How to Create a .EML Email File Using Only a Text Editor

Creating a .EML (Electronic Mail) file using a text editor is easy! It involves crafting a plain text document that adheres to the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) format, which is the standard for email messages. Here’s a basic guide to help you create a simple .EML file:

  1. Open a Text Editor:
    • Use a plain text editor such as Notepad (Windows), TextEdit (Mac), or any code editor of your choice.
  2. Compose the Header:
    • Begin with the email header, which includes details like sender, recipient, subject, and date. The format is key-value pairs separated by a colon.
To: recipient@example.com
From: sender@example.com
Subject: Your Subject
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Note: Ensure each header line ends with a carriage return and line feed (\r\n).

Add a Blank Line:

  • Insert a blank line after the headers to separate them from the body. Line breaks are important.

Compose the Body:

  • Write the email body. You can include plain text or use HTML for formatting.
To: recipient@example.com
From: sender@example.com
Subject: Your Subject
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Hello,

This is the body of your email.

Best regards,
Your Name

Now you have a basic .EML file that can be opened by email clients supporting the .EML format. Your operating system may recognize it as an email file and display it with an email envelope. Clicking on the file will cause it to open in the operating system’s default email application.

Keep in mind that more complex emails with attachments or advanced formatting may require additional MIME elements.

Remember that .EML files are essentially plain text, and while you can create them manually, it’s often more convenient to use email clients or specialized tools for composing emails, especially if attachments or complex formatting are involved.

Email Viewing Software

For information on Windows software for viewing, converting and indexing email files, including EML, MSG, MBOX, OST, PST files, visit our website where you can read more and download a free trial.

Converting HTML Formatted .EML Email Files To .PNG, Other Image Formats

email conversion softwre.

How to Archive .EML Emails as PNG Image Files

Files with the .eml extension are RFC-822 formatted email messages. EML Viewer Pro is a tool for managing eml files, and converting them to different formats, including image files like PNG, GIF, TIF and BMP. 


Today’s tutorial will show you how to use EML Viewer Pro to convert a html email message into a PNG file.  Download and install the 15 day free trial of EML Viewer Pro so you can follow along.

Download Eml Viewer for email.




EML Viewer Pro can display your .eml and .msg email files in a list.  It’s easy to scroll through this list and browse your emails. You can also search your emails and display those that meet your specified criteria, such as a date range, from a certain sender, or emails that match a search query.

In our example, I have a html formatted .eml file that contains an advertisement from a computer sales company. Selecting the message from EML Viewer Pro’s message list causes the email to display.

Main menu view of EML Viewer Pro software
HTML formatted .eml file displayed in EML Viewer Pro


To export this message to PNG format, I simply select the PNG export file from the drop down list in the toolbar. It is possible to select many .eml files for conversion (type Ctrol-A to select all emails in the list).  To start the export operation from eml to png, I click the export button.

How to export eml file to PNG with EML Viewer Pro. Menu image.
Choose the PNG export profile and click the Export Button

The export button is the green down arrow that points to a yellow stack of paper (I drew a red arrow pointing to it in the above image).

The export operation will begin, and the email is formatted into a png file. The size of the png image file will vary with the length of the email.  In this example, you can see that the resulting PNG is quite long.  EML Viewer Pro has preserved the images and html formatting. The email header information is included in the top of the image.

Example of .EML email file that has been converted to a PNG image
EML file converted to PNG

Converting EML email files to PNG or other images are a good way to preserve emails for sharing or archiving. Because many html formatted emails have images that are hosted remotely, the contents of the email are not downloaded until the email is displayed. Saving the html email as a png file preserves a copy of the original message, and is not dependent upon the availability of a remote server.


EML Viewer Pro is a versatile tool that helps you transform your emails into many different formats. In addition to PNG, you can also format emails to pdf, csv (Excel), html, mhtml, and others. Download a free trial today and see what EML Viewer Pro can do for you.