There are mail messages that contain documents, important information or attachments that we may need at some point to use them without having an internet connection. In this case, a good option is to download them to the computer’s hard drive or to removable memory.
Another reason for download the files we have in Outlook it is the issue of storage. Although simple emails take up very little space, those with attachments are heavier, so at any given moment you may receive a notification that you have reached the free limit allowed.
Now the question arises What is the correct way to save or export the emails you have in Outlook? This simple guide explains the steps necessary to keep your personal information safe.
When to download or export Outlook emails?
To the download the files that are within Outlook, no need to use a third-party programWith the account tools you can do the procedure easily and quickly.
Go for it:
Make backup
In addition to keeping them on the server, messages can be backed up. One way to do this is by exporting a file “.PST”.
To do this, follow these steps:
- In the application of Outlook, Choose “File” followed by “Open and export”.
- Now select “Import and export”.
- Mark “Export to a file” and “Next”.
- Choose “Outlook data file .pst” and then “Next”.
- Choose the folders you want to export for backup and click “Next”.
- Find the location where they will be saved, assign a name and click “Finalize”.
Change mail to another account
This time, you will know how transfer data from one already created Outlook account to another, perhaps a new one.
Follow these recommendations:
- The first thing is to have the file “.Pst” which is created with the steps listed above.
- In the Outlook application, look for the section “File” and select “Open and export”.
- In the wizard that opens, we mark “Import and export”.
- Go select “Import from another program or file” and tap on “Next”.
- Choose “Outlook data file (.pst)” and click “Next”.
- Find the file you are going to import and indicate what you want to do with the contacts and messages that are duplicated.
- To continue with the operation, check the option “Finalize”.
- A progress box will open showing how the process is going. When disappearing, it means that you have finished successfully.
Change computers
it’s possible back up your Outlook files from one computer to another. These will remain in the original location, which gives the peace of mind that nothing will be lost in the move in the event of an incident.
See how to do it in the following lines:
- Opens the application of Outlook and click “File”.
- Then select “Information”.
- Seeks “Account settings” and click there.
- In the pop-up window that appears on the screen, select the option “Data file” and you will see the content available to make a copy.
- Copy the file to a pendrive and so you will have it available to see it on any other computer.
Learn how to export your Outlook emails from your computer
Next, you will know other ways in which you can export or make backup copies of your Outlook emails, having the option to do so in PDF or Word formats, apart from the traditional PST.
Let’s see:
As PDF
To save it as PDF it is necessary to have the Windows 10 operating system installed, otherwise you will have to save it in HTML format and then convert it to a text file so that you can read it.
The way to do it is the one we show you now:
- Opens the message you want to save and mark in the tab “File”.
- After that, click “To print”.
- In the list that appears, choose “Print to Microsoft PDF.”
- Choose print and “Save print as”.
- Indicate the destination where the file will be saved, give it a name and click “Keep”.
As a Word document
East second format, is from one of the most used text editors. You can save it in Word if you have Windows 10 and especially in an older version.
Take data on how it is done:
- Open the message you want to make a copy of and in “File” Choose “Save as”.
- Choose the location from the computer where you want to store the file.
- In file type, you will choose HTML and click on “Keep”.
- Now, you open the text editor Word, choose “File” and “Open”.
- Find the HTML file that you just saved.
- This time we are going to save it with a new format.
- Again click on “File” and “Save as”.
- In the menu that appears, indicate the format “* Docx” and press the tab “Keep”.
As a PST file
The PST it’s a type of format that stores all mail data to save them on a computer. It is one of the most used files when backing up Outlook.
To create it, simply perform these steps:
- In the application of Outlook, click on “File”.
- Then press “Open and export”.
- And immediately in “Import and export”.
- Choose “Export to a file” and then marks on “Next”.
- Choose “Outlook data file .pst” and again “Next”.
- Choose the folders you want to back up and select “Next”.
- Assign the location where the new files will be saved, create a name and click “Finalize”.
Learn how to download your Outlook emails from Thunderbird
Thunderbird is an Outlook email management application that has many cool features, it can be customized and configured very easily. In addition, it has options to protect the security and privacy of users. Now, you will know how to download the emails from this application in the PDF, Word and PST formats.
We leave you a simple guide for you to put it into practice:
As PDF
To save an email to PDF it is necessary to have a program that creates this format on the computer, such as Creator PDF. Then, you should do this:
- Open the Thunderbird mail client.
- Double click in the mail that you want save to computer.
- A new window opens in which you must do these two actions. First click on “File” and then in “To print”.
- When the printer menu appears, click on the PDF creator program, which instead of printing saves on the computer.
- Tap on “To accept”.
- Will ask you to put a new name and it will save it to location that you choose.
As a Word document
Thunderbird does not directly offer the option to download emails to Word. In this case a file is downloaded EML and then the conversion can be done with a third-party program to place it in the format of your choice.
We will explain this to you in the following section:
As a PST file
In the previous step we told you about the files EML which is the main format from which it can be saved in Thunderbird.
We will explain how to do it and also how to convert the file:
- The first thing is start Thunderbird.
- After you select the mail folder you want to export.
- If they are all the emails that you are going to save, select on keyboard CTRL + A.
- In the menu located in the upper right corner, select the three horizontal lines.
- In the menu that opens, select “Save as”.
- Find the folder on your computer where it will be saved the new file in format EML that can be read in different email services.
- One of the options to convert these files EML to PST is to use Outlook Transfer.
- When download and install the program, what you should do is select file and convert it to the format of your choice.