Use VBA to open Outlook messages stored in the file system

An Outlook user posted a question in Outlook Forums:

I need to open Outlook messages stored in a specific folder, and then get the attachments from those Outlook items.

You can do this. You need to use Windows Scripting Host and Outlook's Application.CreateItemFromTemplate to open the messages. Once open, you can save the attachments or do whatever you need to do to the message.

To use this macro, paste the macro in a module, then set a reference to Microsoft Scripting Runtime in the VB Editor's Tools, References dialog box.

You'll need to enter the folder path where the MSG files are stored to the GetMSG macro. The folder where you want to save the attachments is stored in strFolderpath in the ListFilesInFolder macro.

Click in GetMSG and press F5 or Run to use the macro.

This code is not Outlook-specific (except for the code between the two Set openMsg lines) and can be used with Word or Excel.

Sub GetMSG()
' True includes subfolders
' False to check only listed folder
   ListFilesInFolder "E:\My Documents\", True
End Sub

Sub ListFilesInFolder(SourceFolderName As String, IncludeSubfolders As Boolean)
    Dim FSO As Scripting.FileSystemObject
    Dim SourceFolder As Scripting.Folder, SubFolder As Scripting.Folder
    Dim FileItem As Scripting.File
    Dim strFile, strFileType, strAttach As String
    Dim openMsg As MailItem

Dim objAttachments As Outlook.Attachments
Dim i As Long
Dim lngCount As Long
Dim strFolderpath As String

'where to save attachments
strFolderpath = "E:\My Documents\attachments\"
    
    Set FSO = New Scripting.FileSystemObject
    Set SourceFolder = FSO.GetFolder(SourceFolderName)
    
    For Each FileItem In SourceFolder.Files
    
    strFile = FileItem.name
      
' This code looks at the last 4 characters in a filename
' If we wanted more than .msg, we'd use Case Select statement
strFileType = LCase$(Right$(strFile, 4))
  If strFileType = ".msg" Then
    Debug.Print FileItem.Path
    
Set openMsg = Application.CreateItemFromTemplate(FileItem.Path)
openMsg.Display
    'do whatever
    
Set objAttachments = openMsg.Attachments
    lngCount = objAttachments.count
         
    If lngCount > 0 Then
     
    For i = lngCount To 1 Step -1
     
    ' Get the file name.
    strAttach = objAttachments.Item(i).FileName
     
    ' Combine with the path to the Temp folder.
    strAttach = strFolderpath & strAttach
     
    ' Save the attachment as a file.
    objAttachments.Item(i).SaveAsFile strAttach
     
    Next i
    End If
  openMsg.Close olDiscard
  
Set objAttachments = Nothing
Set openMsg = Nothing

' end do whatever
      End If
    Next FileItem
    If IncludeSubfolders Then
        For Each SubFolder In SourceFolder.SubFolders
            ListFilesInFolder SubFolder.Path, True
      Next SubFolder
    End If
    
    Set FileItem = Nothing
    Set SourceFolder = Nothing
    Set FSO = Nothing
     
End Sub

How to use the macro

First: You will need macro security set to low during testing.

To check your macro security in Outlook 2010 or 2013, go to File, Options, Trust Center and open Trust Center Settings, and change the Macro Settings. In Outlook 2007 and older, it’s at Tools, Macro Security.

After you test the macro and see that it works, you can either leave macro security set to low or sign the macro.

Open the VBA Editor by pressing Alt+F11 on your keyboard.

To put the code in a module:

1. Right click on Project1 and choose Insert > Module
2. Copy and paste the macro into the new module.

More information as well as screenshots are at How to use the VBA Editor