Export and Save emails from Thunderbird to different formats using ImportExportTools NG addon

ID: 271

Category: Thunderbird Email Client

Added: 20th of June 2021

Updated On: Tutorial updated and rechecked on 5th of March 2026

Views: 3,191

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I prefer to download all my emails through Thunderbird, however the downside is that I cannot view my personal email when I'm out and about, which is not a big deal.

I have used IMAP in the past, but as I have my own domain names, and set up several email accounts, I don't have the capacity to keep a copy of all the emails on my webspace.

As time has gone on I am hanging on to important emails and attachments in various accounts on Thunderbird. The size of my thunderbird profile is getting larger, so it's probably time to clear out some older emails.

One option is to copy my existing Thunderbird profile, then delete the emails and attachments, alternatively I have been looking at a way to export my important emails and attachments through Thunderbird.

Luckily Thunderbird comes with quite a few different add-ons. One of these is ImportExportTools NG which allows you to export and save your emails in different formats such as EML, HTML, HTML with index file, Plain Text, CSV, MBOX and PDF

To install the add-on in Thunderbird go to Tools > Add-Ons and search for ImportExportTools NG

Once installed go back to your emails and right click on the email you want to save, select Save Selected Messages from the context menu, then choose the format you would like to export your email too.

ImportExportTools NG also allows you to export multiple emails

Or a complete folder

One feature I love, is the ability to export the emails as HTML files including all your attachments along with creating an auto generated index.html file.

Once complete you can view the saved emails through your browser. For extra piece of mind, you can transfer the HTML files and attachments to an external drive.

To do this right click on the folder, select Export all messages in the folder >> HTML format (with attachments)


Auto generated Index file with links to emails. Emails with attachments highlighted by *