How to Examine Content of MSG Files with Top 3 Ways

You have MSG files, and you want to view content of a MSG file. But you have a problem doing so. Then, this article will help you examine content of MSG files. We discuss ways to open files in Outlook and without Outlook.

MSG files can only be used in Outlook and other Microsoft-based email programs. That’s why, if you want to view your files, they cannot be viewed anywhere other than Outlook. But still, there is one method available where you can open and read the file without the program. But before that, let’s introduce the MSG file. MSG files are a file format that stores individual mailbox items like email, contact, calendar, attachment, and other data in your system.

The main purpose of this file is to share your data among Outlook and Microsoft email programs. It is for only the Windows OS, where users share their data with Windows-based email programs. In order to read the MSG files, there are different techniques you can use.

Methods to Examine Content of MSG Files

Outlook is the only way to view the file, but there are different options to open and examine MSG files in Outlook. One option is to right-click the file or double-click to open Outlook. Here, your program is the default mail application. The other option is to drag and drop the file into the Outlook folder. We physically moved the file to Outlook.

All these options are used when you have an Outlook program; if you have not installed the program, then third-party software is one of the great ways to view content of a MSG file. So, there are three methods to see the data in MSG files.

Double-click or right-click MSG files to open in Outlook.
View MSG files in Outlook using the drag-and-drop option.
Use software to directly open and read your MSG files.

Method 1: Examine Content of MSG Files by Right-click or Double-click

This method is very easy; you have to just find your MSG files and click on the files to open in Outlook.

Navigate to the location of your MSG files and double-click it.
The file will automatically open in Outlook.
Alternatively, select the MSG file and right-click it.
Click on the Outlook option to open and view the data.

Method 2: View Content of a MSG File with Drag and Drop

In this, we move the MSG file from the storage space to the Outlook folder. For this, we have to first create a folder in the program.

Open the Outlook program and right-click on the left side of the pane where your mail, contacts, and other folders are.
Select the new folder from the drop-down list and name it.
Now, go to the location where your MSG files are. Select any one file.
Drag it and drop it in the folder that you have just created.
Again, select another file, drag it, and drop it in the same folder. Repeat this again to import all your files.
After that, go to the folder that contains the MSG file, open it, and click the file to view the data.

Limitations of the Manual Method

These techniques can help you examine content of MSG files, but they also have drawbacks you may face.

They cannot allow you to bulk import MSG files at once.
Due to this, it is a time-consuming process.
You can lose your data during the process.
There are no options to analyze your files.

Therefore, manual methods can be used if you have an outlook. However, if you have not installed the program and are having problems due to the above reasons, a professional method would be a great way to read the content of a MSG file.

Method 3: Professionally Examine Content of MSG Files

In the professional method, we use third-party software such as FreeViewer MSG Viewer Tool to open, read, and analyze the MSG file directly. The software is available in almost all Windows versions, such as 11, 10, 8, 7, etc. For this reason, you can use this tool on any system and view the data. It also provides many amazing features, such as:.

Features of Software

You can use this tool to safely browse and read the MSG files with attachments.
The software offers different preview modes to view the file in HEX, HTML, RTF, attachments, etc.
It smoothly provides a preview of your various mailbox items, like contacts, calendars, emails, etc.
To read email properties, the software also offers to, from, subject, date, and other property options to read the files.
Users can search for specific data using the filter option.

Steps to View MSG Files

Download and install the software. After that, open it.
On the left pane of the software, you can see a list of the files and folders that are stored on your computer.
Find and select the folder that contains MSG files. Now, all the data will be displayed on the screen.
Click on the file and see the content. Also, preview them.

Conclusion

Examine content of MSG files is not a difficult task. Outlook is the only manual way to view MSG files. So, in this article, we provide different ways to open and view content of a MSG file. Manually, you can use a double-click and drag-and-drop method to import the file in Outlook. But if you want to open an MSG file without Outlook, then a professional way is the only option available. This method can be used even if you have Outlook.