Open a .pst file without Outlook, for free

An Outlook data file (.pst) holds mail, contacts, a calendar and tasks from an old PC, an old job or a backup. You don't need Outlook to read it, and you don't need a paid "recovery" tool either: MailCraft is a free, open-source email client that opens .pst files on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD, and never changes the file.

1. Open the file
2. What you'll find in it
3. Your file is never changed
4. Get mail out again
5. What it doesn't do

1. Open the file

1. Download MailCraft for your system. On Windows the portable .zip needs no installation: unzip it and run mailcraft.exe.
2. Open File › Open & Export.
3. Under Open a data file, choose Open… and pick the .pst file.
4. MailCraft shows what the file holds and the room its copy needs, then reads it in. Folders appear as they come in, with a progress bar and the time left; you can pause and continue, and an import cut short carries on where it stopped.

The file opens as a mailbox of its own, beside any email accounts you add, and stays available the next time you start MailCraft. No Outlook, no Microsoft account and no sign-up are needed.

2. What you'll find in it

• Mail with its folders, read and unread state, flags and categories, in HTML, plain text or Outlook's Rich Text, in any character set.
• Attachments, including messages attached to other messages, which open and save like any other.
• Contacts, calendar, tasks and notes, each in its own place in MailCraft.
• Search across the whole file: from:, subject:, has:attachment, dates and plain words, with messages grouped into conversations.
• Both formats: the Unicode files Outlook has written since 2003 and the older ANSI files of Outlook 97 to 2002.

Large files are read on every processor core, and the folder pane fills in as the import goes, so you can start reading before it finishes.

3. Your file is never changed

MailCraft never writes into a .pst you open. What you do in MailCraft (reading, flagging, moving, deleting) goes into its own copy, a .mailcraft file beside the original, so the .pst stays exactly as it was, ready for Outlook or for safe keeping. File › Info › Mailbox settings shows where that copy is; you can remove it at any time and open the file again.

Got an .ost file instead? That's Outlook's offline copy of a server account, not a data file of its own. Add the account to MailCraft and the mail comes from the server; see setting up an account.

4. Get mail out again

• Save a message as a file: open it in its own window and choose Save › Save as email (.eml) or Save as PDF.
• Write a .pst back out: File › Open & Export › Export to Outlook data file writes an account, with its folders, calendar, contacts and tasks, to a new .pst or adds to an existing one. Outlook opens what MailCraft writes.

5. What it doesn't do

• It isn't a repair tool. A file that Outlook itself can't open may not open fully in MailCraft either.
• It doesn't open .ost files, as above: add the account instead.
• A .pst is kept on this computer only. To have its mail on a server too, add the account and move messages where you want them.

Coming from Outlook altogether? The switching guide covers accounts, shortcuts and moving back.