How to Export Emails from Proton Mail with the Export Tool

If you want to export emails from Proton Mail, for a backup, a lawyer, a migration, or just to own your archive, Proton documents two tools. The Proton Mail Export Tool downloads every message as an EML file plus a JSON metadata file. Proton Mail Bridge, available on paid plans, turns your account into a local IMAP server that Thunderbird, Apple Mail or Outlook can read like any other mailbox.

This guide walks both, notes what does not survive the trip, and keeps the order that matters: tool first, checklist after. It is a portability guide, not a pitch to leave Proton. If Proton works for you, take the backup and stay.

• Want a one-off backup of everything? Use the Export Tool.
• Want to keep reading and searching the mailbox in a desktop client? Use Bridge (paid Proton plan).
• Need MBOX specifically? Proton's own format guide says its tools can export EML or MBOX, but the Export Tool's article describes EML and JSON only. The dependable route is Bridge plus Thunderbird, or converting the EML files (see the note below).

Proton Mail Export Tool: download and use it#

Despite the name, the Export Tool is a command-line app, not a window with buttons. You download it from Proton's Export Tool support page, extract the archive, and run proton-mail-export-cli. Proton lists these minimum systems: Windows 10, macOS 10.15 on Intel or macOS 11.0 on Apple Silicon, and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Proton says the tool is available for everyone, and it only exports Proton Mail email, not Calendar, Drive or Pass.

Download it only from Proton's own support page. The tool decrypts your mail on your device, so a build from a third-party mirror is not worth the risk.

1. 1

   Download the tool for your system

   Open the Proton Mail Export Tool article in Proton Support and click the download button for Windows, macOS or Linux.

2. 2

   Extract the archive

   When the download finishes, extract it to a folder of your choice, then open that folder.

3. 3

   Launch proton-mail-export-cli

   Double-click proton-mail-export-cli. On Linux, open a terminal in that folder and run ./proton-mail-export-cli. A terminal window opens and prompts you.

4. 4

   Log in

   Enter your Proton username and password. If you use two-factor authentication, or two-password mode, the tool also asks for your 2FA code or mailbox password.

5. 5

   Choose backup

   The tool asks whether you want to back up or restore. Choose backup (B). Restore (R) is for putting a previous backup back, not for this task.

6. 6

   Pick the destination folder

   Choose where the files go. By default the tool creates a folder named after your username. Use a local drive with plenty of free space, not a network share and not a folder that a consumer cloud service syncs.

7. 7

   Wait for Export finished

   A progress bar runs until the tool reports that the export is finished. Proton says it can take from a few minutes to a few hours on larger inboxes and slow connections, and it cannot be paused and resumed later. Plan for one long run: keep the laptop plugged in and awake, and use a stable connection.

What actually moves, and what doesn't#

Proton stores mail encrypted with keys protected by your password, and no export format can carry that encryption into a foreign client. Proton's format guide says exported emails are decrypted so you can open them in other clients. What lands on your disk is readable mail, which is deliberate: a locked archive you cannot open on a new laptop is not a backup.

What comes out cleanly:

• Every message body, decrypted, as EML, the plain format Thunderbird, Outlook and Apple Mail all read.
• Attachments, embedded inside the EML files.
• Standard headers: From, To, Cc, Subject, Date, Message-ID, References, In-Reply-To.
• A JSON file per message with Proton-side metadata, useful if you ever rebuild an archive.

What does not move, or moves with an asterisk:

• End-to-end encryption at rest. The exported files are readable. Encrypt the export folder yourself with full-disk encryption or an encrypted container.
• Proton-specific features such as filters, label colours and expired self-destructing messages. They are not part of the EML format, so check your destination before you rely on them.
• Contacts and calendar. The Export Tool exports mail only. Export contacts and Proton Calendar separately from their own settings.
• Messages Proton cannot decrypt. Proton's Export Tool page does not say how these are handled, so open a few old messages in the destination and check before you delete anything.

Method 2: Proton Mail Bridge into a local client#

Bridge is the right choice when you want the archive to stay live. It runs as a small background app on your Mac, Windows or Linux machine, creates a local IMAP and SMTP server on 127.0.0.1, and gives you a separate password for your desktop client. To the client it looks like an ordinary IMAP account; underneath, Bridge decrypts on the way in and encrypts on the way out. Proton says Bridge is for paid Proton Mail plans.

A mail client such as Thunderbird can then download every message to a local profile, keep syncing new mail as it arrives, and let you read it without opening Proton. For a longer walk-through, see our Proton Mail Bridge setup guide.

1. 1

   Install Proton Mail Bridge

   Download Bridge from proton.me/mail/bridge for your system and install it. Sign in with your Proton account and complete 2FA. Bridge does an initial sync in the background, which can take a while on a big mailbox.

2. 2

   Copy the Bridge-generated password

   In Bridge, open your account and reveal the IMAP and SMTP settings. Bridge shows a unique password that is not your Proton login password, and it only works against the local Bridge server on your machine.

3. 3

   Add the account in Thunderbird, Apple Mail or Outlook

   Create a new IMAP account. Server = 127.0.0.1, with the ports and security exactly as Bridge lists them. Username = your Proton address, password = the Bridge-generated one.

4. 4

   Let the client download everything

   Set the account to sync all folders, not just the inbox. In Thunderbird, right-click the account, choose Subscribe, and tick every folder. Leave the client running until the first download finishes.

5. 5

   Back up the client profile

   Once the download is complete, back up the client's mail profile folder, for example Thunderbird's profile or Apple Mail's Mail folder. That folder is your portable archive from here on.

What breaks in the export: compatibility table#

Both paths preserve the important things and lose a handful of Proton-specific ones. Check the column for the tool you are using before you commit to it.

Pre-export checklist#

Ten minutes of preparation saves an evening of re-runs. Do this before you start the tool, since you cannot pause it once it is running.

• Know your Proton plan. Proton says the Export Tool is available for everyone. Bridge needs a paid plan that includes Proton Mail.
• Have your mailbox password ready if you use two-password mode, and your authenticator open if you use 2FA.
• Check disk space. Decrypted mail with attachments takes more room than you expect, so free up generous headroom on the destination drive.
• Pick a destination outside any consumer cloud-sync folder, so a half-finished export does not upload while it is being written.
• Plug the laptop in and turn off sleep for the duration. A dropped connection means starting that run again.

If the export stops partway#

Neither path changes anything inside your Proton account. The Export Tool only reads, and Bridge only proxies, so there is nothing destructive to undo.

• If the Export Tool failed partway through, delete the incomplete export folder and run it again from the top. Do not merge two half-runs by hand.
• If Bridge got stuck in its first sync, quit it and sign in again. Proton's mailbox is untouched either way.
• If a desktop client shows duplicates or missing folders, remove the account from the client rather than the mail folder, then re-add it with the Bridge credentials so IMAP re-downloads the correct state.

Check the export before you trust it#

A backup you have never opened is a hope, not a backup. Spend five minutes on this before you close the terminal window or delete anything on the server.

• Open the destination folder and confirm it holds EML and JSON files, not an empty directory.
• Open an old message, a recent one and one with a large attachment in Thunderbird, Apple Mail or Outlook. Check that the attachment opens.
• Compare a rough message count: the number of files should be in the same range as your Proton mailbox, allowing for folders like spam and trash that you may not care about.
• Copy the folder to a second drive or encrypted storage. One copy on one laptop is not a backup either.

Doing it without downtime#

If you still use the mailbox while you export, the goal is that no message goes missing during the switch. The Export Tool is a snapshot: anything that arrives after it starts may not be in that archive.

1. 1

   Run the export in a quiet window

   Pick a low-traffic time, such as a Sunday evening, and start the Export Tool then. Because it cannot be paused, a window where you will not touch the laptop helps.

2. 2

   Keep Proton as your live inbox

   Do not change MX records or forwarding yet. Keep sending and receiving from Proton while the export runs. The export is a backup, not a cutover.

3. 3

   Cover the gap with Bridge or a second run

   After the one-shot export finishes, either point a desktop client at Bridge so new mail reaches your local copy, or run the tool again later for a fresh backup. Either way there is no moment when mail exists in only one place.

4. 4

   Change addresses last

   If you are leaving Proton entirely, update recovery emails, 2FA references tied to your Proton address, and forwarding rules only after the local archive has proven itself.

If you're moving on from Proton after the export#

We build AI Emaily, an AI-native email client with an approve-before-send agent. If you are staying on Proton, it is not the tool for you: AI Emaily is a hosted service, and Bridge exposes IMAP only on your own machine (127.0.0.1), which our servers cannot reach. Thunderbird, Apple Mail or Outlook through Bridge is the right pairing for staying.

If the export is the first step of a move to Gmail, Outlook, Fastmail or another IMAP host, that is where we fit. The exported EML files stay on your disk or go into the new provider through its importer or a re-upload from Thunderbird; for that side of the move see import email into Proton Mail (the reverse direction) and moving to another provider. AI Emaily does not import EML or MBOX files: connect the new inbox and its first sync covers about 60 days of mail. Drafts then use the Personal Context you set, with approval before anything sends and an audit trail. See the pricing page: there is a 7-day free trial on Pro or Autopilot, and no free plan.

Wrap-up#

Proton documents two tools and they answer different questions. The Export Tool answers "give me a copy of everything on a drive." Bridge answers "let me keep working in a normal desktop client." Many people run both once: the tool for the offline backup, Bridge to keep a working mailbox alive.

Whichever you pick, the mail comes out decrypted, and Proton-specific extras do not carry over. Verify the archive opens before you prune anything on the server, and treat the exported files as the sensitive material they now are.