outlook-email-export-parser

name	outlook-email-export-parser
description	Parse Outlook PST/OLM email exports into searchable JSON files. Use when a user has an Outlook export (.pst or .olm) and wants to search, analyse, or work with their email data. Also handles OLM (Mac Outlook) exports. Cross-platform (Node.js). Fallback PowerShell script for Windows-only scenarios.
last_updated	"2026-04-17T00:00:00.000Z"
tools_required	["Node.js (bundled with Rebel)"]
agent_type	main_agent

Outlook Email Export Parser

Parse Outlook PST or OLM exports into individual JSON files for searching and analysis.

When to use

• User has a .pst or .olm file exported from Outlook and wants to search/analyse their email
• Outlook MCP connector is unavailable (auth issues, 403s, no Graph API access)
• One-off email analysis or migration from Outlook

Quick Reference

PST workflow (Windows Outlook export):

1. User exports PST from Outlook (see How to Export below)
2. Set up and run the parser (see Running the Scripts)
3. Search: rg "search term" <output-dir>/

OLM workflow (Mac Outlook export):

1. User exports OLM from Mac Outlook (see How to Export)
2. Set up and run the OLM parser (see parse_olm.js)
3. Search the same way as PST output

Fallback (Windows-only): If Node.js parsing fails, use the PowerShell script export_outlook_emails.ps1 which talks directly to Outlook via COM automation. See PowerShell Fallback.

Output: One .json file per email + _manifest.json index. Output defaults to outlook-export/ next to the source file.

Running the Scripts

The scripts require npm dependencies (pst-extractor, olm-reader). Since rebel-system/ may be read-only in production builds, always copy the scripts to a temp directory before running:

# 1. Copy scripts to a writable location
cp -r rebel-system/skills/data-analysis/outlook-email-export-parser/scripts /tmp/outlook-parser
cd /tmp/outlook-parser

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

# 3. Run the parser
node parse_pst.js ~/Desktop/export.pst ~/Desktop/outlook-export
# or for OLM:
node parse_olm.js ~/Desktop/export.olm ~/Desktop/outlook-export

On Windows, use a temp path like %TEMP%\outlook-parser instead of /tmp/.

How to Export a PST File from Outlook

Give these instructions to the user:

Windows (Outlook desktop app)

1. Open Outlook
2. File > Open & Export > Import/Export
3. Select "Export to a file" > Next
4. Select "Outlook Data File (.pst)" > Next
5. Select the mailbox or folder to export (e.g. their email account root, or just "Inbox") — check "Include subfolders" if needed
6. Choose a save location (Desktop is easiest) and filename, e.g. export.pst
7. Click Finish. If prompted for a password, leave it blank and click OK

Mac (Outlook desktop app)

1. Open Outlook
2. Tools > Export (or in newer versions: File > Export)
3. Select "Outlook for Mac Data File (.olm)" — note: Mac Outlook exports .olm, not .pst
4. Choose which items to export > click Continue
5. Save to Desktop

Important: Mac Outlook exports .olm format, not .pst. The parser script handles .pst files only. If the user is on Mac, they'll need to either:

• Export from Outlook on the Web (see below)
• Use a Windows machine to export as PST
• Ask IT to provide a PST export from Exchange

Outlook on the Web (Microsoft 365)

Regular users cannot export PST from Outlook on the Web — this requires an admin using the Microsoft 365 compliance centre (Content Search > Export). If the user only has web access, the admin path or a desktop Outlook install is needed.

Available Scripts

Script	Purpose	Input	Output
parse_pst.js	Parse PST to JSON files	.pst file	*.json + _manifest.json
parse_olm.js	Parse OLM to JSON files	.olm file	*.json + _manifest.json
export_outlook_emails.ps1	PowerShell fallback (Windows)	Running Outlook	*.json + _manifest.json

Script Reference

parse_pst.js

node parse_pst.js ~/Desktop/export.pst
node parse_pst.js ~/Desktop/export.pst ~/Desktop/outlook-export

Output per email:

{
  "subject": "Re: Contract review",
  "from": "[e-mail]",
  "fromName": "Sarah Jones",
  "to": "John Smith; Alice Brown",
  "cc": "Bob Wilson",
  "date": "2026-04-15T14:30:22.000Z",
  "body": "Plain text body...",
  "bodyHtml": "<html>...",
  "folder": "Top of Personal Folders/Inbox",
  "hasAttachments": true,
  "numberOfAttachments": 1,
  "importance": 1,
  "isRead": true,
  "conversationTopic": "Contract review"
}

_manifest.json contains an index of every exported email with file, date, from, subject, and folder — useful for quick lookups without opening individual files.

parse_olm.js

For .olm files exported from Mac Outlook. Uses olm-reader (pure JS, handles multi-disk archives).

node parse_olm.js ~/Desktop/export.olm
node parse_olm.js ~/Desktop/export.olm ~/Desktop/outlook-export

Outputs the same JSON format as parse_pst.js. Note: OLM stores email fields differently — field mapping is best-effort. Some metadata (like conversationTopic) may not be available in OLM exports.

Searching Exported Emails

# Full-text search across all emails
rg "quarterly report" ~/Desktop/outlook-export/

# Find emails from a specific sender
rg '"from":"sarah' ~/Desktop/outlook-export/

# Find emails with attachments
rg '"hasAttachments":true' ~/Desktop/outlook-export/

# Search subjects only
rg '"subject":".*contract' ~/Desktop/outlook-export/

# Count emails per sender (from manifest)
node -e "
  const m = require('./outlook-export/_manifest.json');
  const counts = {};
  m.emails.forEach(e => { counts[e.from] = (counts[e.from]||0)+1; });
  Object.entries(counts).sort((a,b) => b[1]-a[1]).slice(0,20)
    .forEach(([k,v]) => console.log(v, k));
"

Troubleshooting

"Cannot find module 'pst-extractor'" Run npm install in the scripts/ directory first.

Large PST files (>1GB) The parser processes emails sequentially and writes one file at a time. It handles large files, but expect several minutes for very large archives. Progress is printed every 200 emails.

Corrupt PST files pst-extractor does not handle corrupt PST files. If Outlook reports errors with the PST, run Outlook's built-in repair tool (scanpst.exe on Windows: typically at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\SCANPST.EXE) before parsing.

X500 addresses instead of email addresses Some Exchange-hosted emails store internal X500 addresses (like /O=EXCHANGELABS/OU=...) instead of SMTP addresses. The from field will contain whatever the PST stores. The fromName field usually has the readable display name regardless.

.olm files (Mac Outlook) Use parse_olm.js for OLM files. See parse_olm.js above.

PowerShell Fallback (Windows only)

If the Node.js PST parser fails (corrupt file, permission issues, missing Node), and the user has Outlook open on Windows, use the PowerShell script as a backup. It talks directly to Outlook via COM automation — no file parsing needed.

# From PowerShell on the Windows machine:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File export_outlook_emails.ps1

Defaults: exports last 90 days from Inbox + Sent Items to Desktop\outlook-export\. Edit the three settings at the top of the script to change folders, date range, or output location.

Gotchas:

• Outlook must be running
• May trigger a security dialog ("A program is trying to access email addresses") — click Allow
• Exchange accounts may return X500 addresses instead of SMTP for from field
• Gets slow with very large mailboxes (10k+ items)

Privacy Notes

• All processing happens locally — no data leaves the machine
• The original PST file is not modified
• Exported JSON files contain full email content including body text
• Delete the output directory when analysis is complete

Related

• bulk-export — for exporting via MCP connectors (Gmail, etc.) when API access works
• linkedin-export-parser — similar pattern for LinkedIn data exports