MSG files: what are they, how to open and create them

msg files

In computing we can find a large number of file formats, formats associated with proprietary applications (.psd, .docx ...) or open standards (.jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .pdf ...). Most applications with exclusive format are compatible with other applicationsHowever, not all of them, so sometimes we are forced to use applications to convert files.

Today we are talking about files with a .msg extension. The name of this extension comes from the name Message and was developed by Microsoft for the Most used email application worldwide: Outlook Although we can also find applications from the same developer such as Mail available in Windows 10.

What is a .MSG file

The e-mails contain a series of fields such as sender, recipient, subject, message body and / or attachments.

While it is true that the easiest way to share the data of an email message is by forwarding it, not ideal, since information that may be important in certain cases is lost, such as the platform used, the path that the mail has traveled to reach our server, if the sending of the mail was scheduled ...

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The most complete solution is convert email to .MSG file. This file contains all the email information in a single file, in this way, we can make a backup copy on our computer, share it over the internet especially when the content takes up a lot of space.

How to open .MSG files

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the .MSG format was created by Microsoft for your Outlook email client. However, this is not the only application that allows us to open this type of file, since it has been adopted by all email developers, so we can find it in practically any client.

Outlook

Oulook msg file

If we have the Outlook email client (it does not have to be the latest version available through Microsoft 365), we just have to double click on the file so that, automatically, the application is opened showing all the content of the file with this extension.

As it is a physical file and not a forwarding, we will be able to access all message details, including the information that is lost each time we forward an email and that, on occasions, can be vital for certain situations, as I have explained above.

Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird

The Mozilla Foundation, behind which is the Firefox browser, makes available to us Thunderbird, One best email clients for those who want to maintain control over their privacy at all times and which is also completely free.

This email client is characterized by automatically blocking all the scripts and images of the emails that we download in order to avoid informing the sender if we have opened the email and even how much we have read.

Thunderbird does not allow us to create .MSG files as it is a proprietary Microsoft format. However, it allows us to create .EML files, which to the post is the same. In order to open .MSG files in Thunderbird, we have to change the file extension from .MSG to .EML

How to create .MSG files

How to create .MSG files

Being a format created by Microsoft, we can only create this type of files using Outlook. To create a .MSG file from an email from Outlook we must perform the following steps:

  • First, we double click on the email that we want to save.
  • Next, click on File - Save As
  • Automatically, the selected format for the mail that we are going to save in .MSG (we can change it to other formats). We select the route where we want to store the mail and click on Save.

Through Mozilla Thunderbird we can export the an email message to the .EML format, a format similar to Microsfot's .MSG.

I can't open a .MSG file

In computing, file extensions are used to identify which application they belong to. However, sometimes we can find files that share the same extension, despite offering different content.

In the case of files in .MSG format, these contain emails, so we will only be able to access its content through an email application. It is important to make sure of this, as it can lead you to believe that the file is faulty or corrupted by not opening with the appropriate application.

If we can't open a file, the first thing to do is make sure that we have a mail application compatible with this format. If we have another application installed on our computer that also opens .MSG files, but is not an email application, we will have to proceed as follows:

  • We place ourselves on top of the .MSG file that we want to open and click with the right mouse button.
  • Next, we select Open and from the drop-down box we select the email application that we have installed on our computer.

At that time, Windows will allow us to associate this extension so that natively, when you double-click on it, it automatically opens in the email client we select. Here everything depends on the needs and preferences of each one.

Convert .MSG file to other formats

If we do not have an email client installed on our computer and we are urgent to open a file in .MSG format, we can convert it to other formats in order to access all or part of the content.

From .MSG to .TXT

From .MSG to .TXT

If we do not have an internet connection or it is slower than expected, we can open a .MSG file directly with Notepad Windows. To do this, we must place the mouse over the file, press the right button and select Open - Notepad.

At the top of the file the encoding of the file will be displayed along with other information such as the sender, date, recipient and subject. Then the body of the message will be displayed.

This it is not a valid option for day to day, since it forces us to pay too much attention to find the information that really interests us from email.

From .MSG to .PDF

From .MSG to .PDF

If we have an internet connection, we can use the web service Zamzar, a web service that allows us convert files to a large number of formats and where we find the possibility of converting a file in .MSG format to .PDF.

This online service is completely free and we make sporadic use of it. If we use this platform regularly, we will have to choose to make use of one of the different monthly subscriptions that it makes available to us.


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