Converting old .dbx files (from Outlook Express) to plain text

March 6, 2021 8:46 AM

I have a number of .dbx files that date back to the early 2000s. They're from Outlook Express. I'd like to convert them to plain text or Microsoft Word format. PDF would be acceptable but not ideal. I'd like each .dbx file to be converted to a single, long document – not a separate document for each email. I have a Windows 10 PC.

I see that there is a promising-looking utility called BitRecover DBX Converter Wizard. In principle, I'd be willing to pay the $29 fee to buy the package, but I'm always worried about trojans that might be bundled with software that comes from no-name companies.

posted by akk2014 to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

I believe Mozilla Thunderbird stores its email in .mbx format, which is basically just a plain text file. Maybe Thunderbird is capable of importing from Outlook Express? (It's been many years since I've used it, so I'm not really set up to verify.)
posted by commander_fancypants at 1:46 PM on March 6, 2021

Here's the knowledgebase article about importing Outlook Express dbx files into Thunderbird. It lists both how to import natively and offers links to some tools that may also do the conversion. I'd try that first, see how it goes.
posted by Aleyn at 7:51 PM on March 6, 2021

There's a free (for home use) software tool called MailStore Home. This tool can extract mail from lots of mail packages, including Outlook Express, and load it into other packages. It can also be used to archive mail, to keep down the size of the mail files in your email client of choice. I use it for archiving now, but have successfully used it to move from Outlook to Thunderbird, then back to Outlook (long story irrelevant to this question). Also has a pretty good e-mail search tool, which is one reason I keep using it to archive my mail, rather than using Outlook's facility: I can search across all of my email in one place.
posted by TimHare at 4:15 PM on March 8, 2021