Written by Jennifer Walsh. Reviewed for technical accuracy by Shubham Dixit, Independent Expert in Email Forensics and Data File Conversion.
Shubham is an independent external reviewer and not an employee of PCDOTS.
Quick answer. Apple Mail can hand you EML for free. In Mail, select the messages and drag them to a Finder folder, and they save as .eml, as many at once as you like. For a large mailbox, or once you have moved to Windows, export the folder as a mailbox and convert that to EML in bulk with a tool. Apple Mail already stores messages as .emlx, close to EML.
On this page
Why EML, and why it is easy here?
EML is the plain, portable single message format that almost anything can open, which makes it handy for archiving mail, opening messages in a viewer, or moving them to another client. The good news with Apple Mail is that it is already most of the way there. Inside, Mail stores each message as an .emlx file, which is EML with a little extra wrapping, so getting clean .eml out of it is quick and, for most people, free.
There are two ways, dragging messages straight out of Mail, and exporting a whole mailbox and converting it. Which you want depends on how much mail you have and whether you are on a Mac or have moved to Windows.
Apple Mail is already near-EML inside, so dragging messages out gives clean .eml.
“People overthink this one. Apple Mail keeps messages as .emlx, which is EML underneath, so when you select a few and drag them to a Finder folder you get complete .eml files, attachments and all, and you can drag a whole selection at once, not one at a time. Where a converter helps is the other case, you have exported a mailbox to a .mbox, or you are now on Windows, and you want a large batch turned into EML cleanly. For a Mac user grabbing some messages, the drag is the whole answer.” Shubham Dixit, Data Migration reviewer (draft, pending approval)
Free, drag to the Finder
On a Mac this is the quickest route and it costs nothing. In Apple Mail, select the message you want, or hold Command and click several, or Shift to grab a run of them. Then drag the selection to a folder in the Finder or onto the desktop. Mail writes each message out as a .eml file, complete with its attachments and headers.
That is worth stressing, since it is often misstated, you are not limited to one message at a time, and nothing is stripped out. Drag ten or a hundred and you get ten or a hundred .eml files, each a full copy of the original. For most people who just want some Apple Mail messages as EML, this is the entire job.
In bulk, the mailbox export
For a whole mailbox at once, or when you have moved the mail to Windows, there is a tidier path. In Apple Mail, select a mailbox and use Mailbox, then Export Mailbox, to save it as an .mbox. Then a converter turns that .mbox into a folder of clean .eml files in one pass.
The PCDOTS MBOX Converter loads the exported .mbox and exports it to EML in bulk, keeping each message with its attachments and headers, with filters if you only want part of the mailbox. It runs on Windows, which suits the common case where the Mac mail has already been moved across, and a free version handles the first ten items per folder so you can test it first.
Export the mailbox to .mbox, then convert that to EML in bulk.
Here are the tool steps with the screens.
The tool route, an exported .mbox to EML in one pass.
Step 1. Install and run the software on Windows, then open the menu.
Step 2. Choose Email Data Files, MBOX, and add the exported mailbox.
Step 3. Open the Export menu and select EML.
Step 4. Choose a destination folder and Save.
Since the export route is really an MBOX job, our guide to convert MBOX files to EML covers it in more depth. For the same task in another client see convert Thunderbird emails to EML, and for the reverse, bringing mail into Apple Mail, see import MBOX to Mac Mail.
The methods compared
Pick by how much mail you have and which machine you are on.
| Method | Best for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Drag to Finder | On a Mac, free, any number | Keeps attachments, instant |
| Export mailbox, convert | A whole mailbox, or on Windows | Export .mbox, tool makes EML |
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert Apple Mail to EML for free?
In Apple Mail, select the messages and drag them to a folder in the Finder. They save as .eml files, complete with attachments, and you can drag many at once.
Can I drag more than one message at a time?
Yes. Select several with Command or Shift and drag them together. Each becomes its own .eml file, there is no one-at-a-time limit.
Do the EML files keep attachments and formatting?
Yes. Each dragged .eml is a full copy of the message, so its headers, body and attachments come with it.
How do I convert a whole Apple Mail mailbox at once?
Use Mailbox, then Export Mailbox in Apple Mail to save a .mbox, then convert that .mbox to EML in bulk with a tool.
Does Apple Mail store messages as EML already?
Almost. It stores each message as an .emlx file, which is EML with a small amount of extra wrapping, so getting clean .eml out is straightforward.
Can I run the converter on a Mac?
The PCDOTS converter runs on Windows, so it fits the case where you have exported the mailbox and moved it to a Windows machine. On the Mac itself, the free drag method is the way.
Your Apple Mail, portable as EML
There is really nothing daunting here. Apple Mail already keeps your messages in a form that is nearly EML, so on a Mac you just select what you want and drag it into a folder, and clean .eml files appear, attachments intact, as many as you grabbed. When it is a whole mailbox, or the mail has moved to Windows, export it to a .mbox and let a converter turn the batch into EML. Either way your messages end up as tidy, portable files you can open anywhere, keep for the long term, or carry into another mail app whenever you need them.
