How to save Outlook emails to your computer
How to save Outlook emails to your computer: drag them from the message list into a folder on your desktop; classic Outlook writes one .msg file per email, new Outlook and Outlook for Mac write .eml. For whole folders, drag the contents folder by folder or export a .pst. Files saved this way include attachments; open any of them in SaveMail to read it on a computer without Outlook or save it as a PDF, with nothing uploaded.
Does Outlook already save emails to your computer?
Partly, and not in a form you can use. Classic Outlook keeps a local cache (an .ost file for Microsoft 365, Exchange and IMAP accounts, a .pst for POP accounts) so the mailbox works offline. That cache is tied to the account and the Outlook profile: delete the account and it goes, and no other program opens it. Outlook on the web and the Outlook app on a phone keep nothing on disk you can reach. "Saving to the computer" therefore means creating files you own, separate from the mailbox.
| You want on disk | Do this | You get |
|---|---|---|
| A few emails on the desktop | Drag from the list | .msg (classic) or .eml (new Outlook, Mac) |
| An Outlook folder with its structure | One disk folder per Outlook folder, drag the contents | Files you can browse in File Explorer |
| The complete mailbox | File → Open & Export → Import/Export → .pst | One file, opens only in Outlook |
| Emails from Outlook on the web | More actions → Download | .eml per message |
| A copy anyone can open | Convert the .msg/.eml in SaveMail | PDF plus attachment ZIP |
Have the email as a file (EML, MSG, MBOX)? Convert it to PDF in your browser: nothing is uploaded.
Save an Outlook email to the desktop
- Restore Outlook's window so part of the desktop is visible, or open the destination folder in File Explorer next to it.
- Click the email in the message list.
- Drag it onto the desktop or into the folder and release.
The file is named after the subject. Dragging copies; the email stays in Outlook. If you prefer a menu, open the email and use File → Save As; the save as file guide lists the formats that dialog offers.
How to save Outlook emails to computer folders that mirror Outlook
Outlook cannot drag a folder itself, only its messages, so the structure is something you recreate once.
- On disk, create a top folder such as
Outlook export 2026, and inside it one folder per Outlook folder you want: Inbox, Sent, Clients, and so on. - In Outlook, click the first folder, press Ctrl-A to select all messages, and drag them into the matching disk folder.
- Repeat for each folder. Subfolders are separate; a folder's drag does not include them.
- Sort the disk folder by date modified to check that all files arrived; Outlook keeps the message date as the file's modified time.
Folders with several thousand messages go more reliably in batches of a few hundred. If you need calendar and contacts as well, or the structure of fifty folders, a .pst export is faster; the backup guide explains when to use which.
Save emails from Outlook on the web or Outlook 365 to your desktop
The web version, and new Outlook for Windows, cannot write .msg files. Open the message, click More actions (three dots) and choose Download; the browser saves an .eml to your Downloads folder, and you move it where you like. New Outlook for Windows also supports dragging a message to a File Explorer window. For a work account that must be exported in full, switch to classic Outlook (toggle in the top-right corner) and run the .pst export there.
Make the saved emails readable on any computer
A folder of .msg files is only useful on a PC with Outlook. For the copies you will send to an accountant, a lawyer or a future you, add a PDF.
- Open savemail.app in any browser and drop a .msg or .eml file on the page. It is parsed by JavaScript in the tab; there is no upload endpoint, no account, and the page keeps working offline once loaded.
- Read the rendered message: From, To, Cc, Date, Subject and Message-ID, the body, inline images, and the attachment list with sizes.
- Press Save as PDF; the browser's print dialog makes a text-based PDF you can search later.
- Download the attachments as a ZIP and keep it next to the PDF.
The converter opens one message at a time and does not read .pst files, so convert the emails that matter rather than every file. Encrypted messages are shown as encrypted. For iPhone and Android, the same page opens single .eml and .msg files in the browser, which is handy when the "computer" you have at hand is a phone.
Automatically save Outlook emails to the computer
Outlook has no built-in rule action that writes files to disk. The nearest built-in tools are AutoArchive, which moves old mail into a .pst on a schedule in classic Outlook, and a periodic manual .pst export. A VBA script attached to a "run a script" rule can save each incoming message as .msg; it works only while classic Outlook is running on that PC. The save emails to a folder guide compares these options across mail clients.
Frequently asked questions
How do I save Outlook folders to my computer?
Create a disk folder per Outlook folder, then select all messages in each Outlook folder (Ctrl-A) and drag them over. For the whole tree at once, export a .pst with File → Open & Export → Import/Export.
How do I save an Outlook email to my PC from the web version?
Open the message, click the three dots and choose Download. The .eml file lands in Downloads with its attachments inside.
Does Outlook save emails to the computer automatically?
Classic Outlook keeps a cache file (.ost or .pst) for offline use, but it is bound to the account and unreadable elsewhere. For files you own, drag messages out or export.
How do I save all Outlook emails to my computer?
Export a .pst for the complete mailbox, and drag out the folders you need as .msg files so they can be opened without Outlook.
How do I save Outlook 365 emails to the desktop?
In classic Outlook, drag them from the list to the desktop (.msg). In new Outlook, drag to a File Explorer window or use More actions → Download (.eml).
How do I open the saved emails on a computer without Outlook?
Drop the .msg or .eml file on savemail.app. It renders in the browser with headers and attachments, and Save as PDF gives a copy any computer can open.