Outlook Express folder viewer (DBX)
Outlook Express stopped shipping with Windows XP, but its mail did not go anywhere — it is on old disks, in backups, in folders kept just in case. Every mail folder lives in its own .dbx file, and today there is nothing to open one with: the program is gone and no current mail client understands the format. This tool reads such a file directly and turns the messages into formats modern mail programs accept. It also explains the case people trip over most: Folders.dbx is not a folder but the list of folders, and by the design of the format it holds no mail at all.
Drop a .dbx file — Inbox.dbx, "Sent Items.dbx" or any other. They usually sit in the user profile, under Microsoft\Outlook Express.
The list on the left carries subjects, senders and dates; on the right is the source of the selected message with all of its headers.
EML opens on a double click in almost any mail program, and mbox is imported by Thunderbird, Apple Mail and Gmail.
