Reader Lowell Brown contacted me on Twitter with the idea of helping a kinsperson with their email. He tweets:
I’m going to help a family member move from a PC to a new Mac. How can we convert Outlook .pst archives to a format compatible with Apple’s Mail?
Microsoft uses the PST (Personal Storage Table) file format for Outlook’s messages and events. Although the format is accessible to Outlook for Mac, Apple’s Mail won’t deal with such archives. Therefore you have to convert them.
There are a couple of ways to do this. If you already have a copy of Outlook for Mac, simply launch it, choose File > Import, select Outlook Data File (.pst or .olm) in the first Import window, click the Next button, select Outlook for Windows Data File (.pst), click Next again, navigate to the .pst file you’ve copied to your Mac, select it, and click Import. As promised, those messages will be imported into Outlook and filed under the On My Computer heading. Drag the folder that contains these messages to the desktop and it will be turned into an mbox file that you can import into Mail.
If you want to convert PST files to Mac, there are several methods which can be. Open your google takeout account, if you do not know about this follow this.
“But dude!,” you blurt with a shocking informality, “I don’t have a copy of Outlook for Mac!”
Yes, but you could—free for 30 days—if you punch the Try Now button on Microsoft’s Office 365 Home page. As the previous sentence hints, this gives you 30-days of Office for nothing. After you’ve converted your files it’s entirely up to you whether you wish to hang on to Office and pay the $10-per-month subscription price when your trial ends.
If that sounds like a bother (and yes, it kind of is, but hey, it’s free!), you can go with a dedicated utility such as Gladwev’s $25 PST Converter Pro (Mac App Store direct link). It couldn’t be much easier to operate. Just select the .pst file you’ve exported from Outlook on the PC, choose what you want to convert (mail, contacts, calendars), select the output format (mbox or eml for mail messages), and click Start. The messages will be converted to a form that you can import into Mail. Personally, I’d choose mbox.
Now launch Mail, choose File > Import Mailboxes, select File in mbox format in the resulting window, click Continue, navigate to the exported mbox file, and click Choose. The messages will be added to Mail and found under the On My Mac heading within an Import folder.
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To understand the concept of exporting Outlook for Mac 2016 to Windows Outlook PST, you should know the file format supported by both of Outlook. OLM file is the database file used by Outlook for Mac, whereas Windows Outlook uses PST file format. There are multiple reasons to export OLM to PST like some user switches to Outlook for Mac from Windows Outlook and need to access all mailbox data of Outlook for mac. In this case, a user needs to do the OLM to PST Conversion.
Use Outlook Mac Export to PST Inbuilt Tool to export Mails, Calendar, Contacts, Task Notes, and other Outlook components:
Inbuilt Outlook utility helps users to export Outlook for Mac OLM file items. Depending on your requirement you can export all or partial data to PST file. Below mentioned steps will guide you to export Outlook 2016 mac to PST. But before moving on the explanation, it is important to know that all files should essentially be in the archived state.
On Outlook 2016:
- Navigate the File-menu and click on an Export option from the drop-down menu
- Next, click Outlook for Mac data file and select the options available to filter items.
- Click and select the folder you want to export from the Outlook 2016.
- Click on the right-arrow button to continue the process
- Again, click on the right arrow button on the next screen
- Outlook account prompts you to browse for a location where the file should be saved.
- It may take some time to save, depending on the file size.
You have just exported Outlook for Mac 2016 to Windows Outlook PST. Now, you can import the saved PST into Outlook for Mac 2016.
What if Export-Import Facility does not Yield Accurate Results?
When the manual method does not help to export OLM file to PST, it is better to employ Stellar Converter for OLM because this converter software is the best choice to migrate to MS Outlook from the existing Outlook for Mac. The best part is that it keeps the mailbox components intact after conversion.
Check How Can You Export Outlook Mac to PST through this software:
Numerous questions arise in your mind when you try to buy a software for example whether the software is compatible, does it have enough usage, and so on…
Well, the software is compatible with all systems running Windows 10, 8 and 7 Operating system. In fact, this even supports Windows Vista and XP. No issues with compatibility issue. In case, you do not remember the name of the OLM file. To overcome this issue, Stellar software is equipped with Find option to locate and select the right OLM file.
Unique “Preview” option helps you analyze mailbox data and verify data completeness and authenticity. Tree-like format makes data verification easier and faster. Smart saving option enables saving of single or multiple messages in EML or MSG format and also enables saving of complete mailbox components into a PST file.
Summing up
Most Mac users face difficulties in moving from Outlook for Mac to Windows Outlook and now that you have understood the difference between the manual method and the software tool, you can easily reach the conclusion that Outlook 2016 Mac OLM File can be easily exported to PST and it’s equally easy to import data with Stellar Converter for OLM.