MacXTools MSG Converter is a standalone Mac MSG converter tool that batch converts Outlook message files on macOS. It writes emails, contacts and calendar items to ten export types including PST, PDF, MBOX, VCF and ICS. None of this requires Microsoft Outlook to be present.
No registration and no upload. The Mac doing the work keeps every file. See the screens first.
Carries message content, item properties and attachments through to the chosen export type.
Nothing is written back into the source. The files keep their bytes and their modified dates, which a digest taken either side of the export will show.
Parses the MSG structure directly. A Mac that has never had Microsoft Outlook on it converts the files the same way as one that has.
A contact saved out of Outlook becomes a VCF card rather than a message body, which the Contacts app on macOS imports without further handling.
An appointment or meeting request leaves as ICS, so it opens in Calendar on macOS with its own fields rather than as text.
Maintain Folder Hierarchy is ticked by default and reproduces the directory structure at the destination. Unticking it writes a flat result.
Every file added appears in the export panel with a checkbox beside it, so part of a batch can be excluded without clearing it from the list.
Documents and images held against a message are written out with it rather than being discarded during the conversion.
Advance Settings holds a split size for a PST destination, which keeps each resulting data file within a workable range.
The same panel carries a date filter and a category type, both applied before the export begins rather than afterwards.
The output path is set through Change and the panel warns where the chosen volume may not hold the result.
Neither an individual message nor the length of a queue is capped. Volume affects duration alone.
Processing happens on the Mac itself from start to finish, with no data leaving the machine at any stage.
The MacXTools MSG Converter in four stages, beginning at an empty window and finishing at the export panel.
Three panels, running from what goes into the queue through to where the finished files are placed.
The right hand column holds four controls. Two of them put files in, two take them out again.
The table fills as files are accepted, giving a reading on the batch while there is still time to alter it.
Everything remaining is decided on a single screen: what to include, what to write and where to put it.
One panel, ten radio buttons. Mailbox containers, single message files, readable documents and the two item formats macOS handles natively.
| Format | Opened by | The case for it |
|---|---|---|
| PST | Microsoft Outlook and Exchange mailboxes | Loose messages have to become one Outlook data file |
| Preview, Acrobat, any document system | Messages become paginated documents for filing, review or printing | |
| MBOX | Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Postbox | A folder of messages has to become one importable mailbox |
| HTML | Any web browser | The recipient reads the mail with no client installed and nothing to install |
| EML | Thunderbird, eM Client, most desktop clients | One MIME file per message, which a script or an indexer can process |
| ICS | Calendar on macOS, Google Calendar, Outlook | The item is an appointment and belongs in a calendar rather than a mailbox |
| EMLX | Apple Mail | The destination is the Apple Mail store on a Mac |
| VCF | Contacts on macOS and iOS, most vCard address books | The item is a contact card and belongs in an address book |
| CSV | Numbers, Excel, any importer | Message fields are wanted as rows rather than the messages themselves |
| TXT | Any text editor | Plain text is what an indexer, a script or a search tool works with |
The Windows build of this software advertises NSF and Office 365 alongside the ten above. Neither appears on the macOS export panel. NSF depends on an IBM Notes client being installed and configured. Office 365 is an upload to a live mailbox rather than a file written to disk. Reaching a Microsoft mailbox from here means exporting PST and importing that on the Microsoft side.
Six kinds of buyer, each drawn to a different corner of the export panel.
Depends on Outlook being unnecessary. A folder that arrived from a Windows colleague opens without a licence being bought or an application being installed to read it.
Depends on the folder route. Messages exported one at a time out of a mailbox accumulate in the hundreds. A directory of them is queued in a single action.
Depends on the PDF output. Individual messages produced as evidence become paginated documents rather than files that need Outlook to open.
Depends on VCF and CSV. Contact cards saved out of Outlook import into an address book or a spreadsheet without being retyped.
Depends on PST and MBOX. Scattered messages are consolidated into the one container the receiving platform accepts.
Depends on the source staying untouched. Files are read and never rewritten, so the same set can be produced again with identical bytes.
Each selected folder yields ten items. No export type or advanced setting is withheld. A batch that will not parse therefore reveals itself while the software is still free.
Converts to PDF or HTML so a message written on Windows opens on macOS. MSG is Microsoft's own single item format and nothing on a Mac reads it natively. Where Outlook for Mac keeps its own data on disk is documented in where Outlook for Mac stores its data.
Converts a scattered set to PST for Outlook or MBOX for Apple Mail and Thunderbird, turning individual files into one container the destination will import. How each destination stores what it imports is covered in how Mac email clients store mail on disk.
Converts contact items to VCF and calendar items to ICS. An MSG file holds whichever Outlook item was saved, so an address book saved this way is recoverable in full.
Converts to PDF for a disclosure bundle or to CSV where the fields matter more than the bodies. The source files stay unchanged throughout.
Messages go in singly through Add File or wholesale through Add Folder. The table underneath fills with paths and sizes as they are accepted. Next carries the batch to the export panel.
All ten types are listed together on the export panel. The tree on the left carries a checkbox against every queued file, so part of the batch can be left out without removing it from the queue.
Advance Settings holds the PST split size, the category type and the date filter. Maintain Folder Hierarchy stays ticked to rebuild the source arrangement. Change sets the destination, then Export begins.
Requirements for running this MSG converter software, including the runtime it will not start without.
Three known causes with a fixed answer each. None needs a support ticket.
Without Java JDK and JRE 8 present, the runtime never comes up and the window shuts again. Adding both ends the problem permanently. Macs used only for design or office work frequently carry no Java at all, which is why the message catches people out.
Neither is offered by the macOS build. NSF requires an IBM Notes client and Office 365 writes to a live mailbox rather than to disk, so both belong to the Windows edition. Exporting PST and importing that on the Microsoft side reaches the same destination.
Look in two places. Under Advance Settings a date filter silently drops anything falling outside its range. On the export panel itself, an entry whose checkbox has been cleared is passed over even though it still appears in the tree.
No. The software parses the MSG structure itself. Outlook can be absent from the machine entirely, which is the position most Mac owners are in when a colleague sends them a folder of these files.
PST, PDF, MBOX, HTML, EML, ICS, EMLX, VCF, CSV and TXT. All ten appear together on the export panel and any one of them can be selected for a batch.
Yes. An MSG file holds whichever Outlook item was saved, not only mail. VCF is offered for contact items and ICS for calendar items, so an address book saved out of Outlook reaches the Contacts app on macOS in a format it accepts.
Neither the count nor the individual size is limited. Pointing Add Folder at a directory sweeps up every MSG file it holds, so a set numbering in the hundreds costs the same two clicks as a set of three.
Ten items per selected folder. Counting happens per folder, not per batch, which means a set split across five directories yields fifty items to inspect rather than ten.
Java JDK and JRE 8 is listed as a prerequisite for this build. Where neither is installed the application cannot start the runtime and stops. Installing both clears it.
Yes. The export panel carries Maintain Folder Hierarchy already ticked, which reproduces the source arrangement wherever the output goes. Clear the box and everything is written to one level.
Yes. Advance Settings carries a date filter alongside the category type and the PST split size, so a long set can be narrowed before the export begins.
No. Reading is the only operation performed on them. Results go wherever the Change button points, while the source files come through with their bytes and their timestamps untouched.
Yes. Documents and images attached to a message are carried into the output rather than being dropped. The formatting around them is preserved.
No. Conversion ends with a file on disk. Reaching a live mailbox is a separate step you take afterwards, usually by importing the PST output on the Microsoft side or the MBOX output into Gmail or Apple Mail.
This page covers the macOS build. A separate Windows edition exists as its own product and carries a longer list of export types, since two of them depend on Windows software.
Ten items per folder answer the only two questions worth asking before payment. The first is whether the MSG converter for Mac parses these particular files. The second is whether the chosen export type opens properly at the destination. The demo restricts the count and nothing else, which makes its output a fair sample of the paid one.