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. ProtonMail is end-to-end encrypted, so no third-party app can just log in and pull your mail over IMAP. To download emails from ProtonMail, use Proton’s own free Export Tool, which saves your whole mailbox as EML files, or Proton Mail Bridge on a paid plan for a desktop client. A converter can then turn the EML into PST or PDF.
On this page
Why ProtonMail is different?
Before any steps, one fact explains everything that follows. ProtonMail is end-to-end encrypted, and Proton keeps a zero-access design, meaning your mail sits on their servers in a form even Proton cannot read. A happy consequence for privacy, but it also means you cannot just add ProtonMail to an app over plain IMAP the way you would Gmail or Yahoo, and no third-party tool can log in with your Proton password and pull your mail down. So if a guide tells you to type your ProtonMail login into some converter, be wary. The real, safe ways to download your mail are Proton’s own tools, and they are free. Here they are, easiest first.
Encryption blocks plain IMAP, so you use Proton’s own Export Tool or Bridge.
“With Proton the encryption is the whole point, so the sensible route is to use the tools Proton built for exactly this. Their Export Tool decrypts and writes your mail as EML files locally, and it is free on every plan, that is the one I would start with. If you want your mail living in Outlook or Thunderbird day to day, Proton Bridge is the piece that makes that possible, though it needs a paid plan. What a converter cannot do is skip that step, it has no way through the encryption on its own. Its honest job is afterwards, taking the EML you already exported and turning it into a PST or PDF if that is the shape you need.” Shubham Dixit, Email Forensics reviewer (draft, pending approval)
The free way, Proton’s Export Tool
This is the method most people are actually looking for, and it is Proton’s own. The Proton Mail Export Tool is a free, open-source program for Windows, Mac and Linux, available on every Proton plan, including free. You download it, run proton-mail-export-cli, sign in with your Proton account, and it downloads your entire mailbox as EML files, with the metadata saved alongside as JSON. Because it is Proton’s tool, it handles the decryption itself, so the EML files you get are readable and can be opened or imported into Thunderbird, Outlook or any client. It runs on the command line, so it is a touch technical, but it is the real, official, no-cost way to get everything out.
Proton’s own tool decrypts and saves your whole mailbox as EML.
For a desktop client, Proton Bridge
If what you want is not a one-time export but Proton mail living inside Outlook or Thunderbird day to day, that is what Proton Mail Bridge is for. Bridge is a small app that runs on your computer, logs in to Proton, decrypts your mail locally, and then offers a private IMAP and SMTP connection at 127.0.0.1 that your email client connects to, using a Bridge-generated password rather than your Proton one. It is Proton’s official way to use a normal mail client, and it is included with any paid Proton plan. Free plans do not have Bridge, which is exactly why a plain IMAP login never works on them.
Saving one email at a time
For just a message or two, you do not need any of that. In Proton Mail on the web, open the email, click the three dots, the More menu, under the sender details, and choose Export, then pick where to save it. You get a clean EML file per message, and this works on every plan, free included. It is the quick answer when you only need to keep a handful of important emails rather than the whole mailbox.
Turning the export into PST or PDF
Proton’s Export Tool gives you EML, which is perfect for Thunderbird and fine for Outlook, but sometimes you need a different shape, a single PST for Outlook, a combined MBOX, or PDF copies for records. That is the honest job of a converter, not to bypass Proton, but to reformat mail you have already exported. The PCDOTS Email Converter loads the EML files from your Proton export and writes them out as PST, MBOX or PDF, keeping attachments and folders, with filters by date or sender. On a paid plan you can instead point it at Bridge’s local IMAP to pull and convert in one step. It runs on Windows with a free trial for the first ten items per folder, so the honest order is Proton first, converter after.
The converter step, exported EML reshaped into PST, MBOX or PDF.
Here are the converter steps with the screens.
Step 1. Install and run the software on Windows, then open the menu.
Step 2. Load the exported EML files, or connect Bridge’s local IMAP.
Step 3. Open Export and choose a format, PST, MBOX or PDF.
Step 4. Pick a destination and save.
Related reading, our guides to import Yahoo Mail to Thunderbird and export Gmail emails to Office 365. To open the exported files first, the free EML viewer reads .eml without any client.
The methods compared
Start with a Proton tool to get the mail out, then convert only if you need a different format.
| Method | Best for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Proton Export Tool | The whole mailbox, free | All plans, EML, command line |
| Proton Bridge | Using Outlook or Thunderbird | Paid plans, local IMAP |
| Converter, after export | EML into PST, MBOX or PDF | Windows, reformats only |
Frequently asked questions
Can I download all my ProtonMail emails for free?
Yes. Proton’s own Export Tool is free on every plan and downloads your whole mailbox as EML files, with metadata saved as JSON.
Why can’t I add ProtonMail to Thunderbird with plain IMAP?
Because Proton is end-to-end encrypted and blocks standard IMAP. Use Proton Bridge on a paid plan, which provides a local IMAP connection after decrypting your mail.
What format does the Proton Export Tool produce?
EML files, one per message, plus JSON metadata. EML opens in Thunderbird, Outlook and most clients, and converts easily to other formats.
Do I need a paid plan to export?
No for the Export Tool and single-message export, both work on free plans. Proton Bridge, for using a desktop client, needs a paid plan.
How do I turn the exported EML into a PST for Outlook?
Run the EML files through a converter that outputs PST. That step reformats mail you already exported, it does not connect to Proton directly.
Can a third-party tool download ProtonMail with just my password?
No. The encryption prevents that. A tool can only work with mail after Proton’s Export Tool or Bridge has decrypted it locally.
So which copy do you actually need?
It really comes down to what you are after. Want a complete, portable copy of everything, on any plan and for nothing? Proton’s Export Tool gives you the whole mailbox as EML, and you are done. Want Proton to live inside Outlook or Thunderbird going forward? That is Bridge, on a paid plan. Only after the mail is out, and only if you need a PST or PDF instead of EML, does a converter enter the picture. So before you download anything, ask yourself, is this a one-time archive, or day-to-day access in a client, and let that pick your route?
