Exporting emails from Apple Mail to Outlook has become common, but going vice-versa is mostly unheard of. As such, tools that can perform such a procedure are also limited. Stellar PST to MBOX Converter (Mac) can save you from the headache of having to search for the best tool to move your Outlook data to Apple Mail.
The very fact that you?re reading this article means you?ve just got yourself a shiny new Mac. Well, congratulations! The joy of moving from Windows operating system to macOS cannot be underplayed. The smooth interface, the svelte design, is there anything one can complain about? Actually, there is! When using a Windows machine, most users send/receive emails through the Microsoft Outlook application. However, when you start using a Mac, the default emailing application is Apple Mail. And parting ways with a user-friendly application like Outlook can be inconvenient, even difficult.
But what must be done must be done. So you read how-to articles and guides and get ready to begin your Apple Mail journey. But wait a minute. Aren?t you forgetting something? Remember all those emails and attachments that you saved on your Windows machine? Are you just going to leave all that important data behind? Of course not! You?d want to move all that data from MS Outlook to Apple Mail, and we are going to help you do just that.
How to export mails from Outlook to Apple Mail
Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail do not use the same file format. That?s the reason why you need something that serves as common ground for both. Enter, Thunderbird. This application can be downloaded from the Internet for free. So before you begin to move from Windows Outlook to Apple Mail, ensure that you have downloaded Thunderbird.
Step 1: Move emails and attachments from Microsoft Outlook to Thunderbird
Follow these steps:
- Launch Thunderbird, and click Tools -> Import.
- On the Import window, select the Mail option and click on Next.
- In the Please select the type of file that you would like to import field, select Outlook. If the import is successful, the system displays the following message:
Mail was successfully imported from Outlook
- In Thunderbird, click Local folders -> Outlook Import. The Outlook Import folder contains all your data in the same folder hierarchy as you see it in the Microsoft Outlook window.
- Right-click the Outlook Import folder and click Properties.
- Click the General Information tab, and make note of the file path in the Location
- Go to the location of the Outlook Import folder and copy the Outlook Import.sbd folder to the Desktop or some other location that you can easily remember.
Now that you have converted your Microsoft Outlook files to a format that is supported by Apple Mail, the next step is to move all these files from your Windows machine to your Mac.
You can copy the folder Outlook Import.sbd into storage device (USB) and move it to Mac easily or share the files between Mac and Windows by below method. To do this you have to ensure that you have downloaded Windows Migration Assistant from Apple support website. This application helps you transfer music, pictures, and other data files from Windows to Mac.
Step 2: Move emails from Windows machine to Mac
Follow these steps:
- Connect your Windows and Mac machines to the same network.
- On the Windows machine, close all other applications and launch Windows Assistant Manager.
- On the Migration Assistant window, click Start.
- On the Mac, close all open applications, go to Utilities -> Migration Assistant.
- On the Migration Assistant window on your Mac, select From a Windows PC and click Continue. Type your administrator credentials and click Continue.
- Select your Windows machine from the list of available machines displayed on the Mac. The system will display a pass-code for your Windows machine on the Transfer Information to this Mac
- After verifying the pass-code on both the machines, click Continue.
- After your Mac scans the list of folders that can be migrated from your Windows machine, select the Outlook Import.sbd folder that you had saved on the Desktop.
- After the migration is over, close the Windows Migration Assistant on your Windows machine and log in to your Mac.
- After you authorize your iTunes account, you will be able to view the folder you moved from your Windows machine.
And finally, when you?ve moved all your email messages from Windows machine to Mac, you can proceed to export mails from Outlook to Apple Mail.
Step 3: Move Outlook Import folder to Apple Mail
Follow these steps:
- Launch Apple Mail, and click File -> Import Mailboxes.
- On the Import window, select the Thunderbird
- Click Continue.
- Browse to the location of the Outlook Import folder and select Outlook Import.sbd. If the import is successful, the system will display the following message:
You can find the imported mailboxes in the folder named “Import” in the mailboxes list
- Click Done.
Once all the above steps have been completed, expand the Import folder in Apple Mail and you should be able to view your Outlook data.
A better approach
While the above procedure is completely free and not too difficult to follow, it is rather long and time taking. One small mistake and you would have to start again. Also, you could end up losing critical data. Thus, a better approach to skip so many steps and make the process extremely simple is to use reliable third-party tool Stellar PST to MBOX Converter for Mac. This professional tool facilitates safe conversion of MS Outlook PST files to MBOX format which is used by popular email clients like Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Netscape, etc. The tool can accurately convert password-protected PST files and facilitate previewing mail items before conversion.
Final Words
That?s it! To move from Windows Outlook to Apple Mail is a long procedure, but if you divide your work into simple steps, it won’t feel too intimidating. And if you wish to bypass this and go for something simpler, you can use Stellar PST to MBOX Converter (Mac) to help you easily move your emails from MS Outlook to Apple Mail.
