Outlook MSG converter

MSG is Microsoft Outlook's single-message file format. Instead of the internet-style text structure used by EML, MSG stores message data in an OLE Compound File container with MAPI properties for recipients, subject, timestamps, body variants, attachments, flags, and Outlook-specific metadata. It can hold plain text, HTML, RTF-compressed body content, embedded messages, and binary attachments. Our mail routes convert MSG to HTML, Markdown, TXT, or PDF. That makes MSG conversion a bridge from an Outlook-native archive into formats that browsers, search systems, document reviewers, and non-Outlook users can open during review.

There is no friendly version label on most MSG files, so compatibility depends on the MAPI property set and how Outlook or another tool wrote it. Body text can live in multiple forms, and the richest visible content may be RTF or HTML. Attachments are stored as nested objects, sometimes with long filenames, content IDs for inline images, or embedded message attachments. Character sets, time zones, and sender display names may come from properties rather than simple headers. A converter must map those properties into a linear document while avoiding the assumption that MSG is just EML with a different extension.

Readers and writers include Outlook desktop, Exchange-related tools, legal discovery platforms, help-desk exports, compliance archives, and Windows workflows that drag messages from mailboxes to folders. MSG is convenient inside Microsoft environments, but awkward on the web and on non-Windows devices. EML may be better when the goal is standards-based mail interchange. PDF is better when a lawyer, customer, or manager needs a viewable record. HTML, Markdown, and TXT are better when the body must be indexed or summarized, but they generally do not replace the original for evidence review later.

MSG conversion gotchas come from Outlook-specific structure. MSG to PDF can render a useful record but may not package attachments as exhibits. MSG to HTML can show the body but needs sanitation for links and images. MSG to TXT or Markdown extracts readable content while dropping much of the visual layout. Time zones and Received-style transport headers are less straightforward than in raw EML. Before converting, test messages with inline images, attachments, embedded forwarded messages, non-ASCII names, and RTF-only bodies. Keep the MSG when MAPI metadata or attachment hashes matter.