EML Tools

Open an EML file online

This EML reader shows a .eml file like a normal email, with formatting, inline images and downloadable attachments. Drop the file on the box to open it.

Runs in your browser. Your files never leave your device.

How to use it

  1. Choose your .eml file or drag it onto the box.
  2. Read the message. Inline images are shown; remote images are blocked so senders can't track that you opened it.
  3. Download any attachment with one click, or all of them as a ZIP.

What is an EML file?

An .eml file is a single email saved to disk. Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Gmail's “Download message” and Outlook on the web or on a Mac all save emails as .eml files, and an email forwarded as an attachment usually arrives as one. Classic Outlook for Windows is the exception: it saves .msg files.

The .eml file extension tells your computer the file is an email, so it hands it to a mail app. If you don't use one, that is where opening it gets stuck.

The EML file format

Inside, an .eml file uses the standard internet message format (RFC 5322, originally RFC 822), the same one mail servers use to send email. It is plain text: the headers (From, To, Date, Subject) come first, then the message body in plain text, HTML or both.

Attachments and inline images are encoded as text (MIME) inside the same file. Open one in a text editor and you'll see the headers at the top and long blocks of encoded attachments further down.

How to open an EML file

On Windows, an .eml file opens in Outlook if Outlook is installed and set up. Otherwise Windows asks which app to use, and picking Notepad shows only the raw text. On a Mac, Apple Mail opens it if you use Mail for email. On phones there is usually no app for it at all.

An online EML opener avoids all that: open this page in any browser, drop the file on the box, and the email appears with its formatting and attachments.

FAQ

Is my email uploaded anywhere?

No. The file is read by JavaScript inside this page and never sent to a server, and nothing from it is kept once you close the page.

Can I open EML files on iPhone or Android?

Yes. Tap the box, pick the file from Files or your downloads, and it opens in the browser.

What does EML stand for?

EML is short for email, or electronic mail. It's only the name of the file extension; the format inside is the internet's standard email format.

Do I need to download an EML viewer?

No. This EML file viewer runs in your browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, so there is nothing to download or install, and it's free.

Does it support .msg files from Outlook?

Yes. Drop a .msg file on the box and it opens the same way. To turn it into an .eml file, use MSG to EML.

The email has a winmail.dat attachment. Can I see what's in it?

Yes. When an email carries a winmail.dat, the viewer unpacks it and lists the files inside as normal attachments.

Other tools