How can I drag and drop a .msg from the ''New Outlook''

Question

I now use the New Outlook, but my company ask us to save our email in folders. How can I drag and drop .msg (not a .eml) from the new interface ?

Answer 1

Hello @Marie-Laurence Frenette,

With the New Outlook for Windows, dragging and dropping emails to File Explorer will save them as.eml files instead of.msg files. At the moment, the new Outlook version does not support exporting emails as .msg via drag-and-drop.

If you need the email in .msg format, you can try one of the following options:

Option 1: Switch to Classic Outlook (to get .msg via drag‑and‑drop)

The classic desktop version still supports dragging emails to save them as .msg files. You can try these options to switch back to Classic Outlook:

• Open Outlook and look at the top right corner > Turn off the toggle labeled “New Outlook” > Follow the prompt to open Classic Outlook

• If you cannot see the toggle button, navigate to Help > choose Go to classic Outlook

• Also, try open Classic Outlook manually by search and select Outlook (classic) in Windows search bar.

For your information, Classic Outlook will continue to be supported until at least 2029:  New Outlook for Windows: A Guide to Product Availability | Microsoft Community Hub.  

Option 2: Use “Save As” in New Outlook

• Open the email
• Click on the three dots button > Save As
• Choose Save as MSG

I’d like to clarify that as a forum moderator, I do not have the ability to change product behavior directly or contact Microsoft Product Team on your behalf. Please consider me an end user as well, providing guidance based on experience and documented processes. 

That said, I understand this may not be the answer you were hoping for. However, you are welcome to share feedback directly with the Microsoft Outlook product team to highlight real-world use cases and request for this to be supported in the future: Outlook · Community.

The product team actively monitors this site, and many features have been developed or improved based on customer suggestions.  

After submitting your request on the site, you can return here and paste the link into this thread. That way, other users who visit this discussion can click the link and upvote your request to help bring more attention to it.    

In the meantime, you can check Microsoft 365 Roadmap for updating features in the future.   

I will continue to monitor this case and keep an eye on any updates. If there are any changes or new information regarding this feature, I will make sure to share them with you promptly.  

I genuinely appreciate your feedback and share your goal of making New Outlook better and more user-friendly. 

Thank you for your understanding!

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Answer 2

In new Outlook for Windows, messages dragged out of the app are saved as .eml files, not .msg. The drag-and-drop behavior is limited to .eml/.msg/.oft when opening messages, but new Outlook does not provide a way to drag messages from the UI and save them directly as .msg files.

To work with .eml/.msg/.oft in new Outlook:

1. To open saved messages, use one of these methods:
   • Drag and drop a .eml, .msg, or .oft file from File Explorer into the new Outlook reading pane.
   • Right-click the file in File Explorer, choose Open with > Outlook (new).
   • Double-click the file (if Outlook (new) is set as the default app for that file type).
2. If .msg files are required for archiving, classic Outlook for Windows is needed, as new Outlook does not expose a drag-and-drop-to-.msg workflow.

Note: An active Internet connection is required to open these file types in new Outlook, and .msg/.oft files have a 14 MB size limit when opened this way.

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References:

• Open .eml, .msg, and .oft files in new Outlook
• Drag and drop messages and attachments into the task pane of an Outlook add-in