OpenWithout

PST Viewer – Open a PST File Without Outlook (Free, No Upload)

By Tam Vu · Updated

A .pst file is an Outlook data file: a whole mailbox — folders, emails and attachments — saved as one file. People get one when they back up Outlook, leave a job, or inherit someone's old computer. Open yours below to browse it without Outlook.

What you can do with it

  • Browse every folder — Inbox, Sent Items, Archive and your own folders — with the number of emails in each.
  • Read any email as the sender formatted it, with sender, recipients and date. Pictures from the internet stay blocked until you allow them, and scripts in an email never run.
  • Search a folder by sender or subject.
  • Save as PDF: one email with its formatting (your browser's print window → Save as PDF), or tick several emails — or a whole folder — and download a ZIP with a PDF of each email and its attachments.
  • Keep attachments: download them one by one or all at once. An Outlook item attached inside an email opens with Open and can be saved as .eml.

Large files

The file is read a small piece at a time on your own computer, so a mailbox of several gigabytes opens without being uploaded or loaded into memory all at once. The first look at a big folder takes a few seconds while its list is read; after that, emails open quickly.

What it doesn't do (yet)

  • Calendar, contacts and tasks stored in the file are counted but not shown — this viewer shows email.
  • Damaged files: a .pst that was cut off during a copy or download can't be read. Copy it again, or repair it first with Outlook's free Inbox Repair Tool (ScanPST.exe).
  • It doesn't change your file or turn it back into a mailbox in another app — it is a viewer.

Where is my PST file?

  • Outlook on Windows: usually in Documents › Outlook Files. In Outlook: File › Account Settings › Data Files shows the exact location.
  • Offline mailbox (.ost): Outlook keeps a copy of Microsoft 365, Exchange and Outlook.com mailboxes at C:\Users\your-name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook. This viewer opens .ost files too.
  • Backups and old computers: search the drive for *.pst.

FAQ

Is my mailbox uploaded? No. The page reads the file inside your browser; nothing about it is sent anywhere. You can disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded and it still works.

Does it work on a Mac? Yes — in Safari, Chrome, Edge or Firefox. That makes it a simple way to read a Windows PST on a Mac without Outlook.

Why do PDFs in the ZIP look plainer than the email? To make hundreds of PDFs quickly, the ZIP keeps each email's header and text. For a PDF that looks exactly like the email, open it and click Save as PDF.

My file is from Outlook 2002 or older. Older (ANSI) PST files open too. Text in languages other than Western European may show odd characters in these old files.