Getting started¶

There are three ways to install UnMsg. Pick the one that matches how you'll use it.

Install — pick one¶

Windows installer (most users)Python package (CLI + API)With the desktop appWith PDF output

Download the latest installer from the releases page and run it. You get:

UnMsg in the Start menu
A "Convert with UnMsg" entry on the right‑click menu of .msg files
A Send To → UnMsg target
An optional desktop shortcut

Releases are currently unsigned, so SmartScreen shows a warning the first time. Click More info → Run anyway. (Code signing is planned.) Don't want to click past the warning? You can build the installer yourself — the source on GitHub produces the same bytes as the published installer.

pip install unmsg

That installs the conversion core and the unmsg command line. The desktop GUI is an optional extra — see below.

pip install "unmsg[gui]"
unmsg-gui

pip install "unmsg[pdf]"

Or unmsg[gui,pdf] for both. PDF rendering is pure‑Python and deterministic.

Your first conversion¶

Desktop¶

Open UnMsg.
Drop one or more .msg files (or a folder) on the window.
Click Convert.

The default output folder is your Documents/UnMsg — change it from the options bar.

Command line¶

unmsg convert mail.msg -o ./out --format md,html,pdf

Convert a folder, recursively:

unmsg convert ./inbox -o ./out --format md

See the CLI reference for every option.

Python¶

from pathlib import Path
from unmsg import convert_file, ConvertOptions

result = convert_file(
    Path("mail.msg"),
    Path("./out"),
    ConvertOptions(formats=["md", "html"]),
)
print(result.status, result.output_paths)