Converting from Eudora to Outlook

Microsoft Outlook supports importing from Eudora Pro or Light versions 2, 3, and 4. If you use Eudora 5 or above, you may need to convert the mailbox files using Thunderbird before importing. Users report that they have successfully convert Eudora 7 without using Thunderbird.

Also, if you import from Eudora directly to Microsoft Outlook you may end up with two issues:

1. The Send and Receive dates show the date of the import, not the actual date the message was sent.
2. The email messages may contain odd html tags. It’s readable, but ugly.

To avoid problems, you can do one of two things: import from Eudora to Thunderbird then to Outlook or invest in a tool that will make the conversion for you in one step. The conversion utilities will import both email and address books. If “time is money” using a utility can be cost-effective. We have a long list of conversion utilities below, many of which will convert from Eudora to Microsoft Outlook.

Locate Eudora’s Files

In order for Outlook to successfully import your Eudora mailboxes and address book(s), the files need to be in the folder where it’s Import wizard is going to look: C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora folder. If you store your mailboxes, address book, etc. in another location, you need to copy the files to C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora before you begin the import process to Outlook.

The files you need in this folder path are:
*.mbx – mailbox files
*.toc – table of contents files
nndbase.txt – nickname file
*.fol folders – Eudora folders containing mailboxes
Nickname folder (if it is not empty)
Attach folder (if it is not empty)
descmap.pce – keeps track of your mailbox and folder list

If you are not going to import all of your Eudora mailboxes and folders, open the copied “descmap.pce” file with Notepad and remove any mailbox and folder names that you are not going to import. If you don’t do this, you will receive an Import Error (The mail folder could not be opened. If another application is using this file, please close it and try again).

Import from Microsoft Outlook

Empty Eudora’s Trash mailbox.

In Microsoft Outlook, go the File, Import and Export menu. (In Microsoft Outlook 2010, its File, Open, Import).

1. Select Import Internet Mail and Addresses. Click Next.
2. Select Eudora Pro or Light from the (short) list of programs Outlook can import from.
3. If you don’t want to import both Mail and Contacts, remove the check from the appropriate box. Click Next.
4. Choose how to handle duplicates. We recommend using the default of Allow duplicates to be created.
5. Click Finish then browse for the Eudora mail folder to finish the import.

Tips for Eudora Users

If you use IMAP, Outlook will sync with the server, so there is no need to Import.

If you leave POP3 mail on the server, Outlook will redownload it again, causing duplicates with the copies that were imported. You have several options:

• Move the mail out of the Inbox on the server (POP3 only downloads the Inbox) or delete it from the server before Outlook downloads mail from the server.
• If you don’t have rules configured to move messages out of Outlook’s Inbox, create a new folder in Outlook and move the old mail to it. (Select All using Ctrl+A and use the Move to folder command or drag the mail.) Delete the older mail you downloaded then move the imported mail back to the Inbox.
• If some time has passed between the Import and the redownloading, you can sort by the Modified field to delete newly downloaded messages. Instructions are at Manually Remove Duplicates from Outlook
• Create a Rule to categorize all mail you download. Remove the category from mail that is not duplicated then group by category and delete the duplicates.
• Use a duplicate remover tool.

Attachment Handling

Outlook keeps attachments attached to the message, unlike Eudora, where attachments are moved to a folder. Outlook blocks certain files types that are potentially dangerous. If Outlook has blocked attachments (or shortcuts to the attachments, create by Eudora), retrieve them from the Eudora attachment folder.

Use Thunderbird to convert Eudora email

To use Thunderbird to convert your Eudora email, follow these steps:

1. Download and install Thunderbird from mozilla messaging
2. Run the import from the tools menu (only do mail, not the settings or the address book)
3. After it completes, quit Thunderbird. Now locate the converted mail files. If you use Windows XP, they should be in: “C:\Documents and Settings\youraccount\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\something.default\Mail\Local Folders\”
4. Ignore the .msf files. Your mail files are the files without extensions.

Outlook can’t import from Thunderbird so you will need to rename the Thunderbird files and and put them mail files into Eudora’s mail folders. After you do that, open Eudora once to register the files as mailboxes, then you will be able to import them using Outlook’s Import wizard.

1. Locate your Eudora data folder.
2. Sort the files by type and move out all the .mbx and .toc files (mailboxes and table of content files). Move, don’t delete them.
3. In the Thunderbird folder, add the .mbx to the mail file names (In is now In.mbx).
4. Move these mail files into the Eudora data folder.
5. Run Eudora. Don’t check for new mail or do anything else, just open it then quit.
6. Run Outlook and do an import of Eudora including the address book.

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