Mbox, short for mailbox, is a generic name for a group of file formats used by many email clients in Linux, Windows, and Mac. It’s one of the rarest cross-platforms running in most commonly used platforms. The messages in Mbox files are stored in a single database file in a plain text format and new messages are simply appended to the end of file.

Since its inception, Mbox file has been supported by various email clients to store and read data. It can be said that it has become de-facto standard due to its compatibility and support with many clients. This wide adoption helps users in working with multiple clients, even in multiple operating systems, without hurdles.

However, there are clients, like Windows Outlook, that cannot read Mbox file, nor export/archive emails in Mbox format. Which isn’t very helpful when you are shifting to another email client. It creates a lot of fuss in trying to move your locally stored emails to the new email client, such as Mac Mail.

The only format that Outlook supports is Pst file, which is a proprietary file format by Microsoft and is native data file for Outlook, unlike Mbox, which is open and not exactly a native data file for any email client.

So, coming to the point, if you are using Outlook and switching to clients like Thunderbird, Mac Mail, Eudora, etc. and wants your data to be transferred, you are in trouble. Either manually transfer the data using IMAP account and then use a server as an intermediary, or convert the Pst files to Mbox.

File conversion makes the most sense. Because, on other hand, If you have ever performed email migration manually, you’d know the deal with it. If not, the list below will make it clear –

• It is multi-step process including creating a new account, adding it to both clients.
• It is lengthy and time-consuming, and if your internet connection is slow and database big, it will take countless hours to sync all that data through two times.
• The conversion is not accurate, most of the time. Broken strings of text, unrecognizable characters, broken images, loss of headers and meta-data, and other such defects.

You can use a third party software like “Pst Extractor Pro” to convert the files directly from Pst to Mbox. It’s a simple to use tool with a graphical-based user-interface. Most importantly, there is also a 24×7 customer support ready to assist you.

Download the free trial version here and follow the steps below.

The steps to conversion using “Pst Extractor Pro” are simple –

1. After installation, click on “Add Pst”, and select the Pst files for conversion.
2. You can see all the folders. Mark the folders for conversion.
3. Choose Output format as “Mbox file”
4. Specify the other options and preferences.
5. Click ‘convert’

Tutorial: http://www.uslsoftware.com/how-to/convert-pst-files-to-mbox-eml-rge-vcf-ics-file/

This way you can easily get your data transferred from Outlook to other email clients, even if Outlook doesn’t support Mbox file format.