What is a .EML File?

An .eml file is an email file. *.EML files are usually created when someone saves or forwards an email as a file attachment. .Eml files were originally created for the Microsoft Outlook Express email client and are compliant with industry standard RFC-822. Because .eml complies with industry standards, this file type can be read and created by other email clients.

Since .eml files are emails, they are saved in a plain text format, although a single .eml file may contain both a text and html version of a message.

The top of the file includes email header information such as, time, date, sender, receiver and subject. The lower portion of the document contains the body of the email. Attachments, hyperlinks and viruses can be embedded in .eml files.  One well known virus spread by .eml files is the “Nimda Worm”. Only open .eml files from people you trust. It is a good policy to always scan any email and email file attachments for viruses before opening.

How do I open a .EML File?

To open a .eml file, try clicking on it. If there is a program on your computer or device that is set as the default for .eml files, it should open immediately.

If the .eml file doesn’t open, then let’s try a different approach.

First, save the .eml file to your computer, preferrably to your desktop or somewhere easy to locate later. Be sure to remember the location where you save the file.

Once the file is saved you can then use an email client such as Windows Live Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird or Apple Mail or even the aging Microsoft Outlook Express application (Outlook Express shipped with Windows XP). Some internet browsers will also open .eml files.

Internet Explorer and Opera are two browsers known to open .eml files.

To read the .eml file, open one of these compatible email clients or internet browsers. Go to the programs menu bar and click on “File”. From the “File” menu, select open. Browse to the location where you saved the file and click the open button.

On Windows Operating Systems you can also open the document by browsing to the file location. Right click on the file. Select “Open With” from the menu. Browse to and select the program you wish to use. In this window you may also choose to set a default program to open .eml files.

Installing a .EML Viewer software application

There may be occasions when opening a .eml file by web browser does not work, does not provide access to the file attachments, or maybe it’s just not desirable to install an entire email client just for this purpose.  This may be a good time to download a .eml file viewer. These readers are designed specifically to help you view, search, print and even convert .eml files.

EML Viewer Pro is one such email viewer for the Microsoft Windows platform. It is available for a free trial download. EML Viewer Pro can be set as the Windows default email viewing client.  Visit https://emlviewer.com for more information about EML Viewer Pro.