Updated October 2026
Not every situation calls for keeping the original binary .msg file around — sometimes a simple, universally-readable plain-text copy of the message is exactly what you need for a record, a quote, or a quick reference. Here's how that export works in this tool and what it actually captures.
After opening a .msg file, clicking the Export body as .txt button generates a plain-text file containing the message's subject, sender, date, and body text, formatted as simple labeled lines, saved to your device under a filename derived from the message's subject line (with characters that aren't valid in filenames stripped out). This gives you a lightweight, universally-readable copy of the message's substantive content that opens in literally any text editor, on any device, forever — no special software or parser required, unlike the original .msg file.
A plain-text export makes sense when you need to quote or reference the email's content somewhere else (a report, a ticket, a note), when you want a long-term-readable archival copy that won't depend on any future software being able to parse the original binary format, or when you simply don't need the attachments or exact formatting and just want the substance of what was written and when.
If attachments matter, if exact formatting or embedded content matters, if you might need to re-verify details later that aren't in the text export (full recipient list, for instance), or if there's any chance the file needs to be produced or reviewed in its original form for a legal, compliance, or audit purpose, keep the original .msg file rather than relying on the text export as a replacement. The text export is a convenient derivative, not a complete substitute for the source file.
Some messages — particularly HTML-only or RTF-only emails with no separately stored plain-text version — don't have an extractable plain-text body for the parser to find. In that case, the body area shows a note explaining this rather than exporting empty or garbled content; the Export body as .txt feature will still work but will include that same explanatory note rather than the message's actual visual content, since there's no plain text to extract.
Can I export multiple .msg files to text in one batch? No — this is a one-file-at-a-time tool; each export corresponds to the single currently-open message.
Does the exported .txt file include HTML formatting tags if the original was HTML? No — the export captures the extracted plain-text content, not raw HTML markup.
Is the exported file sent anywhere, or does it stay fully local? It stays entirely local — the text file is generated and saved directly from your browser to your device, with no upload step, same as every other operation this tool performs.