EML Viewer reads a folder of .eml messages as one mailbox list, with a safe preview and attachments you can open or save.
Windows can show a single .eml. With three hundred files, finding the one from March takes more work.
Use Add Folder... with Recurse subfolders switched on to keep your archive's nesting in EML Viewer. Each disk folder appears in the tree with its message count. Drag a folder in and we scan it the same way. The scan picks up only .eml files; damaged files stay listed with the reason they cannot be read, without stopping the scan.
Pick Subject, From or File name in the Search in box, type a word and press Search. Body text and recipients are not searched. The third column shows File name instead of To.
Choose All time, Last 7 days, Last 30 days, This year or a Custom range in the Date list. Messages without a date in their header stay in the filtered list.
The preview shows the HTML layout and pictures stored inside the message. We remove scripts, frames and event handlers before displaying it. An HTML page with an .eml extension appears as a page, with its title in the Subject column.
Right-click a message and choose Open attachments to extract its files to a temporary folder and open that folder in File Explorer. Nothing starts by itself. Save attachments... copies the files to your chosen folder, adding (2) to duplicates. Saved files carry the downloaded-from-Internet mark, so Windows and Office warn you before opening them.
Save message as... writes the open message as E-mail message (*.eml), an exact copy of the source file, or as Web page (*.html) that looks like the preview. Print... sends it to a printer through the usual print dialog. Both work on one message at a time.
Old mail is rarely UTF-8. These encodings display correctly in your subject lines, sender names, message bodies and attachment names.
Software that assumes UTF-8 turns old Russian or Japanese mail into question marks. EML Viewer uses the charset declared in each part to decode letters from relatives twenty years ago or messages a former boss forwarded.
Tiny remote images in newsletters and marketing campaigns tell their server when you open a message and reveal your IP address. EML Viewer replaces remote images with a blank pixel and never loads them.
With EML Viewer installed, click Open EML file... for single messages or Add Folder... with Recurse subfolders for a whole archive. Setup adds the program to Open with for .eml; double-click stays with your mail program.
Choose a folder in the tree on the left. Type a word for Search or pick a period in Date:.
Click a row and the message appears in the preview. The right-click menu has Open attachments and Save attachments....
Use Save message as... to keep a copy as EML or HTML, or Print... for paper.
The four situations we hear about most involve family archives and downloaded mail.
Copy the Windows Live Mail store directory off your parents' old laptop and add it to read decades of family mail in one window.
Export the Thunderbird mail you need as .eml files and add the folder to the program. Find that one person before the drive gets wiped.
Unzip it, add the result, and a hundred anonymous icons turn into a readable inbox.
Webmail's Download message command saves one .eml at a time. When a few months' worth fills Downloads, you can read the whole pile in the program.
Load your own folders into the free trial and judge the EML viewer on real mail before you buy.
Under the 20th message the trial adds a single line with the total number of messages in that folder.