How to Save Multiple Emails to One File in Mac OS X Mail

Tidy up that Mac Mail inbox

What to Know

  • Select the emails you want to save, then select File > Save As from the menu.
  • Choose a name, format, and location.

This article describes how to save Apple Mail emails to a single text file in macOS 10.13 and later.

Save Multiple Emails to One File

To save more than one message from Mail to a consolidated text file that contains them all:

  1. Open the folder containing the messages you want to save.

    macOS Mail inbox.
  2. Highlight the emails you want to save to a single file.

    • Hold down Shift to select a contiguous region.
    • Hold down Command to select disparate emails.
    • You can combine these two methods, too.
    Several emails are selected in Mac Mail.
  3. Select File > Save As from the menu.

    Selecting save as in Mac Mail.
  4. If you want a file name different than the subject line of the first selected messages, type it under Save As.

    Naming the file in mac Mail.
  5. Choose a folder for saving under Where.

    Selecting where to save the emails in Mac Mail.
  6. Select either Rich Text Format (fully formatted email text) or Plain Text (plain text versions of the email messages) under Format.

    Selecting the type of format to save.
  7. Select Save.

    Emails are ready to save in Mac Mail.

The text file includes the sender, subject, and recipients as they appear when you read the messages in Mail.

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