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Converting PST & OST files to MBOX format

Created by Kari Smith on Jun 04, 2013 · last edited by Gregory N. Jansen · on Jun 05, 2013 (view history) · 3 versions

Title
Converting PST & OST files to MBOX format

Detailed description
The challenge for many collecting institutions is that they acquire email archives in various formats, one of these is the proprietary MS Outlook PST & OST.

The challenge is the convert off-line .OST or .PST files into MBox format. Most of our attention focused on MBox, but we also did a quick evaluation of EML conversion tools.

Solution Champion
"donald mennerich

"Gregory N. Jansen

Corresponding Issue(s)
"Apprasing OST file for restricted data

Tool/code link

Tool Registry Link

LibPST - a linux library to convert PST files to mbox

Evaluation

There are both open source linux tools and several commercial solutions. The right fit will depend upon the workflow. The linux solution is easily integrated into scripts. We recommend the commercial solutions, with caution, if a conversion to MBox (or EML) format is required and the user needs a friendly GUI or doesn't have access to linux.