From mailbox to documents
An MBOX file is the natural way to get mail out of Gmail, Thunderbird and many hosting providers, but nobody outside the email world can read one. When you need to hand a set of emails to a lawyer, an accountant, an insurer, a family member or your own document archive, PDF is what they'll expect. Converting a mailbox by opening and printing each message is impractical once you're past a few dozen.
This tool does the whole job in your browser. It opens the MBOX, lets you find exactly the messages you need, and writes clean, searchable PDFs, either one per email or combined into a single document.
Two output styles
One PDF. Every selected message, in date order (or the order you choose), each starting on a new page with its own header block. InboxVue Pro adds a cover page with a table of contents listing date, sender and subject with page numbers, plus continuous Bates numbering.
ZIP of PDFs. One PDF per email, named like 0001_2024-03-12_alice_subject-of-the-email.pdf so files sort in order. An optional index.csv lists every message with its date, sender, subject, label or folder and output file name. Writing the ZIP is streamed, so it can be larger than your computer's memory.
Both styles keep the sender, recipients, date, subject and formatted body, with embedded images and fonts for international text.
Before you convert: get the right messages
The biggest time saver is choosing well. Use the folder pane for labels, the search box for names and words, and operators such as from:invoices@example.com, has:attachment or before:2022-01-01. The selection bar shows how many messages you've chosen. If you're working from a Gmail export, our Google Takeout MBOX guide shows how to export only the labels you need, which keeps the file small. For Thunderbird folders, see the Thunderbird MBOX guide.
Troubleshooting
The export stopped when I closed the laptop lid. Browsers pause background work when a computer sleeps. Keep the device awake and the tab open during big exports. The progress panel warns you if you try to leave.
The ZIP doesn't fit on my drive. Choose List only for attachments, or export by year to make smaller batches.
Some emails have broken characters. Fix the encoding on one message via ⋯ → Text encoding before exporting, or export those messages separately.
Safari saved one huge file to Downloads. That's expected. Safari can't write into a folder you choose, so large exports go to Downloads. Chrome and Edge give you a folder picker and stream the files there.
How this compares
| InboxVue | Thunderbird + ImportExportTools NG | Upload converters | Desktop converters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Install | None | Thunderbird and an add-on | None | Yes, usually Windows |
| File size | Multi-GB | Multi-GB | Typically capped at 20 to 50 MB on free plans | Multi-GB |
| Privacy | Local | Local | File uploaded | Local |
| Gmail labels kept | Yes, as folders | No | Rarely | Varies |
| Combined PDF with index | Yes (Pro) | No | No | Some |
If you'd rather work in a spreadsheet, the MBOX to CSV converter builds an index of every message. To simply read the archive, use the MBOX viewer. Plans and limits are on the pricing page; for evidence and productions see email to PDF for court, and for single emails from any app see how to save emails as PDF.