How to Save a Gmail Message as an EML File?

Many Email clients support an export feature that converts an email message into the desired format which works well on other applications. If you want to open a Gmail message in a different email client, you might need to save it in a different format, specifically as an EML file. So, through this article, we will be discussing various methods to save a Gmail message as an EML file. Before moving to the solution, let’s know more about the EML file.

Also read: How to sync Gmail and Outlook?

What is the EML format?

In order to import a Gmail message to other email clients, you have to save the email in a file format called EML (E-Mail Message files). EML is the file format used by major email clients like Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, eM client Live Mail, and Outlook Express. Additionally, EML files save the entire message, attachments, email addresses, and header information in the hard drive. It can be easily imported later into most of the email clients. 

Save Gmail Message as an EML file

Here is the technique to save Gmail emails as an EML file. Users can also backup EML files, and share them with others without forwarding the original message. Gmail makes it quite easy to do the conversion. Just follow the below procedure.

1. First of all, open a Gmail message.
2. Then, from the top-right portion of the message window, click the menu icon (three horizontal dots).
3. Now, from the menu, click Show original to open the full message as a text document. It will open in a new window.

Now from here, you can use either of two methods to convert the email message to the EML format.

Method 1: Save File into EML Format

1. In the text document, right-click on the Download Original.
2. After that, select the Save link as.
3. Now, from the Save as type menu, select All Files instead of Text Document.
4. Then, add .eml to the end of the file name and save it as you would normally save a file to your hard drive.

Method 2: Convert File to EML File Format

1. You have to highlight and copy all of the text in the Gmail message. 
2. If you are a Windows user, press Ctrl+A to highlight all of the text and Ctrl+C to copy it. If you’re on macOS, use Command+A to select the text, and Command+C to copy it.
3. Then, paste all of the text into a text editor such as Notepad++ or Brackets.
4. Finally, save the file with the .eml file extension.

Limitations of the Manual Approach

There are some drawbacks while performing the conversion from the Gmail account to EML format manually. All the limitations are listed below:

1. It is time-consuming and a lengthy process.
2. Does not allow to import files in bulk.
3. Do not permit the transfer of other data items.

Professional Solution to Export Gmail Account to EML

After, considering all the above-mentioned limitations, I would suggest an appropriate method to perform migration from the Gmail account to the EML successfully. You must opt for a third party application Gmail Backup Utility. Hence, with the help of this tool, a user can easily and simply convert Gmail to EML file format. This tool furnishes an understandable interface, that a novice user can also transfer emails from Gmail account to EML without any external help. This utility also helps in moving all the Gmail messages in bulk without any data loss. 

Bottom Lines

The article is describing the best ways to save a Gmail message as an EML file. So, by now we have understood how a user can download EML files from the Gmail account manually and by a professional solution. As we know, the manual approach can save Gmail emails as EML one by one only. But, with the help of a professional solution, you can easily export multiple emails from Gmail to EML at once.

Also Read: How to Extract Attachments from EML Files?

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