Track your competitors' email marketing tactics with SendView 🙌

See their ESP, content calendar, spam scores, source code, and more.

Learn More

Online EML File Viewer

A free, online tool to easily open and view the contents of an EML file. This free eml viewer and email viewer allows users to open eml files and view all the details of eml messages, including message envelopes and message header view for comprehensive analysis.

 This tool is provided free of charge by SendView, a slick competitor tracking platform for email marketers.

Introduction to EML Files

EML files are a widely used file format for storing individual email messages, capturing all the essential details of an email in a single file. Each EML file contains not only the body text of the email but also important mail headers, embedded images, and any attachments that were included with the original message. This makes EML files a convenient way to save, share, and archive email messages outside of your email client.

The EML file format is supported by many popular email programs, including Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, and Windows Live Mail. Whether you’re using a Windows operating system or another platform, you can easily save and manage EML files for future reference. To read EML files without installing a full email client, users can turn to specialized EML file viewer software or EML message viewer software. These tools allow you to view EML files, including all attachments and formatting, directly from your device. With an EML file reader, you can open, preview, and analyze EML files quickly and efficiently, making it easy to manage your email messages across different email programs.

Email Client Compatibility

One of the key strengths of a robust EML viewer tool is its compatibility with a wide range of email clients and file formats. Whether your EML files originate from Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, Windows Live Mail, or another email program, our free viewer ensures you can easily open and read EML files.

EML Viewer FAQs

Q: How does the EML viewer work?

A: This tool works by parsing out the components of a .eml file like the headers and various versions of the email such as plain text or HTML, and showing them in a tidier, more organized format than the original file would appear if you opened it in a Notepad or text editor. The tool offers multiple view mode options, including a normal view for straightforward reading of eml messages and a message header view for examining detailed metadata and email properties. EML files can be opened by many programs, but the contents are hard to decipher unless you know what you’re looking for.

Q: What is an EML file?

A: If you click “download” in your Outlook, Gmail, or other inbox, the file that is downloaded will end in .eml and will contain all the information that was sent to your inbox. Usually you’ll only see just the HTML or plain text version of the email, but this viewer will allow you to see everything else that was sent behind the scenes as well. EML emails store all the details of each message, including message attachments and metadata, providing a complete view of the email for thorough examination.

Q: Do I have to download anything to open my EML file or is this an online tool?

A: Nope, this tool is an online tool. You can open, view, and read the contents of your EML file right from your browser.

Q: What does "raw" and "decoded" mean?

A: The contents of email are often encoded in formats like base64 or quoted-printable. This tool will attempt to decode the contents of the EML file based on that formatting and is shown as "decoded" in the tool. The "raw", original version is also shown with the original encoding in case you were looking for that.

Q: What is all this other stuff sent with my email?

A: Emails are sent with all sorts of information that your inbox might need to determine if it’s spam, display the contents, show who the email was sent to, etc. All of this information and more is stored in a .eml file. For example, you may only see the HTML version of a marketing email in your Gmail account, but the sender likely also included a plain text version as well. That’s stored with the email even if you don’t ever see it. Additionally, many EML file viewers allow you to easily display all emails present in a selected folder or file, making it simple to access and review multiple messages at once.

Q: Can I open and read any EML file online with this tool?

A: Pretty much. We’re always surprised by the formatting of the occasional EML file, so if something looks fishy just send us an email. We’ll see if we can update the tool to account for those changes. That said, our tool will still open your EML file and allow you to read any contents we can parse out. This is eml reader software designed for viewing eml files easily online, so even if there is an error in your file that prevents your inbox from using it, that information should still be visible using this EML viewer tool.

Q: What are the headers in an EML file?

A: When an email is sent from one server to another, there are parts that we see - the HTML body, text contents, etc. - and then there are instructions and additional information that are delivered with the email that aren’t visible but help ensure the email is delivered correctly. For example, domain settings like DKIM, SPF, and DMARC are delivered in the email headers which help inboxes like Gmail know that you own the domain you are sending the email from which helps an email message not be flagged as spam. The headers will also include details like the date and time the email was sent, which server and app sent the email, and who the email was sent from and to. To make it easy to examine these header details, our tool provides a dedicated message header view, allowing users to inspect all email metadata and message properties efficiently.

Q: Can I edit my EML file?

A: No, this tool is just for viewing the contents of the EML file. You can edit your EML file using a text or code editor, but not using our online EML viewer tool.

Q: Do I need an EML file opener to view these files?

A: Nope, this tool helps decode some of the contents so it's easier to view, but you can open any EML file with a simple text editor like Notepad. If you're on a PC, just right click the file and select "Open with..." and select Notepad. Voila! No EML file opener necessary!

Q: Why is this EML tool free?

A: Our main product, SendView, isn't free and pays the bills. But that means we have the flexibility to build other, simpler tools like this one that email marketers (and other folks) find useful without having the pressure to make money from them.

Q: Can I create fake EML files with your tool?

A: No, apparently we show up for search terms related to this use case but this is not what our online EML viewer is designed for. It is simply designed for examining and decoding the contents of an EML file that is otherwise hard to do with normal apps.