.msg files
.msg file
Outlook Message
Outlook's own single-message format, carrying Outlook-specific fields.
What opens a .msg file
- Windows
- Microsoft Outlook, MSG Viewer tools
- macOS
- Microsoft Outlook
- Linux
- msgconvert (libpst) then any mail client
What a .msg file is
MSG is what Outlook writes when you drag a message to the desktop. It uses Microsoft's compound-file structure and keeps Outlook-only properties such as categories, flags and voting buttons that a plain EML would lose. Outlook on Windows and Mac opens it; elsewhere you need a converter or a viewer, since standard mail clients do not read the format.
Converting it
A .msg file is commonly converted to .eml, .pdf, .html or .txt. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .msg
- Full name
- Outlook Message
- Category
- Documents
- MIME type
- application/vnd.ms-outlook
- Created by
- Microsoft
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .msg file?
- On Windows use Microsoft Outlook; on macOS use Microsoft Outlook; on Linux use msgconvert (libpst) then any mail client. Outlook's own single-message format, carrying Outlook-specific fields.
- What is a .msg file?
- Outlook Message. MSG is what Outlook writes when you drag a message to the desktop. It uses Microsoft's compound-file structure and keeps Outlook-only properties such as categories, flags and voting buttons that a plain EML would lose.
- Can I convert a .msg file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .eml, .pdf, .html or .txt, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .pdf — Portable Document Format A fixed-layout document that looks identical everywhere — the format for anythin
- .docx — Word Document (Open XML) The standard Word document since Office 2007 — a zip archive of XML underneath.
- .xlsx — Excel Workbook (Open XML) The standard Excel spreadsheet since 2007, with a million-row limit per sheet.
- .pptx — PowerPoint Presentation (Open XML) The standard PowerPoint deck since 2007.
- .txt — Plain Text File Text with no formatting at all — the format that will still open in fifty years.
- .doc — Word Document (legacy binary) The pre-2007 Word format — still readable, but Microsoft would rather you conver
- .xls — Excel Workbook (legacy binary) The pre-2007 Excel format, limited to 65,536 rows.
- .ppt — PowerPoint Presentation (legacy binary) The pre-2007 PowerPoint format.
- .md — Markdown Document Plain text with a light formatting convention — headings with #, bold with **.
- .rtf — Rich Text Format A formatted document format readable by every word processor since 1987.
- .pages — Apple Pages Document Apple's word processor format — Apple devices and iCloud only.
- .odt — OpenDocument Text The open-standard word processor format, native to LibreOffice.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place