What is MBOX File?

Introduction

"What is MBOX File?" Some people might be confused about .mbox file extension, they probably think it is a file format which is used for saving Thunderbird data file. But in reality .mbox file extension is a consolidated File that save emails as single MBOX File for every MBOX supported email Client. This represents that email groups are related to MBOX family. Lets have a look upon the complete article and understand "What is MBOX File?"

Full Form of Mbox

MBOX stands for Mail Box, in short MBOX which is used for creating and managing group of emails. MBOX file is peculiarly used for storing mails and email messages. It is strongly serves the purpose for backup and exporting mails.

Briefing on Mbox File Extension

In today’s era, Email is a strong way to communicate with anyone around the every corner of the world. Either in personal or professional life, we all are using email to communicate and to keep in touch with everyone. Several email services are available on internet which are are used to manage and store your email and messages not only on cloud but also in your local machine. Many of email clients prefer using MBOX platform for managing and storing mails and email messages. Since Mbox is one of the best platform which not only manage and store mails and messages, but also provide secure platform.MBOX is a text file format which contains mails and email messages in ASCII text and stores attachments in encoded format. MBOX file manages mail messages, contacts, calender, notes and task. Many more features are offered by different email clients as per user requirement and Mbox file handle these features easily such as quick reply, quick filter, chat, social media link, news link etc.

Mbox File Format offer four types of .mbox File Structure

mboxo: mboxo (MBOX) file structure follow “???@???” constant string instead of sender email’s address.
mboxrd: mboxrd (MBOX) file structure is variant of ‘mboxo’ file structure and indicate starting of a message by ‘from’.
mboxcl: mboxcl (MBOX) file structure is use by Unix OS ‘System V’ and indicate starting of a message by ‘f’, ‘r’, ‘o’, ‘m’.
mboxcl2: mboxcl2 (MBOX) file structure is an upgrade version of mboxcl file structure and use for Unix OS ‘System V’.

Many more features of MBOX file structure are available such as importing and exporting MBOX file between two email clients. You can Extract data and view extracted data in any MBOX based email client for example you can extract MBOX file from Entourage and view the extracted file in Thunderbird.

Mbox File Format Supporting Email Clients

The most commonly used MBOX file supported email clients are: Thunderbird, Entourage, The Bat!, Dreammail, i.Scribe, EmailTray, Postbox, AppleMail, Eudora, Mulberry, SeaMonkey, Mailbird, Spicebird, Pocomail, Netscape, Mozillamail, Evolution, Sylpheed, inky, Cone, Mutt, Gnu Mail, ClawsMail, OperaMail, Roundcube, etc.

Mbox File Format location in different Email Clients

MBOX file location can either be same or different in email clients.

Thunderbird: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\gtj37ogy.default\Mail
Entourage: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Entourage\Profiles\email1.server\Mail
Eudore: C:\Users\admin\SysData\Local\Eudore\Profiles\mail.server\Mail
SeaMonkey: C:\Users\admin\SysData\Local\Seamonkey\Profiles\email.default\Mail
OperaMail: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Public\OperaMail\Profiles\email1.server\Mail

Common Issues in .mbox File Extension

Have a look upon some common issues in .mbox file extension .

specified mbox file does not exist
how to open mbox file
open mbox in outlook
Issues importing .mbox files into Mail application
Thunderbird 10 just corrupted my Mbox file
mbox file can't import
import mbox file into gmail
convert mbox to gmail
Mail crashes when importing Mbox files
importing a large .mbox file from 10.6.8 mail fails

Confusion between .mbox File and .msf File

Each mail folder (inbox, outbox, sent, etc) divided in two file extension one is .mbox file and second is .msf file. The Mbox file extension stores complete information of all the emails in different sector like inbox, outbox, sent etc. The Msf file extension stores summary of every email in different sector like inbox.msf, outbox.msf, sent.msf etc. Sometimes when you transfer MBOX file between two email client manually, you simply take inbox(.mbox) file and not the inbox.msf. If you are not taking inbox.msf email client you will be unable to read complete content of emails inside mbox file. Hence, both the file extensions, inbox(.mbox) and inbox.msf are necessary for viewing emails in different email clients.

Extract Data from MBOX File

User can extract data in form of MBOX file format and use it for future reference. There is possibility when you successfully extract mbox data file from any email clients like Thunderbird but you are unable to open and read that MBOX data file. In that case download mbox viewer from internet to open and read MBOX data file. This tool will help to extract Mbox file into PDF format and generate report of extracted Mbox file in CSV format.

Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs

Can I open .mbox file extension in Mac OS?

Yes, You can open .mbox file in Mac OS by supporting email clients. Apple Mail is one of the best Mac OS based email client which support .mbox file format.

How can I extract email from .mbox file extension?

You, can extract email from .mbox file items (inbox, outbox, sent, etc) or any particular item such as contact, calender, notes etc. You can use above mentioned mbox viewer, which allows you to open and provide preview of emails and its associate attachments.

Can I Export MBOX file format from Thunderbird?

Yes, You can export mbox file from Thunderbird, just follow these step Go to Thunderbird -> Click on Local Folder -> In Import/Export option -> Choose Export option -> Select export destination folder -> Save file in .mbox file format.

How can I Import Mbox file format from Thunderbird?

You, can import MBOX file from Thunderbird, just follow these step Go to Thunderbird -> Click on Local Folder -> In Import/Export option -> Choose Import option -> Select import destination folder -> Select file in .mbox file format.

In Conclusion

In this article you will understand “What is .mbox file”, MBOX file extension supporting email clients, different between .mbox file extension and .msf file extension. You will find your answers to “What opens mbox files” and Finally, enclosing with suggested MBOX viewer option for extracting mbox data file.