.msg files are normally created by Microsoft Outlook on Windows computers. macOS doesn’t have any built-in way to open these files. Even Microsoft Outlook for Mac can’t open .msg files.

There are a few ways to deal with this issue.

Third party .msg viewers apps

Just search “.msg viewer” in the macOS App Store, and you’ll find quite a few apps that can open .msg files. Most of them cost a few pounds, but if you need to regularly open .msg files on a Mac it’s a worthwhile investment.

Forward .msg file to yourself in Outlook

While Microsoft Outlook for Mac can’t open .msg files directly, if you attach such a file to a blank email and forward it to yourself using Outlook, it will “magically” get converted to .eml file, which can be easily opened on a Mac in either Microsoft Outlook or even Apple Mail.

Preview in Outlook on the web

Open the Outlook web app. Create a blank email and attach your .msg file. Now right-click on the attachment and choose “Preview”. Content on the .msg file will be displayed on the screen. If you try to download it, it will still come as a .msg file, but you can’t print it to PDF to save it to another usable format.

January 2025
Oxford, Oxfordshire