How to Open .MSG Files on Mac

What are .MSG files on Mac?

Files with the .MSG extension usually comes from the Windows PC version of Microsoft Outlook. These files can contain emails, appointments, tasks, or contacts. .MSG files aren’t designed to be opened on Macs.

Why you may need to open .MSG files on Mac

Most Mac owners will never need to access .MSG files, but there are some times when you may have to. They include:

1. Someone emails you or makes an appointment as an attachment, instead of forwarding it to you.
2. You have to access Outlook files held on a server or computer running Windows.
3. You’re trying to back up Outlook files from a PC, perhaps because you’re moving over to a Mac for the first time.
4. Your Windows PC isn’t working, so you’ve put the hard drive in a USB caddy, and you’re running a recovery process with your Mac.

If you’re doing any backups, we recommend reading our guide on how to zip on a Mac so you can save space at the same time.

A note from our experts:

 

You may be dealing with a large amount of .MSG files. If you’re looking for something in particular or if you need to do a backup, it’s a good idea to remove any duplicate files first. Manually finding and deleting duplicates is slow and difficult, but you can save time with the MacKeeper’s Duplicates Finder tool.

 

Here’s how:

1. Download MacKeeper, run it, and select Duplicates Finder from the side menu.
2. Click Start Scan and wait.
3. When the scan is finished, check what you want to delete, and click Remove Selected.
4. Click Remove.

It’s as simple as that. In a matter of seconds, you can completely remove all doubled-up files on your Mac.

Methods for opening .MSG files on Mac

The Apple Mail application that comes with macOS uses the EMLX file format, a variant of the open-source EML format. It won’t open .MSG files, and neither will the macOS version of Outlook. If you want to view .MSG files on Mac, you have a few options:

1. Using Microsoft Outlook for Windows with Boot Camp
2. Via third-party applications with built-in conversion
3. Using online tools to view or convert .MSG files
4. Opening .MSG files with TextEdit
5. Running Outlook for Windows on a virtual machine

1. Using Microsoft Outlook for Windows with Boot Camp

Outlook’s .MSG files are designed for Windows computers, so one way to open these files is by turning your Mac into a Windows computer. How do you do that? Well, if you own an Intel-based Mac, you can do that with Boot Camp. Simply do as follows:

1. Download a Windows disc image from Microsoft. We used the free CrystalFetch tool to get ours.
2. Use the Boot Camp Assistant that comes with macOS to install Windows.
3. Boot your Mac into Windows and run the Outlook client.
4. Double-click the .MSG file, and it’ll open in Outlook.

With Boot Camp, your Mac or MacBook acts just like a regular Windows PC, so opening .MSG files is easy. You can also run any Windows apps you like. Check out our guide on how to run EXE on Mac for more information on running Boot Camp.

2. Via third-party applications with built-in conversion

There are several apps in the App Store that will open .MSG files on Mac. Some may also convert these files to other formats. We tried out one of these apps, called Msg Viewer Pro, which only costs $4.99. This is how to use it:

1. Download Msg Viewer Pro from the App Store and run it. The app should associate itself with .MSG files automatically, so after the app is installed, simply double-click the file you want to open.
2. The app will open the.MSG file, and you can read its contents. Click Reply to respond from your default mail app.
3. You can also save the file in other formats, including .txt and Adobe PDF.

With a third-party .MSG viewer installed, you can open these files easily. Read our guide on how to access files on Mac to learn about the many different ways to access data on your Apple machine.

3. Using online tools to view or convert .MSG files

Instead of installing .MSG converter software on your Mac, you can use a free online tool. We wouldn’t recommend this method if you have to open a lot of .MSG files on your Mac, but they’re handy if you only need to open a few .MSG files once or occasionally. There are plenty of options, but here’s how we opened an .MSG file with the GroupDocs .MSG viewer:

1. In your browser, visit products.groupdocs.app/viewer/msg. Drag your .MSG file into the browser window.
2. You can now view the file and download it as a PDF.

4. Opening .MSG files with TextEdit

You may be able to view the content of .MSG files with TextEdit. However, this isn’t the method we’d usually choose, because the results are often jumbled and hard to read. If you’re lucky, you might be able to see whatever you’re looking for. To open a .MSG file in TextEdit, do as follows:

1. Right-click the .MSG file and select Open With > Other.
2. Select TextEdit and click Open.
3. Look through the text file.

Working with compressed and archived files? You may find data that’s stored in RAR files, which, like .MSG files, don’t work well with Macs. Read our guide on how to open RAR files on Mac if you need help.

5. Running Outlook for Windows on a virtual machine

While Boot Camp gives Intel Mac owners a simple way to run Windows apps, it isn’t an option with new Macs that run on Apple Silicon. Thankfully, you can run Windows in a virtual machine, and it doesn’t matter whether you have an Intel chip, an M1, M2, or anything else.

To briefly summarize, here’s how we’d open an .MSG file using a virtual machine on a Mac:

1. Install a virtualization tool on your Mac, such as VMware, VirtualBox, UTM, or Parallels.
2. Install Windows in the virtual machine, using a disc image from Microsoft.
3. Download and run the Outlook client in the virtual Windows.
4. Open the .MSG file in the virtual machine.

The easiest option is Parallels because it’ll automatically get all the files you need to install Windows, and it guides you through the process. However, it’s also the most expensive option.

Conclusion

Opening .MSG files on a Mac can be a challenge. They’re created by Outlook for Windows, but even the Mac version of Outlook doesn’t support them. As we’ve shown here, there are plenty of solutions to this problem—some of which are easier than others.

Whichever method you settle on, it’s important to remove duplicate .MSG files from your Mac, especially if you’re doing a backup or trying to recover data. Do it with MacKeeper’s Duplicates Finder, and you can find and remove unneeded copies of data in a matter of mere seconds.