diff --git a/content/posts/2026/import-outlook-pst-into-kmail/index.md b/content/posts/2026/import-outlook-pst-into-kmail/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bbe2f4e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2026/import-outlook-pst-into-kmail/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,116 @@ +--- +title: How to import emails from a .pst file into KMail +description: > + Using a tool called "readst" you can transfer emails from an Outlook + account into any other email client, for example KMail. +date: 2026-05-15T17:30:00+02:00 +draft: false +# ShowLastmod: true +scrolltotop: true +images: [] +tags: + - email + - KDE + - Linux +--- + +Here I describe how I imported an email archive from Outlook to KDE's +[KMail][]. This turned out to be harder than expected. + +My machine is a Fedora 44 KDE box, but the procedure should be the same or at +least very similar on other Linux systems. + +## Prerequisites + +Let's assume the following: + +1. An Outlook archive file named `archive.pst`. +2. Inside this archive file: An email folder structure with first-level folders + in the style of `MyFolder1`, `MyFolder2` etc. and subfolder + `MyFolder1/MyFolder1Subfolder1` and so on. + +I use the venerable [readpst][] tool to extract folders and emails from the +archive file. It's included in common Linux distributions, but at least on +Fedora you don't install it directly, but rather the `libpst` package: + +```fish +sudo dnf install libpst +``` + +```fish +# dnf info libpst +Updating and loading repositories: +Repositories loaded. +Installed packages +Name : libpst +Epoch : 0 +Version : 0.6.76 +Release : 28.fc44 +Architecture : x86_64 +Installed size : 192.7 KiB +Source : libpst-0.6.76-28.fc44.src.rpm +From repository : +Summary : Utilities to convert Outlook .pst files to other formats +URL : http://www.five-ten-sg.com/libpst/ +License : GPL-2.0-or-later +Description : The Libpst utilities include readpst which can convert email messages + : to both mbox and MH mailbox formats, pst2ldif which can convert the + : contacts to .ldif format for import into ldap databases, and pst2dii + : which can convert email messages to the DII load file format used by + : Summation. +Vendor : Fedora Project +``` + +## Working solution as of 2026 + +Modern [KMail] does not store emails in the traditional storage formats such +as [Maildir] or [Mbox]. It uses KDE's Akonadi database system. Therefore, +we need to first export all folders and emails from the Outlook data file, +then import these into KMail's database using the `File > Import Messages...` +command. + +At first, I struggled a bit to find the correct output format option to make +it work. `readpst` offers a number of different formats -- basically various +flavors of the [MH][]/[maildir][] and the [mbox][] structures. It did _not_ work +with the `-k` option that is meant to produce a dedicated KMail format. I ended +up using the simple `-e` option that produces a directory structure according +to the folders in the Outlook archive, with one separate file for each email +message. + +1. Export folders and emails from the Outlook data file: + + ```fish + readpst -e archive.pst + ``` + + There is no need to create and specifiy a dedicated directory, because + `readpst` will create a directory structure with a generic top-level + directory (in German, this directory is called "Outlook-Datendatei", + Outlook data file). + +2. Import the folder structure and emails into KMail: + + a. In the `File` menu, choose `Import Messages...`. + + b. In the Import dialog that appears, choose "Import KMail Maildirs and + Folder Structure". + + {{< figure src="kmail-import-dialog.png" >}} + + c. At the bottom of the dialog where it says "Please select the folder to + import to", click on the folder icon. Choose the existing "Local Folders". + There is no need to create an extra folder for the import because KMail + will create folder "KMail-Import" just for you. + + d. Click on "Next" and choose your `.pst` file. + + e. Start the import process. + +3. All imported messages are marked as unread at first, but this will go away + after a while. + +[KMail]: https://apps.kde.org/kmail2 +[maildir]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maildir +[MH]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System +[mbox]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbox +[readpst]: https://www.five-ten-sg.com/libpst/rn01re01.html \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/content/posts/2026/import-outlook-pst-into-kmail/kmail-import-dialog.png b/content/posts/2026/import-outlook-pst-into-kmail/kmail-import-dialog.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9fb1c9d Binary files /dev/null and b/content/posts/2026/import-outlook-pst-into-kmail/kmail-import-dialog.png differ