How to export iCloud Mail on Mac, Windows and iPhone

Apple gives you three official ways to get your mail out of iCloud, spread across three different help pages. Which one fits depends on the device in front of you.

How do you export iCloud Mail?

On a Mac, open Mail, select your iCloud inbox, and choose Mailbox, then Export Mailbox to save an .mbox file. Without a Mac, sign in at privacy.apple.com and request a copy of your data, which delivers mail as .eml files. On Windows you can also add iCloud to Outlook over IMAP and export a .pst.

Pick your route

You have	Route	File you get	Apple's fine print
A Mac	Mail app, Export Mailbox	.mbox	One export per selected mailbox
iPhone or iPad only	Data request at privacy.apple.com	.eml files	14 days to download; Apple says to use a Mac or PC to download and view
A Windows PC	Data request, or iCloud in Outlook over IMAP	.eml files or .pst	IMAP needs an app-specific password

All three produce standard formats, which matters if the mail is going somewhere else.

On a Mac: export with the Mail app

This is the fastest route and the one Apple describes for making "a backup copy" of an iCloud mailbox, on its page about moving, deleting or copying iCloud email on a Mac.

Open Mail. If your iCloud account is not in it yet, turn on Mail for iCloud in System Settings under your name.
In the sidebar, select your iCloud inbox. If you have several accounts, click the arrow next to All Inboxes to see each one.
Choose Mailbox, then Export Mailbox.
Choose a destination folder, then click Choose.

Two things Apple's steps do not spell out.

The inbox is not your whole mailbox. Those steps export the mailbox you selected. Sent, Archive and every folder you made are separate mailboxes. Apple's Mail guide says you can select one or more mailboxes before choosing Export Mailbox, so hold Command and click each iCloud mailbox you want, then export them together. You get one .mbox per mailbox.

Mail can only export what it has downloaded. If you just added the account, give Mail time to finish syncing before you export. Choose Window, then Activity, to see whether it is still working.

Mail never overwrites an older export. The guide notes that a second export of the same mailbox gets a new name, such as "My Mailbox 3.mbox", so check you are keeping the newest one.

On any device: request a copy from Apple

Apple will package your iCloud data for you, mail included. The steps are on Apple's page about getting a copy of your data, last published in September 2026.

Sign in on Apple's Data & Privacy page, privacy.apple.com.
Select Request a copy of your data.
Select the data you want. For this job, select your iCloud mail and leave the rest unless you want it.
Select Continue.

Apple first verifies that you are the account holder, then prepares the files and notifies you when they are ready on the same page. The numbers and limits that matter:

You have 14 days to download. After that Apple removes the files and you have to request them again.
Mail arrives as .eml. Apple says contacts, calendars, bookmarks and mail come in formats such as .vcf, .ics, .html and .eml. Each .eml file is one message.
It is not offered everywhere. Apple says access varies by country and region. If you do not see the option, it is not available where your account is registered.
Download on a computer. You can make the request from an iPhone, but Apple's advice is to use a Mac or Windows PC to download and view the files.

The page does not say how long preparation takes, so do not leave this for the day before you need it.

On Windows: iCloud in Outlook, then a .pst

If you want one file instead of thousands, and you have Outlook on a PC, connect iCloud over IMAP and let Outlook do the export.

First, make an app-specific password. Apple's app-specific password page gives the steps:

Sign in at account.apple.com.
In Sign-In and Security, select App-Specific Passwords.
Select Generate an app-specific password and follow the steps.

Your Apple Account must have two-factor authentication on for this to work. You can hold up to 25 app-specific passwords, and all of them are revoked automatically any time you change or reset your main Apple Account password. If an export that worked last month now fails to sign in, that is usually why.

Then add the account in Outlook with Apple's iCloud Mail server settings:

IMAP server: imap.mail.me.com, port 993, SSL required
IMAP username: usually the part of your address before the @, not the full address
SMTP server: smtp.mail.me.com, port 587, SSL required
SMTP username: your full iCloud address
Password: the app-specific password, in both places

That mismatch between the two usernames is the most common setup failure. Apple adds that iCloud Mail does not support POP, so pick IMAP if the app asks. On Outlook 2021 or later, Apple says you can skip the manual settings and authorize Outlook with your Apple Account instead.

Once the mail has synced, export it. In classic Outlook choose File, then Open & Export, then Import/Export, then Export to a file, then Outlook Data File (.pst), select the iCloud account, and keep Include subfolders checked. Microsoft's export page warns that Outlook downloads only the past year by default, so move the account's sync slider to All and let it finish first.

Can you export iCloud Mail from an iPhone?

The Mail app on iPhone and iPad has no export command. What you can do from the phone is make the data request at privacy.apple.com in Safari, then download the result on a computer within the 14 days. If you have no computer at all, borrow one for the download. A full mailbox does not belong in a phone's Files app.

Keep new mail coming while you move

An export is a snapshot. Mail that arrives tomorrow is not in it. If you are moving to another address, turn on forwarding so nothing lands in an inbox you have stopped reading. From Apple's forwarding page:

Go to icloud.com/mail and sign in.
Select the settings button at the top of the Mailboxes list, then choose Settings.
Select Mail Forwarding in the sidebar.
Select Forward my email to and type the new address.

Leave Delete messages after forwarding unchecked for now. Ticking it means iCloud keeps no copy, so a typo in the forwarding address would lose mail. Apple points out that keeping copies uses iCloud storage, which is a fair trade for the first few months.

Where the export can go

MBOX, EML and .pst are the three formats most mail services accept. Secria takes all three on every plan, including the free one, and MBOX and EML files are read and encrypted in your browser before upload. The iCloud Mail alternative page shows how the two compare.

If you relied on Hide My Email addresses, list them before you go, and check which inbox each one forwards to. Our Hide My Email comparison covers how aliases work outside Apple. And if your question is less about moving and more about who can read mail stored in iCloud, we wrote about that in is iCloud encrypted.

Frequently asked questions

Does exporting iCloud Mail delete it from iCloud? No. Export Mailbox and Apple's data request both make copies. Mail only leaves iCloud if you move messages instead of copying them, or delete them yourself.

What format does iCloud Mail export in? It depends on the route. The Mail app on a Mac produces .mbox files, Apple's data request delivers .eml files, and Outlook on Windows produces a .pst.

Why does my app-specific password stop working? Apple revokes every app-specific password when you change or reset your Apple Account password. Generate a new one and enter it in the mail app again.

Can I export only one folder? Yes, on a Mac. Select just that mailbox in Mail and choose Mailbox, then Export Mailbox. Apple's data request works by category, not by folder.

How long do I have to download Apple's data export? 14 days from when Apple makes it available. After that the files are removed and you need to submit a new request.

Whichever route you took, open the file once before you trust it. If its next home is a mailbox where stored mail is under zero-access encryption, Secria's mail page has the details.