Open EMLX files in your browser
The files Apple Mail keeps each email in, on every Mac. Open one right here, on Windows, Linux or a phone. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your email opens as mail apps show it, with nothing loaded from the web.
- From, to and date • Then what it says
- Attachments • Each opens on its own
- Trackers held back • Scripts off
- Message, Tree or Text
About EMLX
Apple Mail stores every message as an .emlx file of its own inside ~/Library/Mail, in a folder for each mailbox. They turn up in Time Machine backups, in copies of old Macs and in what people recover from a Mac's drive.
An EMLX is an email as it arrived, the same as an EML, with a line before it giving its length and a property list after it with Mail's flags: read, flagged, replied and when it came. A .partial.emlx keeps its attachments apart, in an Attachments folder beside it.
Filepeek reads the email inside and shows it as mail apps do, From, To, the date and the text, with each attachment opening on its own. Nothing loads from the web, scripts stay off, and Export saves a plain EML any mail app opens.
Apple Mail message
.emlx
Format
- MIME type
- message/rfc822
- Made by
- Apple Mail
Inside the file
- Holds
- One email, as it arrived
- Before it
- Its length in bytes
- After it
- Mail's flags in a plist
- Kept in
- ~/Library/Mail
Opens in every browser
Browsers download EMLX files. Filepeek opens them in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open EMLX
- WindowsNo app built in opens it
- MacMail, built in
- iPhone and iPadNo app opens it
- AndroidNo app opens it
Questions
How do I open an .emlx file on Windows?
Drop it on this page or press Peek an EMLX. It opens as the email it is, with its attachments, and Export saves an EML that Outlook and Thunderbird open.
Why are the attachments missing from a .partial.emlx?
Mail keeps a message's attachments apart when it stores them, in an Attachments folder beside the Messages folder, and the .partial.emlx holds only the text. Those files open here on their own.
Where does Apple Mail keep its emails?
In ~/Library/Mail, in a folder named V and a number for the version of Mail, then a folder for each account and mailbox, with each message an .emlx in a Messages folder.
Can I turn EMLX into EML?
Yes. Choose Export, then Save as EML. It's the email without Mail's first line and flags, which every mail app opens.