If you want an LLM to read your Outlook emails, the raw .msg file is the wrong input. It is a binary container holding the message in several formats at once, plus attachments and metadata. Most AI tools either reject it or read it badly.

The fix is to turn the email into Markdown first: plain text with the headers on top and the body underneath, which any model reads cleanly.

The Quick Answer

Save the email as a file (.msg from classic Outlook, .eml from most other mail apps; steps below).
Upload it to the MSG to Markdown converter. .eml files work the same way on the EML to Markdown page.
Paste or upload the Markdown into Claude, ChatGPT, NotebookLM or your RAG pipeline.

What You Get

Every converted email has the same shape:

# Q3 budget review

**From:** Ana Souza <ana@example.com>
**To:** finance@example.com
**Cc:** robin@example.com
**Date:** 2026-09-14 09:31 UTC

---

Hi all, the revised numbers are attached...

## Attachments
- q3-budget.xlsx

Headers: subject, sender, recipients, Cc (when there is one) and the date.
Body: taken from the HTML version of the email when there is one, so links, lists and bold text survive. Plain-text and older rich-text (RTF) emails work too.
Newsletter clutter removed: layout tables, tracking pixels, invisible preview padding and tracking parameters on links are stripped, so the Markdown is often half the size of the raw email.
Reply history kept: quoted earlier messages stay in the body as text.

Getting the Email Out of Outlook

Classic Outlook for Windows: drag the email from your inbox onto the desktop, or open it and use File, then Save As with "Outlook Message Format". Either gives you a .msg file.

New Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook for Mac: these save emails as .eml instead. Use the email's Save as or Download option, or drag it out of the message list on a Mac. Upload the .eml exactly like a .msg.

Gmail and other mail apps: most offer Download message or Show original, which saves an .eml file.

Attachments

Attachments are listed by name at the end of the Markdown but are not converted with the email. Save them from Outlook separately and convert each one with the matching converter, such as PDF or Word.

Converting Many Emails

Pro converts 10 files at once, so a folder of saved emails goes through in batches. See pricing.
For large archives, a Pro API key lets your AI assistant convert files one at a time through our MCP server, with no daily limit.

If You Can't Save the Email as a File

Some locked-down work setups don't allow saving messages. Printing still works everywhere: print the email to PDF (Microsoft Print to PDF on Windows, Save as PDF on a Mac) and upload it to the PDF to Markdown converter. The header block and the thread come through as they appear on screen.

Once You Have Markdown

For long threads or large archives, split the result before embedding it; our guide on chunking Markdown for vector databases covers how. If you're working with email HTML directly, see converting HTML email to Markdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can file2markdown convert .msg files directly? A: Yes. Upload the .msg file and you get Markdown with the headers and the full body. .eml files are supported the same way.

Q: Will the reply history come through? A: Yes. Quoted earlier messages stay in the body as text, so the conversation remains readable to an LLM. How cleanly each reply is marked depends on how the original email was formatted.

Q: Does it keep the sender, date and subject? A: Yes. Subject, From, To, Cc and Date are placed at the top of every converted email.

Q: Are attachments converted too? A: Not yet. Their file names are listed at the end so you know what was attached; convert them separately.

Q: What if I upload a file that isn't an email? A: You get a clear error saying the file isn't an Outlook email, rather than an empty result.

Got an Outlook email? Convert it to Markdown now.

How to Convert Outlook MSG Emails to Markdown