Email Export for Open Records Requests

Email export is useful for many reasons, not the least of which is Open Records Requests. For more information regarding Open Records Requests and UT Austin compliance rules, see https://financials.utexas.edu/resources/open-records-requests

This wiki covers saving as a text file from the Outlook for Windows application and PDFs from the Apple Mail application. 


Saving email to a single text file from Outlook on Windows

There are several ways to save or export email out of Outlook for Windows.  The most supported format is simply a single text file, although there are other options including individual texts files for each email in an Outlook mailbox folder or a single .pst file that then can be imported into other email applications.  

For the simplest single text file, if the number of emails are limited to a few criteria, highlight those emails and go to the File Menu and choose Save As and save the format as Text Only. A single text document will be created that will contain all the emails you selected. Do this for Inbox, Sent or any mailbox folders that might apply.


If the date range is specific or large, search for it in the search field at the top of your Inbox, Sent or other other folders using this format: Ex: 6/1/2018 .. 6/15/2018

Note: The two periods between the date range are important.

Once the search has returned results, highlight those emails and follow the Save As instructions above.

You may choose to do an advanced search on a certain date range depending on the request and the level of folder organization you have. In Outlook, go to the Folder menu and choose New Search Folder.


Scroll down and choose Create a custom Search Folder. Click on Choose to provide custom criteria.

Give your search criteria folder a name and click on Criteria..

In the windows that opens, choose the Advanced tab and select the Field type for Date/Type fields. From that list, choose Received.

Further customize the date Received field by choosing between and specifying a date range following this example format: 6/1/2018 and 6/15/2018

Click Add to list. Select OK and get back out to your Outlook interface. Your new search folder should appear in your folders list. You can then select the emails within and save following the method above.

Export email to PDF in Apple Mail

Apple Mail allows you to export individual emails as PDF files or as .mbox mailbox folders for import into other email programs.


In general terms, highlight the email(s) you want to save to a file, and go to the File menu and choose Export as PDF...


If the date range is specific or large, create a New Smart Mailbox by choosing that option from the Mailbox menu.

Give your Smart Mailbox a name and set the conditions to Date received and is in the date range, then specify the date range. Include the check boxes for Trash and Sent if they those apply to your needs.

Look for your newly created Smart Mailbox in your list of email folders. Highlight the contents and follow the Export as PDF... selection from the File menu as above.