plainfolder → Mail → PST
Open a PST file without Outlook
Drop the .pst here and the messages are listed in a second — no Outlook, no account, and the file is read on your own computer.
No server processing
No account
No daily limits
What a .pst file is
A .pst is Outlook's own mailbox file: everything an account held, kept as a small database rather than as a folder of messages. That is why double-clicking one does nothing unless Outlook is installed and willing to import it.
People go looking for a .pst reader at awkward moments — a job has ended, a laptop was replaced, a lawyer asked for correspondence from 2019, or Outlook refuses to import a file it wrote itself. The usual answers are a desktop tool that shows the first twenty messages and then asks for money, or a website that wants you to upload a mailbox full of work email.
What you can do here
Read and searchOpen the file, search by subject, address or text, filter by year, sender and attachment type.
Take things outSave every attachment as one zip, or the messages themselves as separate files.
Keep a copyCSV, XLSX, ZIP, EML, MBOX, PDF, HTML, TXT, JSON — whichever format outlives the one you have.
Convert PST to something else
Questions
- Do I need Outlook installed?
- No. The page reads the file structure itself, on Windows, macOS, Linux or ChromeOS.
- Is the file uploaded anywhere?
- No. It never leaves your computer — there is no server to send it to.
- What about a password-protected PST?
- It opens. The password in a .pst guards the Outlook interface, not the contents of the file, so nothing has to be cracked or entered.
- Which Outlook versions are supported?
- Files from Outlook 2003 onwards, including the newer 4 KB format written by Outlook 2013 and later. Files from Outlook 97–2002 use the old ANSI layout and are not supported yet.
- How large a mailbox can I open?
- Size is not the limit here. The file is read in pieces straight from your disk rather than loaded whole, so mailboxes of several gigabytes open, and attachments are fetched only when you ask for them.
- Can I get the attachments out?
- Yes — every attachment in the mailbox, or only those matching your filter, as a single zip.