PC help: Access Outlook Express files

Q Outlook Express on my computer saves all my emails in files ending with .dbx. I have no program in which I can open these database files. Can you recommend any software to help me see what’s in these saved files?

Francis Cassar

A That depends on the reason you want to view them – the only real way to see inside .dbx files is to open them in Outlook Express.

If you’re simply making a backup, you can restore the files (on another computer, say) by copying them to an empty folder on the new computer, then opening Outlook Express.

Click the File menu, then Import, and select Messages, Microsoft Outlook Express 6 and click Next. Select ‘Import mail from an OE6 store directory’ and click OK, then locate the folder into which you copied the .dbx files. Click Next to import the files.

Do make sure that when you back up the messages in the first place, you copy all the .dbx files, including folders.dbx.

If, on the other hand, you want to see what’s inside the files, you can’t do this without a separate program. There’s a paid-for program called Mail Navigator that can be used to look inside Outlook Express’s mail database files. We haven’t been able to review it yet, but you can download a trial version from the website to see whether it works before you buy.

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