If you are a Mac user, you might be already familiar with OLM files. Basically, it’s a file extension that is only used by Outlook in Mac to store data like Emails, Contacts, Messages, and many others. Many users used to utilize the Outlook in Mac to store and manage data, especially emails. However, in recent years, people have started to shift to Apple Mail which is the default Mail App in Mac OS. Both provide their own unique features but Apple Mail seems to be more optimized and also simpler to use.
This begs the question, how to export OLM files from Outlook in Mac to Apple Mail which supports a completely different file format called MBOX. Now, Outlook in Mac does allow users to export the stored data in OLM. However, the issue arises when you have to convert that ‘.olm’ data to other file formats like ‘.mbox’ because there is no officially supported way. In this article, we will look at some possible solutions which will let you import your olm data to Apple Mail.
Method 1: Using A Third-Party Software
Since this problem is already faced by many of the users, companies have started to develop specialized software to deal with this issue. We would like to recommend some of them.
Dotstella – OLM Apple To Mail Converter
Dotstella is a popular tool that is precisely used for the purpose of importing OLM files to Apple Mail. The tool effectively works for bulks of data and provides an intuitive interface to preview the data before importing it. To fully unlock all the features of the software you will need to buy its subscription. Follow the steps below to solve the issue using the Free/Demo version.
- You will need Windows OS to run this software, so first, shift your OLM files to a Windows machine.
- Next, download software from here.
Download Tool - Install the software, then open OLM Forensics Wizard.
- Choose Open from the top bar.
Open - Then, click option Choose from a Folder.
- Now you will have to go to the directory where your OLM file is saved. and select the OLM file you want to import to Apple Mail.
- When the file will open, it will show you the structure of file like this:
Hierarchy - You can click any of the folders, to preview the data.
- Afterward, either choose the Export option from the tab bar or the Extract option. Extract option will allow you to extract Email Addresses, Attachments, or Phone Numbers. The Export option will allow you to export/convert files to a specific format like MBOX.
- For Apple Mail, select the MBOX option from Export.
Export MBOX - Now, select/deselect folders that you want to convert.
select/deselect - Next, select a destination path to save the converted files. You can browse the path.
Destination Path - There are also multiple options to choose from which can help you filter out the resulting files.
Filter Result - Click Save on the top right corner. It will take some time to convert the files.
- If you see a pop-up saying that not all files were exported, it means you need to buy the subscription to export all the files.
Pop Up - Lastly, open the folder containing the MBOX file. You can now directly import and use this file in your Apple Mail.
OLM Converter Pro – App Ed
OLM Extractor Pro is another tool used for converting OLM files to MBOX or any other format. You can directly download and use it in your Mac unlike the tool mentioned above. This tool is also not free but you can get it on a free trial.
- Firstly, download the software from the Mac App Store. The link is given here. You will need to purchase it.
OLM Converter Pro - Install the software. Steps are similar to that of previous software. First, you open the OLM file.
- Select the folders you want to convert.
Select Folders - Choose the option ‘Convert to Apple Mail Archive..‘.
Choose Option - Click Start. It will take some time an convert.
Converting - When completed it will show you the folder where it has saved the files.
Saved File - You can now directly import and use this file in your Apple Mail.
OLM Extractor Pro is another software you can check out to convert OLM files to MBOX. You can download it from here.
Method 2: Using a Webmail Application
If you don’t want to buy any tool then you can try out this method. However, note that this is not the preferable way because you will lose folder hierarchy during the process and can also run into other issues. It can also become a complex process so that’s why we would rather recommend using specialized software to convert OLM files to MBOX. Follow the steps below:
- Firstly, Open Outlook App for in your Mac.
- Next, you need to import the OLM file.
Import OLM - Afterward, you will have to configure Outlook by using a Webmail account like Gmail with IMAP. If you don’t know how to add an email to Outlook then you can look at this link or follow some other article. Note that you set up your email using IMAP.
- The next step would be to transfer OLM data from Outlook to a folder in Gmail.
- After you have moved the data, open your Apple Mail app.
- Now in the app, you will need to configure the same Gmail account where you moved the data through IMAP.
Configure Gmail - The last step would be to just copy the OLM data from the Gmail folder into the Apple Mail.
