How to Convert PST to TXT

Your Outlook mailbox contains years of correspondence, and you need to extract the text from those emails — for archiving, searching, data mining, or simply to free up the mailbox. PST is a proprietary binary format that only Outlook can read. Total Outlook Converter reads PST files, extracts every email, and saves them as plain text (TXT) — one file per message or all messages merged into a single document. You choose which fields to export, how to handle attachments, and whether to process one email or ten thousand at once.

PST vs TXT: Why Convert?

PST (Personal Storage Table) is Microsoft's proprietary format for storing emails, contacts, and calendar items in Outlook. It requires Outlook to open and cannot be searched by standard text tools. The binary structure makes PST files opaque to scripts, search engines, and document management systems.

TXT (Plain Text) is the simplest and most universal file format. Every operating system, every programming language, and every search tool can read TXT. A plain text archive of your emails can be indexed by full-text search engines, parsed by scripts, imported into databases, and read without any specialized software — now or decades from now.

Feature	PST	TXT
Format type	Proprietary binary (Microsoft)	Open plain text (universal)
Readable by	Microsoft Outlook only	Any text editor, script, or search tool
File size	Large (binary overhead, indexes)	Minimal (text only, no formatting)
Searchable	Only within Outlook	grep, PowerShell, Python, full-text indexes
Long-term archival	Depends on Microsoft's format support	Format-independent, readable forever
Formatting	HTML, rich text, embedded images	Plain text only, no formatting

What You Can Control During Conversion

Field selection — choose which email headers to include: From, To, CC, BCC, Subject, Date Sent, Date Received. Exclude fields you do not need (e.g., skip CC and BCC for a cleaner archive).
Separate files or merged document — save each email as an individual TXT file (named by subject, date, or sender), or combine all selected emails into one continuous text file.
Attachment handling — save attachments to a separate folder organized by message, embed attached emails as text, or skip attachments entirely.
Encoding — output files in UTF-8, ANSI, or Unicode encoding to match the requirements of your downstream system.
Batch processing — select one email, an entire folder, or multiple folders. Convert thousands of messages in a single operation.
Folder structure — preserve the original Outlook folder hierarchy in the output directory (Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts as separate subfolders).

How to Convert PST to TXT — Step by Step

Step 1. Open the PST File

Launch Total Outlook Converter. The folder tree on the left displays folders from the default Outlook PST. To open a different PST, go to File → Open PST and browse to the file. No Microsoft Outlook installation is required — Total Outlook Converter has its own PST parser.

Step 2. Select Emails

Click a folder in the tree to see its messages. The list shows sender, subject, date, and size. Tick individual messages or click Check All to select the entire folder.

Step 3. Choose TXT Format

Click the TXT button on the toolbar. The settings wizard opens.

Step 4. Configure Output Settings

Set the destination folder. Choose the file naming pattern: by subject, by date, by sender, or a combination. Select which email fields to include in the output. Decide whether to create one TXT per email or merge all into a single file. Configure attachment handling.

Step 5. Convert

Click Start. The converter processes every selected email and writes TXT files to the output folder. A progress bar shows the status. The log lists each converted message with its source folder and output path.

Total Outlook Converter — convert PST to TXT

Command-Line Conversion

Total Outlook Converter includes a command-line interface for automated workflows:

OutlookConverter.exe "C:\Mail\archive.pst" -aTXT -o "C:\Export\txt\" -fields "From,To,Subject,Date,Body"

Parameters: PST file path, -aTXT sets plain text as the output format, -o specifies the destination folder, -fields selects which headers to include. Add this command to a .bat script and run it nightly with Task Scheduler for automated email archiving.

Other useful flags: -merge combines all emails into one file, -att separate saves attachments to a subfolder, -enc UTF8 forces UTF-8 encoding.

What Happens to Email Content During Conversion?

Email Component	How It Appears in TXT
Headers (From, To, Subject, Date)	Written as labeled lines at the top of each text file: "From: ...", "To: ...", "Subject: ...", "Date: ..."
HTML body	HTML tags are stripped. Only the readable text content remains. Links are preserved as plain URLs.
Plain text body	Copied as-is into the output file.
Inline images	Removed (plain text cannot contain images). File names can be listed if attachment processing is enabled.
Attachments	Three options: save as separate files in a subfolder, list file names in the text, or skip entirely.
Timestamps	Preserved in the selected date format. Optional time zone normalization.
Unicode characters	Preserved when UTF-8 encoding is selected.

Online Converters vs Desktop Converter

Feature	Online PST-to-TXT Services	Total Outlook Converter
Privacy	You upload your entire email archive to a third-party server.	Runs locally. No data leaves your computer.
File size limit	Typically 50–200 MB. Large PST files rejected.	No limit. Handles PST files of any size.
Field selection	No control over which fields are exported.	Choose exactly which headers and body parts to include.
Merge option	Not available.	Merge all emails into one TXT or create separate files.
Batch processing	One file at a time.	Entire folders or multiple PST files in one batch.
Automation	Manual process only.	Command-line interface with scripting and scheduling.
Cost	Free for small files, subscriptions for larger.	One-time purchase: $49.90. Free 30-day trial.

Why Use Total Outlook Converter?

Reads PST without Outlook

Total Outlook Converter has its own PST parser. It reads PST files directly without requiring Microsoft Outlook on the machine. Install it on any Windows computer and start converting immediately.

Full control over exported fields

Not every email field is relevant. Exclude CC, BCC, or headers you do not need. Include only From, Subject, Date, and Body for a clean, readable archive. The field selector is available in both GUI and command-line modes.

One file per email or one merged document

Create an individual TXT file for each email — useful when you need to search or reference specific messages. Or merge thousands of emails into a single text file for bulk analysis, data mining, or compliance review.

Batch conversion at local speed

Select an entire Outlook folder or multiple folders. Thousands of emails are converted in minutes at local disk speed, without uploading anything to the internet.

Command-line automation

Schedule nightly PST-to-TXT exports with a .bat script and Task Scheduler. Automate email archiving without manual steps. Integrate into IT workflows for compliance or data retention.

20+ additional output formats

TXT is one of many options. Total Outlook Converter also exports to DOC, PDF, HTML, RTF, EML, MBox, TIFF, XPS, and more — all from the same interface.

When Do You Need PST-to-TXT Conversion?

Email archiving — export old emails from Outlook as plain text for long-term storage. TXT files remain readable on any system without specialized software.
Full-text search — convert PST to TXT and index the files with a search engine (Elasticsearch, Solr, Windows Search). Find any email by keyword in milliseconds.
Data mining and analytics — parse TXT email exports with Python, PowerShell, or R. Extract sender patterns, keyword frequencies, or communication timelines.
Compliance and audits — auditors request email records in a simple, non-proprietary format. TXT meets the requirement without requiring Outlook on the auditor's machine.
Migration to non-Microsoft systems — moving to a platform that does not read PST? Export to TXT as a universal intermediate format that any system can import or parse.

Download the free 30-day trial — no email or credit card required. A personal license costs $49.90 and includes one year of free upgrades. Works on Windows 7/8/10/11.

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Total Outlook Converter Customer Reviews 2026

Rate ItRated 4.7/5 based on customer reviews

"We archive departing employees' email as plain text for public records retention. Total Outlook Converter exports each PST folder into separate TXT files with From, Date, Subject, and Body fields. The command-line mode lets us batch-process 20 PST files per week without manual work. We have been using it for three years with zero issues."

5 Star Helen Archer Records Manager, City of Portland Archives

"We needed to mine customer correspondence for sentiment analysis. Converting 50,000 emails from PST to TXT gave us a clean text corpus that our Python scripts could parse immediately. The field selector let us export only Subject and Body — no headers cluttering the data. The merge-to-one-file option was especially useful for building training datasets."

5 Star Dmitry Sorokin Data Analyst, FinSight Research

"Auditors requested seven years of email records in a non-proprietary format. We exported the PST archives to TXT with Total Outlook Converter and delivered the files on an encrypted drive. The auditors could search the text files with standard tools without needing Outlook. The only improvement I would suggest is an option to include attachment content inline as text."

4 Star Rebecca Moore Compliance Specialist, Eastgate Insurance

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