PST to PDF: Outlook .pst and .ost files, with attachments
Drop a .pst or .ost file. Every email becomes its own searchable PDF with its attachments, in a ZIP that keeps the folders, with an Excel index. It runs in this tab: the file is never uploaded. Free for up to 20 emails per run.Each email in a .pst or .ost becomes a PDF with its attachments, in a ZIP that keeps the folders. Free for 20 emails per run. Nothing is uploaded.
- Never leaves your device
- No Outlook needed
- Folders kept
Converter
Drop your .pst or .ost file hereConvert a .pst or .ost fileDrop more emails or folders hereAdd more email files
or
Single emails (.msg, .eml, .emlx) or whole mailboxes (.pst, .ost, .mbox). Folders are searched, subfolders too. No emails at hand? See a sample PDF. Only want to read one? Open it in the email viewer.
Choosing a folder: your browser asks whether to “upload” it. That is its standard wording for letting this page read the files; they stay in this tab. Dragging the folder here asks nothing.
Your emails never leave your device. They are read and turned into PDFs inside this browser tab, and remote images and tracking pixels are never loaded. How to check
Enter your licence key
This browser holds a licence key, but Polar hasn’t confirmed it for over 30 days (it couldn’t be reached), so the free limit applies for now.
No limit on emails per run in this browser.
Frees this browser’s activation at Polar (a key works in 3 browsers at a time) and removes the key from this browser.
Reading your emails…
PDF options
Use YYYY MM DD HHMM From FromEmail To Subject Original Index; anything else is kept as typed.
Single PDFs: use the PDF buttons in the list. Files stay in this tab until you close or reload it.
Emails
| Convert | Date | From | Subject | Attachments | Status |
|---|
What happens to your .pst
Its folders are read here
The .pst or .ost file is read in small pieces inside this tab, never uploaded and never loaded whole. Every email is listed with its date, sender, subject, attachments and the folder it sits in. A 2.1 GB .pst with 33,422 emails was listed in 24 seconds in Chrome on a MacBook.
You choose
All emails start ticked. Pick a folder in the Folder list above the emails to show its emails first: Select all and Select none then act on that folder alone, and Select only this folder ticks that folder alone. The free version converts the first 20 ticked emails in the list, oldest first (a folder you pick comes first). Calendar appointments are listed after the emails, unticked: tick the ones you want. Contacts, tasks and notes are not emails: the page counts them instead of listing them.
You get a ZIP
One PDF per email in
PDFs/<.pst name>/<folder>/, named by date, sender and subject, with the original attachment files next to each PDF andEmail index.xlsxlisting every email with its folder.
What’s in each PDF
The email, as text you can search
- The header: From, Sent (with its UTC offset), To, Cc, Bcc and a table of the attachments saying where each one is in the PDF.
- The message: HTML or plain text, laid out as real text; a rich-text (RTF) message is shown as plain text, without its formatting. Remote images and tracking pixels are never loaded.
- Meeting requests and calendar appointments: when and where, in a box under the header (the subject and the people are in the header).
The attachments
- PDFs and pictures become pages after the email.
- Emails attached to emails are shown as messages with their own attachments, and saved in the ZIP as .msg files.
- Everything else (Word, Excel, ZIP…) is embedded in the PDF and saved next to it in the ZIP.
Why not just use Outlook?
Because you may not have the Outlook that opens it. As of October 2026, Microsoft’s support page says the new Outlook for Windows opens a .pst only when classic Outlook is also installed, in the same 32- or 64-bit version, and when the account has a Microsoft 365 subscription; on ARM PCs it can’t open one at all. Microsoft plans to drop the classic Outlook requirement and add a bulk import, and adds: “After that we have no further investments planned.”
Turning many emails into PDFs is slow there too. In the new Outlook, the Acrobat add-in converts one email at a time (Adobe Community, July 2025), and Acrobat itself can’t open a .pst (Adobe Community, October 2026). This page needs no Outlook, no Microsoft 365 and no install: it runs in the browser. It was tested in Chrome and in WebKit (the engine Safari uses) on a Mac; Windows, Chromebooks and Linux use the same browsers but were not tried with mailbox files yet.
Where is my .pst?
Microsoft’s help gives the default places on Windows: Documents\Outlook Files for Outlook 2016 and newer, and AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook in your user folder for earlier versions. Copy the .pst to the computer you are using; the page only reads it. An .ost file is Outlook’s offline copy of a mailbox: it holds only the mail that was downloaded to that PC.
Limits, honestly
What it reads
- .pst files of today’s kind (Outlook 2003 and newer) with Outlook’s usual “compressible” encryption: 13 public test files, 43,247 items, up to 2.1 GB, read item by item the same as two other .pst readers read them: readpst on every email, libpff on the 28,606 items it can open. Older .pst files (Outlook 97–2002) were tried only on two small files (a contact and an appointment), and the “high” encryption setting only on copies we re-encoded ourselves: no file made that way by Outlook was available.
- .ost files made by Outlook 2013 and newer: 4 small test files (up to 17 MB, none encrypted).
- Calendar appointments are listed after the emails, unticked, and counted apart (a calendar can hold hundreds of entries, such as holidays); each one you tick is converted and counts like an email. Meeting requests are emails.
- Tested sizes: a 2.1 GB .pst with 33,422 emails, listed in 24 seconds in Chrome and 25 in WebKit (the engine Safari uses) on a MacBook, the tab using about 0.65 to 0.75 GB in Chrome and 0.65 to 0.92 GB in WebKit while listing and converting the free 20 (several runs). Converting all 33,422 took WebKit 19 minutes, with the tab using up to 2.3 GB; all 7,289 emails of a 189 MB .pst took Chrome about 2.5 minutes. Bigger files are read the same way but were not tested (Outlook allows up to 50 GB). Phones and tablets were not tested with archives.
- Deleted items are converted only if they are still in a folder, such as Deleted Items; nothing is recovered.
What it doesn’t do
- Password-protected .pst files are not opened yet: the page says so. Remove the password in classic Outlook first.
- Files encrypted with Windows Information Protection are refused.
- Contacts, distribution lists, tasks, notes and journal entries are not converted; the page and the Excel index count them.
- Not tried yet: S/MIME-encrypted or rights-protected emails inside a .pst (in .msg files they show only their header).
- Damaged files: what can be read is converted; a damaged email is listed as such, and a damaged folder is named with how many items it held. A file cut short (a copy that stopped part of the way) is reported as incomplete. Nothing is repaired.
- An email attached to an email is saved as a .msg file rebuilt from the .pst. This tool reads it back the same (checked on 14,763 emails of our test files); it was not yet opened in Outlook.
- It makes PDFs: it does not turn an .ost into a .pst or change your file. Free: 20 emails per run; the full licence ($39 once) has no limit.
PST to PDF questions
How do I convert a PST file to PDF?
Drop the .pst file on this page or choose it with the button. The page reads its folders in your browser and lists every email; untick what you don't need and press Convert. You get one PDF per email, with its attachments, in a ZIP that keeps the .pst's folders, plus an Excel index.
Can I convert a PST to PDF without Outlook?
Yes. This page reads the .pst file itself, in the browser with no install, so Outlook is not needed at any step. It was tested in Chrome and in WebKit (the engine Safari uses) on a Mac; Windows, Chromebooks and Linux use the same browsers but were not tried with mailbox files yet.
Are the attachments kept?
Yes. PDF attachments become pages after the email, pictures get their own pages, an email attached to an email is shown as a message with its own attachments, and every other file is embedded in the PDF and, by default, saved next to it in the ZIP.
Is my PST uploaded? Is this safe?
Nothing is uploaded: the file is read inside this browser tab and never leaves your device. The page's security policy lets it connect to one outside address only, Polar's licence-key check, used only when a licence key is involved (when you open the page with a key stored, or enter, re-check or free one); it sends the key, never your emails. Once the page says the converter is loaded, you can turn off Wi-Fi and it still works.
Does the new Outlook open PST files?
As of October 2026, Microsoft's support page says the new Outlook for Windows opens a .pst only when classic Outlook is also installed and the account has a Microsoft 365 subscription, and not at all on ARM PCs. This page needs neither.
Can I convert an OST file? Can it make a PST?
It converts .ost files made by Outlook 2013 and newer to PDFs, the same way as a .pst. It does not turn an .ost into a .pst. An .ost is an offline copy, so it holds only the mail that was downloaded to that computer.
My PST has a password. Can I still convert it?
Not yet: password-protected .pst files are not opened, and the page tells you so. If you can open the file in classic Outlook, remove the password there, then drop the file here again.
Are contacts, calendars and tasks converted?
Emails and meeting requests are converted. Calendar appointments are listed too, after the emails and unticked, because a calendar can hold hundreds of entries (such as holidays): tick the ones you want and they are converted like emails. Contacts, distribution lists, tasks, notes and journal entries are not converted; the page counts them so you know what was left out, and so does the Summary sheet of the Excel index.
How big a PST can it handle?
It was tested with a 2.1 GB .pst holding 33,422 emails: Chrome on a MacBook listed them in 24 seconds and converted 20 in 3 seconds. Bigger files are read the same way, in small pieces, but were not tested; Outlook allows up to 50 GB. Converting takes longer than listing: about 20 to 35 seconds per 1,000 typical emails in our tests (all 7,289 emails of a 189 MB .pst in about 2.5 minutes in Chrome; all 33,422 of the 2.1 GB one in 19 minutes in WebKit).
Does it work on a Mac or a Chromebook?
It runs in the browser, so it needs no install on any computer. It was tested in Chrome and in WebKit, the engine Safari uses, on a Mac; Windows, Chromebooks, Linux and Firefox were not tried with mailbox files yet.
Can I use the PDFs for a records request or in court?
You get one named PDF per email and an Excel index with dates, senders, folders and Message-IDs, which helps when you hand over or review emails. There are no Bates numbers and no redaction, so check the rules you work under.