Free MBOX to EML converter
Split an .mbox mailbox — like a Gmail export from Google Takeout — into individual .eml files, one per message, delivered as a .zip.
- 100% in your browser — never uploaded
- One .eml per message, zipped
- Free, no signup
No mbox file handy? Just want to read it? Use the MBOX viewer
How it works
One mailbox in, one file per email out
01
Get your mbox
Export Gmail via Google Takeout, or grab a folder file from Thunderbird's profile or an Apple Mail export.
02
Drop it here
The converter splits the mailbox on its message separators locally — your mail never leaves your device.
03
Download the .zip
Every message becomes a numbered, subject-named .eml file you can open, share, or archive individually.
mbox vs .eml — why split at all?
An mbox file is an entire mailbox concatenated into a single file — great for bulk export, useless for daily life. A .eml file is one email in the internet's standard format: it opens in any mail client, attaches to other emails, and syncs cleanly to cloud storage. Splitting a Takeout export into .eml files turns a monolithic archive into messages you can actually use.
FAQ
Where does an .mbox file come from?
Google Takeout exports Gmail as one big .mbox file (“All mail Including Spam and Trash.mbox”). Thunderbird stores each folder as an mbox file inside your profile directory, and Apple Mail exports mailboxes as .mbox packages. All of them work here — the extension doesn't matter, only the format.
Why convert mbox to .eml at all?
An mbox is one giant file; a .eml is one message. As .eml files you can open a single email in any mail client, attach it, drag it back into an inbox, index it with desktop search, or archive messages individually — none of which works with a monolithic mbox.
Does this work with Google Takeout exports?
Yes — that's the main use case. Drop the “All mail Including Spam and Trash.mbox” file straight from the Takeout archive. Gmail's labels survive the trip: Takeout writes them into an X-Gmail-Labels header inside each message, which is preserved in the .eml files.
Is my mailbox uploaded when I convert it here?
No. The file is read and split by JavaScript running locally in your browser and never leaves your device. The .zip of .eml files is also built locally.
How large a file can it handle?
Unlike our streaming MBOX viewer, converting needs the whole file plus the resulting .zip in memory at once. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine; above roughly 500 MB your browser may run out of memory. For very large archives, use the MBOX viewer to browse and save the messages you actually need as .eml.
Are the .eml files identical to the original messages?
Effectively yes. Splitting removes only the mbox framing: the “From ” separator line before each message and the “>From” escaping mbox adds inside bodies. Headers, bodies, and attachments are untouched, so each .eml is the message as it was delivered.
Just want to read the mailbox? Browse it in our free MBOX viewer. Going the other direction? Combine .eml files back into a mailbox with the EML to MBOX converter. And if you're doing this to protect your Gmail, read how to back up Gmail to Google Drive — or, if your mailbox came out of Apple Mail, see how to back up iCloud email. Came from a Thunderbird profile folder? Start with how to back up Thunderbird emails.