PubRescue What is an .eml file?
An .eml file is a single email saved as a file. It holds everything the message had: the sender, the recipients, the date, the subject, the text and the attachments. It uses the standard internet mail format, so almost any email program can write one.
You usually get one when someone saves or drags a message out of Thunderbird, Apple Mail or Windows Mail, downloads a message from Gmail (More > Download message), or hands over email records as a set of files. Sometimes an email arrives as an .eml attachment inside another email.
Why it won't open
An .eml file needs a mail program to show it. Without one, your computer doesn't know what to do with it, or it opens the file in a text editor, which shows the raw message code instead of a readable email.
- Windows: .eml files used to open in the Windows Mail app, which Microsoft has retired. On many PCs a double-click now asks which app to use.
- Mac: Apple Mail opens .eml files, but it wants an email account set up first.
- Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android: there is usually no app that shows a saved .eml file properly.
The viewer on this page needs none of that. It reads the file in your web browser.
Open an .eml file, step by step
- Save the .eml file somewhere you can find it, such as Downloads or the desktop. If it came as an email attachment, download it first.
- Drag it onto the box at the top of this page, or click Choose files. You can add several .eml files at once.
- Read the email. You see the subject, from, to, cc, date and the message. With several files, click one in the list to open it.
- Get the attachments. Each one is listed with its name and size. Click Download next to a file, or Download all (ZIP).
- Keep a copy if you need one: click Save as PDF and pick Save as PDF in your browser's print dialog.
On a phone or tablet
Save the .eml attachment to Files on an iPhone or iPad, or to Downloads on Android. Open this page in Safari or Chrome, tap Choose files and pick the file. The message opens right on your phone, and attachments you download go to the same place.
What you'll see
- HTML emails look the way they were designed. They're shown in a locked-down frame where no scripts run.
- Pictures from the internet are blocked at first, because they can tell the sender you opened the email. Click Load remote images if you trust it. Pictures embedded in the email show right away.
- Attached emails, such as a message forwarded as an attachment, open in the same viewer with Open.
- Calendar invites appear as .ics attachments you can download and open in your calendar app.
Your email stays on your device
The viewer runs entirely in your browser. Your .eml file is read on your own computer or phone and is never uploaded to our server or stored. Only this page and its scripts come from us.
Limits
- Encrypted email (S/MIME or PGP) isn't decrypted. Signed emails display, but the signature isn't checked.
- Fonts follow your browser, so a message can look slightly different from the sender's screen.
- A file that was cut off or damaged may open only partly.
Need PDFs of many emails? See EML to PDF. Got an Outlook .msg file instead? Use the MSG viewer.