How to open a PST file without Outlook

A .pst file (Personal Storage Table) holds a copy of an Outlook mailbox: folders, emails, attachments, and often contacts and calendar items. People usually find one on an old computer, in a backup, or after leaving a job, and often no longer have Outlook to open it.

The quickest way: a PST viewer in your browser

Our PST Viewer opens PST files inside your browser tab:

1. Copy the PST to an easy place such as your Desktop. Always work on a copy of an old archive.
2. Open the viewer in Chrome, Edge or another modern browser.
3. Drop the file on the page, or choose it. It is read straight from your disk; nothing is uploaded to a server.
4. Browse. Folders appear as Outlook shows them. Click a folder, read any message, search by subject or sender, and click an attachment to save it.

It works the same on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, and large archives open in seconds because the viewer only reads the parts you look at.

Emails can contain pictures loaded from the internet, which tell the sender when an email was opened. The viewer blocks them until you choose Show images for a message.

On a Mac

Outlook for Mac does not open PST files as data files the way Windows Outlook does: it can import them into its own database, and it exports to its own .olm format. To simply read a PST on a Mac, the browser viewer above is the shortest route. To move the mail into Apple Mail, convert it with PST to MBOX and use File › Import Mailboxes in Apple Mail.

On Linux or a Chromebook

There is no Outlook for Linux or ChromeOS. Use the browser viewer, or convert the PST to MBOX for Thunderbird or to EML files, which most mail programs open.

If you still have classic Outlook on Windows

In classic Outlook, choose File › Open & Export › Open Outlook Data File and select the PST. It appears as a separate set of folders in the folder pane. To read mail without adding the archive to your Outlook profile, the viewer is the cleaner option.

When the PST won’t open

If the viewer reports that the file cannot be opened as a PST, the file is usually damaged, or it is not a PST at all (some backups are renamed .ost or .olm files). Run the free health check on the Repair PST page: it lists what is wrong and how many messages can be recovered. If the file is an .ost, use OST to PST.

Files from Outlook 97 to 2002 use an older format (ANSI PST) that our tools do not read yet, and password-protected PST files are not supported.

Frequently asked

Is it safe to open a PST in a browser? With this viewer, yes: the file never leaves your computer, emails are shown without running any of their scripts, and remote images stay blocked unless you ask for them.

Can I export emails from the PST? Yes. Save single attachments in the viewer, or convert the whole PST to EML, MBOX or MSG files.