Export / Convert Incredimail v2.0 Emails For Free

I successfully completed this process in August 2012 with Incredimail v2.0

I recently dealt with a client who needed an updated computer and through the process of migrating the data, I found that he was using "Incredimail". I personally am not a fan of the software but "to each his own". I asked the client if he wanted to continue using Incredimail or migrate to Outlook which his response was to migrate. "No big deal" I thought... TWO HOURS LATER, I finally came to the conclusion that you flat out had to pay for a converter software, some running upwards of $70... Now, if you want a "one click" solution that will probably only be used for one conversion, feel free to spend your money. After some extensive digging, the single "paid" piece of software I would go with if I were to spend money, is MailMigra for Incredimail. The software is $45 and from what I could tell of the trial version (It only converts 15 or so email's from each folder) it works really well. I read a handful of good reviews on it as well.

However, if you would rather save some money, a guy that goes by the name "Reynard", coded a free piece of software back in summer 2010 that will convert Incredimail to a .EML file extension. You can find out more at the Google Code page. (I'll link to the download a bit later)

Keep in mind, this whole process is pretty "involved" and I am really only making directions for someone who understands their way around a windows computer. If you are just an "average joe", you might want to find someone who can help out. The following is more of a jumbled mess of general thoughts about the whole thing, but hopefully it will give you some direction if you know how to "figure things out".

General Steps

1) Download >Reynard Incredimail Converter 0.53 then install it.

2) Run the Reynard Incredimail Convert software. For detailed instructions, you can find a "Users Guide.pdf" file in the install directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Reynardware Incredimail Converter

There are two things I need to note about this software:
- First, if there are any database files (folders) that are empty, the "Export a complete Directory" will crap out...
- Second, it only has one output location and it's annoyingly in the same directory as the Incredimail email...

3) The location of the Incredimail files is basically in the "Local Settings" area of the computer. The computer I was dealing with was Windows 7 and it was in:

C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\IM\Identities\{F552D41A-8C56-483E-A229-4FC7DA2170C3}\

Notice the {F552D......} folder. This is going to be different for everyone. In some cases, there might be more than one. If there are, just focus on the one that takes up the most space. (Right click -> properties) When you convert using the Reynard software, this is the same folder where it will export the .eml folders to. The nice thing, is that it creates a new folder, based on the database name. All folders in Incredimail are saved as a .imm file.

4) Like I stated before, the "Export a Complete Directory" will crap out if there are any empty folders. Two ways to tell if a folder is empty: First, check the folders in Incredimail and make sure they have something in them and second, look at the file sizes of the .imm files. I had two files with 2KB ~ 3KB in size, but they would crap out the Reynard converter. After I moved these files somewhere else, the "Export Complete Directory" worked flawless. If you run the complete directory option and it is still crapping out, you can always do each .imm file one at a time. It takes longer but works just as well.

The settings for the converter are pretty straight forward and here's what I used:
Incredimail Database (Note the "Message Store")
- The folder I mentioned above that looks something like: C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\IM\Identities\{F552D41A-8C56-483E-A229-4FC7DA2170C3}\Message Store

Export a Complete Directory

Attachment Directory
- It's located inside the "Message Store" folder -> C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\IM\Identities\{F552D41A-8C56-483E-A229-4FC7DA2170C3}\Message Store\Attachments

Export Options
- This is up to you. I'm not exactly sure what it does, but I think it either includes or excludes the "Deleted Items.imm" database...

If you want a clean area to work with, you can always copy the .imm files, the Attachment folder and Containers.db out of the Message Store folder and stick it in a folder to work from. That way when the converter creates it's .eml folders, you have a pretty clean working directory.

5) There are several ways you can work with .eml files. One method is Outlook Express (Windows XP), Windows Live Mail (Windows 7) or Mozilla Thunderbird (Windows XP / Windows 7). If you plan to use one of these mail clients, go ahead and setup your email account information. If you plan to use Outlook 2007 or 2010, you can just setup a dummy account. I personally used the Windows Live Mail 2012 method because it is a snap to import the mail into Outlook. You can download the latest version which is bundled with the Microsoft Live Essentials software package. (I ONLY installed the mail piece, feel free to install the other's if you want)

6) Once your email software of choice is setup, start creating the folders in the email client, like they are in Incredimail. For example, if you have a folder called "Cute Cats" in Incredimail, you are going to have a database file called "Cute Cats.imm" and you will want to create a folder in the new email client called... "Cute Cats". If you've already converted the .imm files, you should have a folder called "Cute Cats" in there with "email2.eml" "email3.em" etc. Select all of these emails in Explorer and simply drag and drop them into the mail client.

That's pretty much it! If you are going the next step further and converting to Outlook, there are plenty of step by step tutorials out there to help out.

With this discombobulated tutorial, I mainly wanted to show that there IS still a way to Export and Convert Incredimail email's for FREE.