Email File Opener
Open winmail.dat, .msg and .eml files and save the attachments. Nothing is uploaded.
Attachments
This message has no attachments.
Message
How It Works
Choose an email file. The tool works out what it is from the bytes inside, not the file name: a winmail.dat (TNEF) package, an Outlook .msg file, or a standard .eml message. It shows who sent it, who it was to, the date and subject, the message itself, and every attachment with its original file name. Download the files one by one, or all together as a zip.
Everything happens in your browser. The file is never uploaded, which matters for the invoices, contracts and scans that usually arrive this way.
Got winmail.dat on your iPhone instead of a PDF? The winmail.dat guide explains why and what the sender can change. There are also guides to opening a .msg file on a Mac and opening an .eml file on iPhone.
The Three Formats
| File | What it is | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| winmail.dat (also ATT00001.dat) | A TNEF package holding the formatted message and the real attachments | Outlook sending in Rich Text format |
| .msg | One Outlook message stored as an Office compound file | Saving or dragging a message out of Outlook for Windows |
| .eml | The standard internet email format (MIME), plain text inside | Saving a message from Mail on a Mac and many other email apps |
Safety and Limits
- Formatted messages are shown in a sandboxed frame with scripts disabled. Remote images, fonts and other web requests are blocked, so opening a message here does not tell the sender you read it.
- Links inside the message are turned off, so a tap can't take you anywhere. On a computer, hover over the link text to see where it pointed.
- Pictures embedded in the message itself are shown when they are included in the file.
- The tool doesn't decrypt encrypted (S/MIME) or rights-protected messages.
- Rich-text-only winmail.dat bodies are converted to plain text, so formatting is lost. Outlook meeting requests show their text and attachments, not a calendar view.
- Attachments are not virus-scanned. Only open files you were expecting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is winmail.dat?
It is a package Outlook creates when a message is sent in Rich Text format. Microsoft calls the format TNEF. It holds the formatted message and any attached files. Mail apps that don't understand TNEF, including many outside Outlook, show the whole package as one attachment named winmail.dat (sometimes ATT00001.dat) instead of the real files.
How do I get the PDF or photo out of a winmail.dat file?
Choose the winmail.dat file above. The tool reads the package, lists the files that were inside it with their original names, and gives each one a Download button. Download all saves them together as a zip.
Can I open a .msg file without Outlook?
Yes. A .msg file is one Outlook message saved as a file. Choose it above to read the sender, recipients, date, subject and body, and to save its attachments. If the .msg contains another attached email, that one downloads as its own .msg file, which you can open here too.
Does this work on iPhone?
Yes, in Safari. Save the attachment to the Files app first: in Mail, touch and hold the attachment, then choose Save to Files. Then open this page, tap the file picker and choose the saved file.
Is it safe to open an email file here?
The file is read on your device and never uploaded. Formatted (HTML) messages are shown in a locked-down frame: scripts are disabled, remote images and other web requests are blocked, and links are turned off. The attachments themselves are not scanned, so treat unexpected files with the same care as any email attachment.
Why can't I see the message text of my winmail.dat?
Some winmail.dat files contain only a compressed rich-text version of the message. The tool converts that to plain text, so fonts, colours and pictures inside the text are dropped. A few winmail.dat files carry no message text at all, only the attachments; the original email usually shows the text in that case.