What is Outlook EML File Location?

Outlook is a widely used email platform, used by a large number of professionals as well as common users.

It stores emails in specific file formats that are particular to the application. Occasionally, you may need to work with .eml files, which are a standard format used by many email programs. If you are exporting emails for tasks such as archiving, transferring them to another system, or sharing them across different platforms, it is important to know where these EML files are saved. Outlook does not automatically show you the location where the EML files are stored after they are exported and saved. The location of these files depends on the user’s settings. Whether you are using Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, or the web version of Outlook, the file storage location can differ. In this article, you will learn how to locate the exact folder where EML files are stored on your computer.

Why Outlook EML uses file format: Compatibility and Portability

The EML file format is the format that is commonly used for email file types that are used by various email clients, such as Outlook, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, etc. The EML file format is definitely supported by Outlook; it is supported because it is widely used, and it also helps in sharing.

Compatibility: EML files follow a particular standard, stating that they can be opened by any email client on various platforms. This makes it suitable for sharing the message between users without installing Outlook.

Portability: All the email files consist of more than just emails. It includes the email header and attachments along with multiple other important data. You can easily read, share, and store all these files and migrate from one platform to another.

Finally, we can say that Outlook support for email format allows users to save messages in a format that works with various programs and not only for Microsoft Outlook.

Where are EML files stored in Outlook?

Sending and receiving emails is now a routine part of daily life, but many users are unaware that Outlook stores all their emails in hidden data files.

Unlike some email programs that save each message as a separate file, Outlook typically stores all emails within one or two data files, depending on how the email account is set up. Whether you’re using a personal email service like Gmail or Yahoo or a business account on Microsoft 365, Outlook manages your messages in different ways. In this section, we’ll explore where Outlook stores EML files, the types of files it uses, such as OST or PST, and how you can locate them on your device, whether you’re using a Mac or a Windows computer. To convert OST files into EML files, we have two ways: one of which is the manual method, and the other is the automatic method. Let’s discuss both methods.

Here are two different methods through which you can easily convert OST files into EML files.

A. Manual Method

If you are searching for ways to easily convert OST files to EML files through a manual method, then you can follow the given approach.

Method 1: Opening an MSG File on Desktop via Drag-and-Drop

 1. Start by opening Microsoft Outlook with the active OST profiles.

2. Select and then drag the desired email to a new folder on your device; this will create an MSG file.

Method 2: Opening an MSG File in Thunderbird via Drag-and-Drop

1. Install and download Thunderbird on your device, then create a configured account.
2. Drag and drop the MSG file into Thunderbird, import it, right-click the email, choose Save As, and select EML format.

Method 3: Open the EML file through Outlook.

Before using this method, the user needs to have Outlook and Thunderbird on their devices.

1. 1. Start by installing and downloading Thunderbird.
2. Go to Menu → Tools → Import → Import from Outlook option in the list..
3. Now select the data that you want to convert, then press continue.
4. Then click on Start Import.
5.  Go to the menu and then press on the add-ons theme.
6. Click Import/ExportNG Tools and tap Add to Thunderbird
7. Choose ImportExportNG and select Export all messages.
8. Select the EML message format.
9. At the end, select Messages and index with subfolders.

Limitations of Manual Methods.

1. Requires Outlook to be installed: This method will work only when you have Outlook installed on your device; it can only access the original profile that created the OST file. In case your profile is discarded or corrupted, or you are not active on your account, then you cannot get the OST file through this method.
2. Not ideal for bulk conversion: This method is not reliable for bulk email conversion or Outlook mailbox conversion.
3. Drag and Drop limitations: The drag and drop method may lead to loss of formatting, or there will be no proper maintenance of metadata.

B. Automated Method.

Here in this section, we are going to tell you how you can convert OST files to EML files by using a well-reputed and reliable tool, which will make your work easy. This tool is the BitRecover OST Converter. Below are a few steps to use this tool.

1. Download and open BitRecover OST File Converter.
2. Add OST files (auto-detect from Outlook or add manually).
3. Select desired folders/files.
4. Choose EML format → click Next.
5. Set file naming style and destination path.
6. Click Next to start conversion.
7. Click OK to get Outlook EML file location.

Features of the Pro Tool

1. This tool is designed to meet the needs of both home and business users. It has no size restrictions and can handle large OST files effectively.
2. This application works reliably with all types of OST files, ensuring that users do not encounter any issues during the conversion process.
3. The tool includes a built-in scanner that can scan OST files to recover deleted emails and save them in EML format.
4. It also convert OST to PST, PDF, EML, MBOX, and over 39 other file formats.

Conclusion

At last, we can say that Outlook does not store emails in the format of EML files; it only uses PST or OST files. However, there are two common ways for it: manual method, and  automated method. Manual methods have few limitations, whereas the manual method has few advantages. The manual method involves dragging and dropping EML files into Outlook folders, which are saved inside Outlook’s data file. The manual method is a time-consuming process. The automated method is much faster than the manual method. In automation, we have the best reliable tool named the BitRecover OST Converter tool, which allows us to extract and convert an entire OST file to EML format.