Saving Outlook emails in bulk

Question

How can I save several outlook emails at once as separate files including any attachments?

Answer 1

Hi @Brian Gilbert, 

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum and for clearly outlining your concern. 

Based on the details you shared, I understand you want to save several emails from Classic Outlook as separate files that also include attachments. I truly understand the importance of keeping your mailbox organized, and I appreciate the effort you have already taken to explore practical options. 

Classic Outlook preserves attachments within the email when you save messages in bulk, which is why the quickest method creates MSG files with attachments embedded. Moreover, there is no native bulk Save As that simultaneously creates individual email files and extracts attachments to separate files. Nevertheless, you can achieve your goal using one of the approaches below, depending on whether you prefer a quick export or an automated workflow. 

1/ Quick export with full fidelity using drag and drop 

• In Classic Outlook, open the folder that contains the emails you want to save. 
• Select the messages: press Ctrl+A for all, or use Shift and Ctrl to select just the ones you need. (These selection shortcuts are supported in Classic Outlook.)  
• With the messages selected, drag them from Outlook into a folder in File Explorer. Windows creates one .msg file per email, which you can open later and still see the original attachments. 
• Spot‑check a couple of the saved files to confirm the attachments appear as expected. 
• Reference: Move or copy an item to another folder in Outlook - Microsoft Support 

2/ Save each email and also extract attachments to disk using an Outlook macro 

• Use Outlook’s Visual Basic editor to add a simple macro that saves each selected email as a MSG file and creates an Attachments folder for that email. 
• Run the macro on your selected messages and choose the destination folder. 
• Review the results. You will see one MSG per email together with a folder that contains the corresponding attachments. If your organization restricts macros, I can provide a script based alternative or coordinate with your administrator. 

3/ Automatic saving for new emails with Power Automate 

• In Power Automate, create a cloud flow that triggers when a new email arrives in the chosen folder. 
• Add actions to create a file for the full email as EML in OneDrive or SharePoint and then create a file for each attachment. 
• Test with a few messages and then let the flow run continuously. You can also move existing emails into the watched folder to process existing items. 

If you need full automation, you can also use Power Automate by following guidance in the Microsoft Power Platform Community Forum Thread to set up a template driven flow that saves each email and its attachments to your storage, which is the recommended workaround when Classic Outlook does not provide a native bulk Save As that also extracts attachments. 

This is a specific channel related to Power Automate. You'll get the most qualified group of respondents, and other partners who read the forums regularly can share their knowledge or learn from your interaction.   

Apologies for redirecting you to a different community as the members of the posted category focus on users with Microsoft 365 concern and have limited knowledge about Power Automate, so to get a quick and better assistance, let me redirect you in the correct way.   

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If you have any updates regarding the issue, please feel free to share them with me.       

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. I look forward to continuing the conversation. 

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Answer 2

To save several Outlook emails at once as separate files, including any attachments, you can use the following methods:

1. Drag and Drop: You can select multiple emails in your Outlook inbox and drag them to a folder in Windows Explorer. This will save each email as an individual .msg file. If there are attachments, they will remain linked to the email.
2. Export to a File: You can use the export feature in Outlook to save emails. Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export. Choose Export to a file, select Outlook Data File (.pst), and then choose the folder that contains the emails you want to save. This method saves the emails in a .pst file, which can be opened later in Outlook.
3. Use a VBA Script: If you are comfortable with programming, you can create a VBA script to automate the saving of multiple emails and their attachments. This requires some coding knowledge but can be very effective for bulk operations.
4. Third-party Tools: There are several third-party tools available that can help you save emails in bulk along with their attachments. These tools often provide more flexibility and options compared to the built-in features of Outlook.

Make sure to check the specific version of Outlook you are using, as features may vary between versions.