A Simple .EML Email File Viewer

Screen image of Message Viewer Lite menus.

MessageViewer Lite is a simple .eml viewer with excellent email rendering abilities. MessageViewer Lite is capable of opening .eml files, Outlook .msg files and winmail.dat files.

Download a free trial of MessageViewer Lite .eml file viewer.

First, a bit of background.

Outlook Express (OE) is an email client that Microsoft distributed with its popular Microsoft Windows XP operating system. With XP still commanding about 40% of the desktop operating system market, Outlook Express remains an important email client for millions of people

Saving individual emails from Outlook Express produces a file with the .EML extension. .EML files are an open email format specified in RFC-822 and RFC-2822.  In a single file, they can contain the email message (text and html formatting), the message header,  message path information, time/date information, file attachments, and other bits and bobs of information.

When someone wants to share an email message and its attachments from OE they may save it as a .eml file and then attach it to another email message.  Sometimes, .eml files are attached to a customer record in customer relationship software to remain part of the contact history. If an email client capable of opening .eml  files is not present on the computer when someone tries to open the .eml file, then the user may see an error message.  Being unable to open a .eml file at the moment its needed can be frustrating and unproductive.

A .eml file viewer can make it easy to open .eml files, even if Outlook Express or another capable email client is not installed on the computer.  EML file viewers can be very light, with a small software footprint, unlike a full email client package. 

A closer look at MessageViewer Lite

 

Installing and using the MessageViewer Lite .EML Viewer

MessageViewer Lite can be set as a the Windows system default software for handling .eml and .msg files, allowing the user to open email files simply by clicking on them.  MesageViewer Lite allows you to have multiple windows open at once, a nice convenience if you need to capture bits of information from several emails.
MessageViewer Lite was designed to be simple to use, and therefor has few advanced features. With MessageViewer Lite, you can copy the text of an email, print the message, or save it as a text file.  Files attached to the email can be saved to disk simply by dragging the file out of the email and dropping it to your desktop.
 MessageViewer Lite is available for installation from an .MSI file, which is good news for system administrators who want to do a silient installation. A 15 day trial  can be downloaded free of charge from the MessageViewer Lite website. This is an overview of the installation process. When you start MessageViewer Lite Setup, a welcome screen starts to begin guiding you through the installation process.
Notice that as you install MessageViewer Lite, there is no advertising or special offers, or attempts to install software on your computer other than MessageViewer Lite. This is an advantage of using a commercial .eml viewer like MessageViewer Lite; they have no financial incentive to install unwanted ads or tracking software on your computer. Their only goal is to provide you with a good experience so that you’ll pay a few dollars and buy the software.
MessageViewer Lite .eml viewer setup wizard.
MessageViewer Lite installation welcome screen

Click next to continue

MessageViewer Lite email viewer is ready to install.
Ready to install.

MessageViewer Lite will quickly assess your computer and if everything is ok, it offers to continue the installation. The next step would be the acceptance of the End-User License Agreement, a standard requirement these days. Click “I accept” and then “Continue” to start the process.

End user license agreement.
MessageViewer Lite EULA.

The Installation Process begins. A status bar shows you the progress as MessageViewer Lite installs.

Installation process: "Installing MessageViewer Lite" email viewer.
Installing MessageViewer Lite.

When the installation process concludes, MessageViewer Lite will open with a welcome message.

Email viewer welcome message on startup.
Welcome Message.

Let’s take a look at the options in the  File menu drop down list.
Open lets you select and open an email file.
Close will close out MessageViewer Lite.
Print will allow you to print the email message.
Check file associations will allow you to reset MessageViewer Lite as .msg, or .eml Windows default.

The MessageViewer Lite File Menu. Options are Open, Close, Print, Check file associations or Exit.
File Menu.

The “View” drop down list has only one option. It allows you to toggle between Text and HTML/Rich Text email viewing. If you want MessageViewer Lite to always open emails in Texxt mode, the select this option. Below is a before/after snippet showing MessageViewer Lite in HTML mode, and the next image shows it in Text mode.

Show .eml files in html or plain text. Select your preferences.
MessageViewer Lite in HTML/Rich Text viewing mode

 

Plain text viewing mode for .eml files.
MessageViewer Lite in Plain text viewing mode

Let’s look at MessageViewer Lite’s Help drop down menu next.

Help drop down menu for MessageViewer Lite.
Help Drop Down Menu.

About – This will provide the version number of your software. It’s always helpful to know this if you ever need to contact the support team for help viewing .eml files.

Buy Now! – If you haven’t purchased a license for MessageViewer Lite, selecting this option will take you directly to the product purchase page.

Registration – Enter your product activation code here after purchasing.

Start Logging – This is included as a support function. If you should even run into any difficult, you can create a Log File that you can share with the support team. The log file will help them understand the issue.

Check update now – See if there is a newer version of MessageViewer Lite available.

Configure Update – Tells MessageViewer Lite how often to check for software updates.

Registering MessageViewer Lite

To register MessageViewer Lite, first obtain a product activation code. Next, go to Help>Registration and enter the code, then click Activate.
Registration screen to activate MessageViewer Lite email viewer.
Software activation screen.

After MessageViewer Lite is activated, you will see an option here to “Release License.” This allows you to uninstall the software, and then move it to a different computer, a helpful feature that allows you to keep using MessageViewer Lite even if you upgrade to a different computer.

MessageViewer Lite EML Viewer

MessageViewer Lite is a very easy to use and capable email viewer for .EML and Outlook .MSG files. We hope you have found this overview of the product to be useful.  Download a free trial of MessageViewer Lite and try it out yourself!

If you are looking for a fully featured .eml viewer/extractor/converter with search capabilities, then look at PstViewer Pro.

 

MessageViewer Lite 4.5 Is Released

Screen image of Message Viewer Lite menus.

MessageViewer Lite is an easy to use email viewer for .eml, .msg and .mht files. Designed to be a very simple way for non-technical users to click on an email and have it open, MessageViewer Lite has found favor with busy system administrators.  If you just want to click on an .eml and .msg file and have it accurately rendered each time, then MessageViewer Lite is for you.

MessageViewer Lite provides access to email file attachments, supports printing, is switchable between viewing in html or text. MessageViewer Lite is well known for its ability to display even the most complex Outlook email messages, such as those with embedded OLE objects, smartart, and embedded images. Hundreds of non-standard formatting exceptions have been culled from the wild and incorporated directly into MessageViewer Lite, making it probably the most accurate email rendering tools ever.

On the outside, MessageViewer Lite retains its clean and simple look in version 4.5, but under the hood are several important enhancements in the software’s email parsing engine and enhanced stability, making this a maintenance release recommended for all customers.

Image shows main screen of MessageViewer Lite .eml .msg file viewer
MessageViewer Lite .eml viewer, main screen.

Close up of MessageViewer Lite file menu.
File Menu

Below are some of the enhancements you’ll find in version 4.5.

– Fixed installer command line switch PIDKEY on Terminal Server
– Fixed printing in Plain Text mode on Windows 8
– Reduced installer size
– Assigning a default name for unnamed attachments
– Improved transport header parsing for EML files
– Fixed issue on Win8 64-bit that could cause app to lock
– MIME 1.0 parser enhanced according to RFC 2047: The 8-bit hexadecimal value 20 (e.g., ISO-8859-1 SPACE) may be represented as “_” (underscore, ASCII 95.)
– Fixed issue with displaying of MHT files
– EML parser: support for multiline attachment filenames
– EML parser: improved non-standard “Date” decoding
– EML parser: improved non-standard recipients list decoding
– Following user initiated links in messages
– Fixed: application hangs on opening a specific EML message

How to install MessageViewer Lite

Download a free trial of MessageViewer Lite 4.5 from the product’s home page. Click on the zip file to reveal the contents inside. You will see the files in the package listed as below.   Click on “MsgViewer Lite.exe” to start the software. You will then see a message from Windows stating that this software has been signed by the publisher, Encryptomatic LLC. If you do not see this notice from Windows, do not install the software, and contact the publisher for more information.

MessageViewer Lite Installation Files For Windows OS.
MessageViewer Lite installation package files

Running MsgViewerLite.exe will start the installer. A special note for System administrators: a .msg version of the installer is available, and you are invited to contact Encryptomatic LLC support to receive it.

Follow the prompts to complete the installation. It should only take a few minutes for everything to complete. The images below show the steps that will appear as the installer package runs.

MessageViewer Lite .eml viewer installer screen 1
MessageViewer Lite Installer

 

MessageViewer Lite .eml viewer licence agreement
MessageViewer Lite EULA
Select the folder where the .eml viewer should be installed on your Windows computer.
Select folder to install MessageViewer Lite
Install MessageViewer Lite .eml .msg file viewer.
Ready to Install MessageViewer Lite

 

Image shows .eml viewer installation process underway.
Installing MessageViewer Lite

 

Installation Completed Successfully.

 

Command line parameters

MessageViewer Lite also has some limited options for opening and printing .eml files from the command line. It’s also possible to set update policy with a command line switch.

Opening .eml an d.msg messages from the commandline

Usage:
MessageViewer.exe <filename>

Examples:
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg”
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg” -t

Printing .eml or .msg emails from Windows commandline

Usage:
/PRINT <filename> (or -p <filename>) – allows to print specified message to default printer.

Examples:
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg” -p
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg” /PRINT
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg” /PRINT /TEXT

Working with Plain text or Formatted text.

Usage:
/TEXT <filename> (or -t <filename>) – allows to work with plain text format for specified message;
/FORMATTED <filename> (or -f <filename>) – allows to work with formatted text for specified message. This option is set by default.

Examples:
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg” -p -t
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg” -p -f
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg” /PRINT /TEXT
MessageViewer.exe “c:my emailstest.msg” /PRINT /FORMATTED

Updating and update settings.

Usage:
UPDATE_POLICY=”Never” | “Ask” | “Auto”

Troubleshooting and logging.

Usage:
MessageViewer.exe -log
MsgViewerLite.exe – log MVLiteLOG.txt

Options for update policy:
· Never – Set ‘Do not check for updates automatically’ options in ‘Updates Options’ dialog;
· Ask – Set ‘Check and prompt me to download and install the updates’ options in ‘Updates Options’ dialog. This option is set by default;
· Auto – Set ‘Check and automatically download and install’ options in ‘Updates Options’ dialog..

Example:
msiexec /i MsgViewerLite-x.x.x.xxxx.msi UPDATE_POLICY=”Never”

Thanks for reading. If you have any difficult installing MessageViewer Lite, contact the support team for help.