How to Export Emails From Outlook

Download your email messages when you change to a different email app or service, upgrade to a new computer, want a searchable and printable collection of email messages, or want to make sure you don’t lose important emails if something should happen to your software or your system.

Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, Outlook for Microsoft 365, and Outlook for Mac

Person exporting emails from Outlook — Brook Pelczynski / Lifewire

After Exporting Emails From Outlook

After you export Outlook emails, save the file to an external hard drive or back them up to another email application. The steps you take depend on which version of Outlook you want to export emails from and what you want to do with the file when you are finished.

Export Emails to a PST File

An Outlook .pst file is a personal storage file containing items such as your emails, address book, signatures, and more. You can back up a .pst file and transfer it to Outlook on another computer, another version of Outlook, or another operating system.

Open Outlook, then go to the File tab and select Info.
Select Account Settings > Account Settings.
In the Account Settings dialog box, go to the Data tab or the Data Files tab, select the file name or account name, then select Open Folder Location or Open File Location.
In Windows File Explorer, copy the .pst to any location on your computer or any removable storage media, such as a flash drive.

Export Emails to an OLM File in Outlook for Mac

In Outlook for Mac, export an email account's messages as a .olm file, which is also a storage file that contains items such as emails, contacts, and calendar items.

For Outlook 2016 for Mac

Go to the Tools tab and select Export.
In the Export to Archive File (.olm) dialog box, select the Mail check box, then select Continue.
In the Save archive file (.olm) as dialog box, select Downloads, then select Save.
Outlook begins exporting the file.
When the Export Complete message appears, select Finish to exit.

For Outlook 2011 for Mac

Go to the File menu and select Export.
Select Outlook for Mac Data File.
Choose Items of the following types, then select the Mail check box.
Select the right arrow to continue.
Choose the location where you want to save the file. Outlook will begin exporting.
When the Export Complete message appears, select Finish or Done to exit.

Export and Backup Emails from Outlook to Gmail

You can export email messages from Outlook to your Gmail account, providing a source of backup as well as the option to access your old emails from any location. The trick is to add your Gmail account to Outlook and then copy and paste the folders.

Set up your Gmail account in Outlook.
Open Outlook and select the folder containing the email messages you want to export to Gmail, such as your Inbox or saved emails.
Press Ctrl+A to select all the emails in the folder. Or, press and hold Ctrl while you select each individual email you want to send to Gmail.
Right-click anywhere on the selected email messages, point to Move, then select Other Folder.
In the Move Items dialog box, select your Gmail account, then choose the folder to which you want to export your emails. Or, select New to create a new folder in your Gmail account.
Select OK to move the selected emails.

Export Outlook Emails to Microsoft Excel

Another way to export Outlook emails is to send them to an Excel worksheet. This creates a spreadsheet with columns such as Subject, Body, From Email, and more. While you can export your Outlook contacts to a CSV file in Outlook for Mac, this option is not available for email messages.

Go to File and select Open & Export. In Outlook 2010, select File > Open.
Choose Import/Export.
Choose Export to a file, then select Next.
Choose Microsoft Excel or Comma Separated Values, then select Next.
Choose the email folder from which you want to export messages, then select Next.
Browse to the folder where you want to save the exported emails.
Enter a name for the exported file and select OK.
Select Next, then select Finish.
When the process is complete, the new Excel file is available for you to open.