Open a .msg File Without Outlook
Someone sent you an email saved from Outlook, or you kept one years ago, and now it won't open.
Drop the .msg file here to read it, save its attachments, or keep it as a PDF. It
all happens in your browser. The email is never uploaded.
Reads Outlook files with msgreader (Apache-2.0) — licences and source.
How to use the MSG viewer
- 1
Drop the .msg file
Drag the saved Outlook email into the box, or click to pick it. The reader loads the first time you do this; the email stays on your computer.
- 2
Read it
The email opens with who sent it, who it went to, the date and the message as it was written, pictures included. Attached emails open right here too.
- 3
Keep what you need
Download any attachment, or all of them as one .zip. Save as PDF prints the email with its From, To and Date lines, for a record or to send on.
Why won't my .msg file open?
A .msg file is a single email that Microsoft Outlook saved on its own: you get one
when you drag an email out of Outlook onto the desktop, or when someone forwards an email as an
attachment from Outlook. Inside is everything Outlook knew about the message, packed in
Microsoft's own format: the sender, the recipients, the text, the pictures and the attachments.
Only Outlook opens that format. Classic Outlook comes with a paid copy of Office. The new
Outlook that ships with Windows 11 opens .msg files too, but Microsoft's own
support page
says it needs "a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription" to do it. A Mac without Outlook, a
Chromebook and a phone can't open them at all. So legal letters, HR records, invoices and
replies sit in files you can't read unless you pay for Microsoft 365.
This viewer reads the .msg on your own device and shows the email the way it was
sent. Because it is a private email, nothing about it leaves your computer, and pictures that
would tell the sender you opened it stay off until you choose. For every way round the problem,
including what works with a Microsoft 365 account, see how
to open a .msg file without Outlook.
Your files never leave your browser.
All processing runs locally on your device. No uploads, no tracking of file content.
FAQ
How do I open a .msg file without Outlook?
Drop it on this page. A .msg file is one email saved by Microsoft Outlook, and only Outlook opens it: classic Outlook, or the new Outlook in Windows 11 if your account has a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription. This page reads it in your browser instead: the message, the attachments and who it was between. It works on Windows without Office, on a Mac, and on a Chromebook.
Is my email uploaded?
No. The reader runs inside your browser tab and the email is opened on your computer. Only the reader itself is downloaded, about 70 KB, the first time you drop a file. You can check in your browser's Network tab, or open one email and then go offline and open another.
Why are some pictures blocked?
Some emails load pictures from the sender's server. Loading one tells the sender the email was opened, when, and roughly where. So pictures from the internet stay blocked until you press Show them. Pictures that were sent inside the email, such as a logo in a signature, always show, because nothing has to be fetched.
Can I save the email as a PDF?
Yes. Save as PDF opens your browser's print window with the email laid out on the page, its From, To, Cc and Date lines at the top and the names of the attachments listed. Choose Save as PDF (or Microsoft Print to PDF on Windows) as the printer. The text in the PDF stays selectable. Attachments are not inside the PDF; download them separately.
What about an email attached to an email?
It shows in the attachment list with an Open button. It opens in the same place, with a link back to the email it came in. You can also download it as its own .msg file.
Will it look exactly like it did in Outlook?
Most emails do: they were written in HTML, and the viewer shows that HTML as it was sent. Some older emails were written in Outlook's own rich-text format instead. For those the viewer shows every word but not the fonts and colours, and says so. We tested it on 80 real .msg files from two open-source test collections, in English, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese, including emails from Outlook 2003 to the new Outlook; all 80 opened.
Does it open meeting invites, contacts and tasks?
It opens them and shows what an email would: the title, the time of a meeting, the description and any attachments. It does not add a meeting to your calendar, and a contact card's phone numbers and addresses are not shown.
What's the difference between .msg and .eml?
Both are a saved email. .eml is the standard format almost every email program can open: double-click it, or open it in Thunderbird, Apple Mail or the Windows Mail app. .msg is Microsoft Outlook's own format, and outside Outlook almost nothing reads it, which is what this page is for.
What reads the file?
msgreader, an open-source Outlook file reader (Apache-2.0), with decompressrtf (BSD-2-Clause) for the compressed message text Outlook stores. The licences and source links are on our About page.
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Last updated: 2026-10-29