Convert MBOX to PDF
at archive scale
Upload an MBOX, PST, EML or MSG mailbox and get every message back as a clean, dated PDF — attachments included. Built for four-thousand-message archives, not four.
Free for one file up to 50 MB · no credit card required
Two jobs, one tool
Open Convert from the console dashboard, pick the job, and let it run.
Mailbox to PDF
Upload MBOX, PST, EML or MSG files. Every message becomes its own PDF. Attachments come out untouched in their original format, and each file is named by date and sender so the output sorts itself.
A mailbox of several thousand messages is the normal input, not the stress case.
Flatten a PDF
Burns form fields, annotations and layers into the page itself. Nothing sits on top of the page any more, so nothing can be lifted off, edited or extracted afterwards.
The right first step before a document leaves your hands — what you see on the page is all there is.
How it works
1. Upload your files
Sign in, open Convert from the console dashboard, and upload your mailbox or PDF files.
2. Close the page
The job runs in the background on our servers. There is nothing to watch and nothing to keep open.
3. Download from your inbox
When the job finishes, a download link arrives by email. The link works for 7 days.
What goes in, what comes out
In
MBOX — Gmail, Google Vault, Thunderbird, Apple Mail
PST — Outlook and Microsoft Purview exports
EML and MSG — individual saved messages
PDF — for flattening
Out
One PDF per message, named by date and sender
Files named by date and sender, so they sort themselves
Attachments kept in their original format, saved beside their message
Ready to redact in a RedactBox project
The limits, stated plainly
So you know exactly what you are getting before you upload anything.
- Free plan
- One file per job, up to 50 MB.
- Professional plan — £25/month
- Up to 100 files per job, up to 3 GB per file.
- Download links
- Links last 7 days. After that, run the job again — your source files stay in your account.
- No OCR
- Message text stays as real text, but scanned pages are carried through as images, so their content is not searchable. Attachments are never converted, so they are not searchable in the PDF either.
Full plan details are on the pricing page.
Conversion is step one
Converted PDFs can be added to a RedactBox project and treated like any other document: search across the whole archive, apply word lists, redact by highlight or drawn region, and export with every redaction burned in and logged. Convert the mailbox today; redact it when the request lands.
Frequently asked questions
Which mailbox formats can I convert to PDF?
MBOX, PST, EML and MSG. That covers exports from Gmail, Google Vault, Thunderbird and Apple Mail (MBOX), Outlook and Microsoft Purview (PST), and individual messages saved as EML or MSG files.
How is the output organised?
Every message becomes its own PDF, named by date and sender so the output sorts itself, with that message’s attachments in a folder beside it. Keeping messages separate is also what lets you redact them individually afterwards.
What happens to attachments?
They come out exactly as they went in. Attachments are never converted, so a spreadsheet stays a spreadsheet and nothing is lost to a format change. Each one is saved in a folder beside the message it belongs to, and the message PDF lists them with name, type and size.
Can I open an attachment from inside the PDF?
In most PDF readers, yes. Each attachment is embedded in the message PDF, so double-clicking the paperclip on its row opens it in Adobe Acrobat, Apple Preview, Foxit and the RedactBox viewer. Some readers cannot open embedded files at all — Chrome and Edge built-in viewers among them — so every attachment is also saved as an ordinary file beside the message in your download.
How big a mailbox can I convert?
On the Free plan, one file per job up to 50 MB. On Professional (£25/month), up to 100 files per job at up to 3 GB per file. A mailbox of several thousand messages is the normal case, not the limit.
Do I have to keep the page open while it converts?
No. Jobs run in the background — close the tab and carry on. When the job finishes, you get a download link by email. The link works for 7 days; after that, run the job again.
Are the converted PDFs text-searchable?
Message text stays as real text in the PDF. There is no OCR, though: scanned pages are carried through as images, so their content is not searchable. Attachments keep their original format and are not converted, so they are not searchable in the PDF either.
What does flattening a PDF do?
Flattening burns form fields, annotations and layers into the page itself. Nothing sits on top of the page any more, so nothing can be lifted off, edited or extracted afterwards.
Can I redact the converted PDFs?
Yes. Converted PDFs can be added to a RedactBox project and redacted like any other document — search across them, apply word lists, and export with the redactions burned in.
Turn your first mailbox into PDFs today
Free for one file up to 50 MB. Upload it, close the page, and the download link finds you.
Convert your first file free