Unzip and Upload an MBOX File


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Once you download your Mbox file from Google Takeout, you will receive a .zip file containing the content you selected from your email. To upload the Mbox file to a new email account, you will need to extract the contents of the .zip containing the Mbox file.

Unzip a file

Click here to expand the unzip section

Each operating system has different ways to extract .zip files.

Unzip on Windows 10 and 11

  1. Right-click on the .zip file.
  2. Select extract all.
  3. Choose the destination of the extracted contents
    • For better organization, it is recommended to create a new folder to house the extracted contents.

Note: If you are using a Windows operating system older than Windows 10 or 11, you may need to download a separate program to extract .zip files, such as WinRAR.

Unzip on macOS

  1. Locate the .zip file.
  2. Double-click on the .zip file.
  3. This will create an extracted folder with the file contents.

Unzip on iOS

  1. Open the Files app.
  2. Scroll to the .zip file.
  3. Tap on the .zip file to extract its contents.

Unzip on Android

  1. Open the Files app
  2. Find the .zip file
  3. Tap on the .zip file
  4. Select extract
    • You will also be given an option to delete the original .zip file to conserve space.

Uploading the Mbox file to another email account

Once you have extracted the mbox file, uploading it into a new email varies depending on your operating system.

Windows

To upload a Mbox file, you will need to download third-party software because popular email options such as Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo do not natively support the Mbox format. We recommend downloading Mozilla Thunderbird, an email client and exporter, and a dedicated Add-On with the ability to import the Mbox file:

  1. Download Mozilla Thunderbird.
  2. Download the thunderbird Add-On ImportExportTools NG.
  3. Install and run Mozilla Thunderbird.
  4. Once in Thunderbird, click the grid icon on the top right.
  5. Select Add-Ons and Themes.
  6. Enter Import in the search and click Add to Thunderbird next to ImportExportTools NG.
  7. Click Add.
  8. Create a new folder to house your Mbox contents.
  9. Right-click on the new folder and select from the drop-down ImportExportTools NG.
  10. Select your Mbox file when prompted to import the contents into Thunderbird.

You can now view the uploaded emails in Thunderbird or import them into any other email service you choose, such as Gmail or Yahoo. To do so, you can add your email account to the Thunderbird email client. Steps may include enabling POP/IMAP access on the account you will be adding to Thunderbird to import the exported email from the MBOX file, and you would need to locate the steps from your email provider.

To add a Gmail account to Thunderbird, please follow the article: Thunderbird and Gmail | Thunderbird Help.

Move the UMD emails into your personal email account

  1. Click on one of the emails in Thunderbird. 
  2. Select Ctrl and A at the same time on your keyboard.
  3. Right click on the highlighted emails, select Move To and then your personal email inbox.

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macOS

Mac users have two primary options for uploading a Mbox file into a new email. They can follow the same steps as above by utilizing third-party software or utilize Mac's built-in Mail App to upload the files natively. To use Mac's Mail app to upload an Mbox:

  1. Open the Mail app.
  2. Click File in the top menu.
  3. Select Import Mailboxes.
  4. Select Files in Mbox format.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. Select the Mbox file.
  7. Upload and click Done.

The emails uploaded from the Mbox will be in a new file called Import. You can now take the uploaded emails and view them in Mail or import them into any other email service you choose, such as Gmail or Yahoo.

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Update accounts and subscriptions tied to your UMD email address before losing access

Please refer to the article on updating accounts and subscriptions to learn how to update accounts and subscriptions tied to your UMD email address.

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