a minute.

 

Download a free 15 day trial of MessageExport and follow along!