An MBOX file contains an archive of emails. When you download your Gmail archive from Google Takeout, for example, you’ll get an MBOX file containing all your emails. Here’s how to view its
contents. Our favorite app for opening an MBOX file is the open-source Mozilla Thunderbird application. We performed the steps here with Mozilla Thunderbird version 78, which was the current version as of January 15, 2021. To get started, download Mozilla Thunderbird and install it. It’s available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. If you’re not already using Mozilla Thunderbird, you’ll see a “Set Up Your Existing Email Address” dialog box the first time you open it. Click “Cancel” to continue.Download Mozilla Thunderbird
Launch Thunderbird and Set Up an Account
Thunderbird wants to become your default email application. Feel free to uncheck “Always perform this check when starting Thunderbird” and click “Skip Integration” to dismiss this.
Mozilla Thunderbird is a little weird, and it needs you to set up a local “account” before you can continue with this process and provide your MBOX file.
To create an empty local account, click “Feeds” under Choose What to Set Up. You can also click menu > New > Feed Account.
Click the “Next” button and click “Finish” to create the account.
Point Thunderbird at Your MBOX File
You can now have Thunderbird open and display the contents of your MBOX file.
To get started, click menu > Account Settings.
On the Account Settings screen, click “Local Folders.”
Under Message Storage, click the “Browse” button to the right of Local Directory.
Browse to the folder containing your MBOX file and click “Select Folder.” For example, if your MBOX file is located in C:\Users\[Name]\Downloads\Takeout\Mail, browse to that “Mail” folder and click “Select Folder.”
Thunderbird will tell you it needs to restart. Click “Restart.”
Browse the Contents of Your MBOX File
You can now view the contents of your MBOX file in Thunderbird. You’ll see the name of the MBOX file under “Local Folders” in Thunderbird. Click it and you can browse the contents of the MBOX file like you would browse another email inbox.
Bonus: Remove the Feeds Account
By the way, you can now remove that empty “Blogs & News Feeds” account you created earlier.
To do so, click menu > Account Settings. Select “Blogs & News Feeds.” At the bottom of the window, click the “Account Actions” box and click “Remove Accounts.”
Click “Remove” and then click “OK” to confirm your change.
Now you can open Thunderbird whenever you want to view the contents of your MBOX file. Remember that Thunderbird is pointed at your MBOX file wherever it is on your computer. So, if you move the MBOX file to another folder, you’ll need to go back into Thunderbird’s account settings and point it at the new location of the MBOX file.
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If you’re thinking of importing MBOX files and wonder how you can do that without compromising your mailbox items, we’ll guide you on how you can import the MBOX file in Mozilla Thunderbird and MS Outlook.
Email Clients like Mozilla Thunderbird, Entourage, Apple Mail & Qualcomm Eudora use MBOX file format. If you’re moving from any of these listed email clients, then this article would be the right stop for you.
Understanding the need for importing MBOX files to MS Outlook
MS Outlook offers a wide range of outstanding features like offline accessibility, mailbox organization, anti-spam features, password protection, advanced configuration & settings, and a lot more add-on features.
- For better accessibility than the Apple Mail MBOX email client
- MS Outlook only supports PST file format
- MBOX cannot be used in another applications file format
Before we jump on Importing step directly, we first need to figure out the MBOX file location on your system. So, where to find the MBOX file?
Instant Solution
Download Kernel for MBOX to PST, the most recommended and easy-to-use tool to import MBOX files to Thunderbird & MS
Outlook.
MBOX File Location – Windows all Versions
To find the location of MBOX files on your system, follow the steps:
- Launch RUN utility by pressing + R keys together.
- Type %APPDATA% in the box and press Enter.
- Double-click on Thunderbird > Profiles.
Every folder inside the Profiles folder is a profile on your MBOX email client.
Alternately you can go to the path:
C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\\
Import MBOX Files into Thunderbird
On Windows
Mozilla Thunderbird requires the installation of an add-on using which you can proceed with the import process. After installing the ImortExportTools add-on in Thunderbird, you can proceed to import MBOX files to Thunderbird:
- Open Thunderbird, click on Tools, select ImportExportTools, and click Import
MBOX
file.
- In the pop-up, the option Import directly one or more MBOX files is set by default; click
Ok.
- Browse for the MBOX file in the specific
location.
- As shown below, after the import, you can see all your mailbox items.
On Mac
The importing steps would be slightly different if you’re a Mac user. Follow the steps below to import MBOX files into Thunderbird on Mac:
- Open Thunderbird for Mac, click on the Tools tab and click the Import option.
- In the pop-up window, select the Mail option; click
Next.
- Select Apple Mail in the dialog box and click
Next.
- Upon completing the import process, a folder named Apple Mail will be listed in Thunderbird, and you can see all the mailbox items on the left-hand side of the email client on
Mac.
Import MBOX Files into MS Outlook
Importing MBOX files or migrating Thunderbird emails to Outlook is a common requirement for many Outlook users. Migration with the assistance of manual methods may sound handy and fuss-free, but it doesn’t guarantee a complete migration.
You should not consider manual methods unless you’re geeky enough. For example, you can import only a single MBOX file at once. So, you have to migrate multiple MBOX files, but you cannot. Data loss and vulnerability are other major factors to be considered during manual migration. Moving MBOX files to Office 365 is another desired action that the users want to perform. But the lack of support for the platforms reduces the chances of any such manual attempt.
But Kernel for MBOX to PST Converter tool helps you in all these circumstances. The tool offers various features like file repair, data recovery, cross-platform migration, filtered migration, etc. Multiple file migration in a single go, live preview,
Apple Mail & Thunderbird support, etc., are a few of the many salient features of the tool.
Conclusion
If you try to import MBOX file to Outlook without a proper understanding of the steps, you may get stuck somewhere in the middle and possibly risk the integrity of your MBOX file; then, the chances of file corruption also bubble up. So, it is recommended to use a specialized MBOX file to PST conversion tool for the task.
FAQs
Q- Is ImportExportTools a safe add-on to import the MBOX file. Will it protect the structure of file?
A- The add-on comes from the available add-on list in thunderbird, and it offers various services in which Import is one. So, it is safe to import your MBOX file using this one.
Q- Does the add-on provide any filter to MBOX file before uploading it?
A- The add-on imports complete file as a whole. So, there are no filter options there.
Q- How many MBOX files can I upload manually?
A- You can upload one file at a time.
More Information
- Free Methods to Convert MBOX to PST File
- Best Free MBOX Viewer Tool
- Popular Ways to Backup Apple Mail Data to iCloud
- How to configure Yahoo! Mail to Thunderbird?