How to Open MBOX File in Chrome Browser?

Have you been trying to open MBOX file in Chrome, but none of the methods are working? Even if you were able to open the mailbox, they are a bit confused and not reading the file properly. Let’s find out what we can do about it.

The simple and short answer is, you can’t properly open MBOX in Chrome or any browser. Google Chrome, a versatile and powerful browser, is not designed to display the contents within any email files. Chrome treats the MBOX files a plain text just like any other file. Since MBOX files are not a simple text file, but a mailbox with encoded attachments and other formatting codes.

Google Chrome is one of the most reliable browsers used by millions. That being said, not being able to open an email file might come as a surprise to some. However, we need to understand the MBOX files and it’s purpose to know why we can’t open MBOX file in Chrome.

What Exactly are MBOX Files?

In a generic term, MBOX files are MailBOX. It is used to store collections of email messages. While it might look like a singular file, MBOX is a group of formats, with variations like MBOXO, MBOXRD, MBOXCL, and MBOXCL2. This file format is very popular among users, as it is used by various email clients such as Thunderbird, Apple Mail, export format for Google Takeout, etc.

As we said, the key characteristics of the MBOX file are to store multiple email messages in a single file. Each of these messages started with the “From” line and continues with the remaining email information. This structure makes them excellent for archiving and portability between certain email clients. However, it also renders the document unreadable by some standard document viewers or, as we established, web browsers like Chrome. Therefore, Chrome only shows the raw form of the content, such as email headers, encoded attachments and formatting code, but not a clean email style preview.

How to Open MBOX File in Chrome Browser?

Now we know why we can’t easily get a proper preview of the emails in the *.mbox file format. Therefore, let’s discover some of the ways in which we can view these files without any complex steps.

1) Using an Instant Approach

What we need is to view these files properly and be able to read the information with ease. Therefore, we have this Online MBOX Viewer, a free way to get the email details within the Chrome browser. As shown in the above screenshot, it is clear that no one can read the email messages properly. Use these methods, each of the concatenated email messages with be listed in the left panel and the user can select and read each one easily.

Alternatively, you can use the MBOX File Viewer tool if you need an advanced offline solution other than opening the MBOX File in Chrome. It works the same way, displaying each of the emails as a list so you can click and view as per the requirement. Also, get other advanced features like searching content within MBOX file.

Get the freeware from here:

2) Convert MBOX to a Compatible Format

The files can be converted to a Chrome-supported file format. One such method is to convert MBOX to HTML and then get the preview of the file in Chrome effortlessly. When converting the files to HTML format, each email becomes a readable webpage. MBOX Converter preserves the formatting like bold text, images, hyperlinks, etc., in the HTML Output. Use the link below to get the best tool for open MBOX file in Chrome browser:

3) Use a Dedicated Email Client

Since opening the emails file in Chrome only gives a raw content preview, we urge the users to try the most secure method, i.e., the email client. MBOX file, being one of the most common email formats, can be imported and opened within an email client.

Using email clients ensures the messages are displayed properly with the complete formatting, folder structure, which provides an effortless reading experience. It is far better that get the raw data preview in the browser.

How to Use Thunderbird:

Install Thunderbird from https://www.thunderbird.net/

• Start the Thunderbird Application.
• Then, install ImportExportTools NG Add-on.
• Right-click on the local folder.
• Select ImportExportTools NG > Import MBOX file.
• Now, choose “Import one or more mbox files” and press the Ok button.
• Finally, browse and select the MBOX files.

That’s it. Use the email application to read the email messages instantly without any complex conversion. If you encounter any issues, such as Thunderbird import MBOX not working, visit the linked guide for troubleshooting.

With Apple Mail 

For Mac users, try using Apple Mail. Apple Mail natively supports the MBOX format. Follow the steps

Locate the MBOX file.

Note: Ensure the file has .mbox, if not, rename the extension if required.

• Open Apple Mail.
• Go to File>Import Mailboxes.
• Choose File in MBOX format and then click Continue.
• Now, browse the MBOX file location and select it.
• Click Continue to complete the process.

Now you can easily access the MBOX with proper email formatting.

Conclusion

Chrome’s ability doesn’t extend to directly opening the MBOX file. Whereas you can find a variety of methods that effectively provide solutions. For reliable and secure access, it is recommended to use a dedicated email client such as Thunderbird or Apple Mail. Using a trusted online file viewing website can also give an instant preview, but ensure the site is genuine. The one mentioned here is dedicated to providing a quick view without storing any data on the server. For offline viewing in Chrome, converting MBOX to a Google Chrome-supported file format is a viable option.