Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook are popular Email client application available for Windows desktop users. Though Outlook is also available for Mac systems, but it’s quite different than its Windows version. Outlook Express is a discontinued email client available only for a few Windows versions. On the other hand, Microsoft Outlook is available in MS Office suite as well as a separate application. As compared to Outlook Express, Outlook client is highly popular among desktop users. Though some home individuals and old organizations are still using Outlook Express.

Email Migration | Email Conversion 

Sometimes users may confront a situation when they need to convert their email files. Email migration and email conversion are two different actions what an email users should aware of. Email migration is a process in which you migrate email files from one email client to another. It would be so easy only when both the email clients support the same file format into which you’re having your email messages and other data. If both email clients support different file format, email migration becomes challenging. In such situation, you need to perform email conversion, a process in which you convert email files into other formats.

Migrate from Outlook Express to Outlook

As Outlook Express is old email client and provides less features than Outlook, email users can switch their email clients from Outlook Express to Outlook. You can also consider this scenario: you were using Outlook Express in your previous organization. But now you’ve switched your job. In your new organization, you need to use Microsoft Outlook client. That would be so easy, you can simply install MS Outlook on your system and configure your email account on it. But if you want to use your old mailbox which was stored in DBX folders, how would you do that? Outlook Express stores email messages in DBX files, but Outlook doesn’t support this format. It can only open a PST aka personal storage table and MSG files. Therefore, you must convert DBX to PST format.

DBX to PST Conversion 

There are two different ways by which you can do DBX to PST conversion. First is the manual trick that requires no paid software. And, second is the professional DBX to PST Converter software. Let me be honest here, the manual trick doesn’t convert DBX to PST format. It can only help you import email messages from DBX folders to MS Outlook client. Outlook Express doesn’t provide you any Export feature to export email messages to Outlook client. Though Outlook has a built-in Import and Export feature, but it doesn’t support Outlook Express. To import email messages from Outlook Express to Outlook client, you’ll require Windows Live Mail, an email client application provided by Microsoft.

Windows Live Mail has both Import and Export features which help users import email messages from Outlook Express and export them to Outlook client. With the help of Window Live Mail, first you can import email messages from DBX folders of Outlook Express. After that, you can export email messages to Microsoft Outlook client.

DBX files are hidden folders on your Windows system by default. Before you can try this out, you must have DBX folders on your system. Once you locate them, copy them into a different location. As now you have the DBX folders on your system, you can start the process of importing email messages to Windows Live Mail.

Import Emails to Windows Live Mail 

Note: If you don’t have Windows Live Mail on your system, go and download it. It’s absolutely free.

Step 1: Launch Windows Live Mail application on your system. Press Windows Start button on your desktop screen, click All Programs > Windows Live Mail.

Step 2: Within a blink of an eye, you’re on Windows Live Mail application. On its main menu, click File tab > Import messages.

Step 3: You can see a short Windows Live Mail Import window on your screen. Select Microsoft Outlook Express 6 > in the options, and click Next.

Step 4: Now you need to define the location of email messages. For that, click Browse and go to the location where DBX folders are stored. Click OK.

Step 5: This time you need to define what you want to export, either All folders or you can select particular folders one by one. Click Next to start importing email messages from selected DBX folder(s).

This will take a couple of minutes or may be several minutes if there are large number of email messages.

Once the process gets successfully completed, you receive “Import Complete“ message.

Export Emails to Outlook 

This process will import email messages from DBX folders to Windows Live Mail. Now you can export them to Microsoft Outlook client by using Windows Live Mail’s Export feature. As you’re still on Windows Live Mail, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Again on its main menu, click File tab > Export email > Email messages.

Step 2: You can see a short Windows Live Mail Export window on your screen. Select Microsoft Exchange in the options, and click Next.

Right after you click next, you’ll receive this message: “This will export messages from Windows Live Mail to Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Exchange”. Click OK to confirm the action.

Step 3: Now select the mailbox folders you want to export to Microsoft Outlook. You can either select All folders or particular folders one by one. Click OK to start exporting email messages to Outlook.

This will take a couple of minutes or may be several minutes if there are large number of email messages.

Once the process gets successfully completed, you receive “Export Complete“ message.

There are two situations where I don’t recommend this trick:

• If you’re having thousands of email messages in DBX folders and having many DBX files, it may become a time-consuming task for users.
• The above manual trick doesn’t work with corrupt DBX files. This means if your DBX files are corrupt, you can’t use this trick until you repair DBX files.

Professional DBX to PST Converter 

Unlike manual trick, a professional DBX to PST Converter utility provides you excellent results in just no time. It doesn’t matter how many email messages are there in your DBX folders, i.e. hundreds to thousands, this tool just takes a few mouse clicks and little patience. Without causing even a single bit of data, it can execute the entire conversion process in a very safe mode. You can select single as well as multiple DBX files at the same time to perform batch conversion. Must download its demo version for free evaluation. Via demo version, you can save first 25 email messages of each selected DBX files into new PST file(s).