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Import a PST file and keep its folders

5 October 2026 · searched as import pst keep folder structure

Plenty of tools read a PST by pouring every message into one long list, and the year’s Sent Items, Projects and Clients folders are gone. MailCode files each message where Outlook showed it, under a folder you choose, searchable with the rest of your mail.

How to do it

Choose File ▸ Import PST… and click Add files… to pick one or more .pst files.
Under index into archive folder, choose ＋ new folder… and name it — the file’s name is suggested — or pick an archive folder you already have to merge into.
Leave Keep the PST's folder structure ticked. The panel reads the file and lists every folder it will write — Inbox, Sent Items, each subfolder — with how many messages go into each, and whether it is new or merged into one you already have.
Click Import →. You can keep working while it runs; the status bar counts the items scanned and the new messages imported.
Open the folder under Local Archive in the explorer. The PST’s tree is there, each parent counting what is beneath it.

MailCode: A PST imported with its folders — Inbox, Sent Items and Projects, each with its own mail. — A PST imported with its folders — Inbox, Sent Items and Projects, each with its own mail.

Mail already in the archive is skipped, so importing the same PST twice, or two that overlap, adds nothing. Mail Outlook kept loose at the top of the file goes into the folder you named, marked root of the file in the list. On Windows, Store messages as .eml files writes each message to a folder you choose and keeps only the search index in MailCode’s database; that folder has to stay connected. The Mac App Store version keeps those files inside its own storage.

MailCode is a mail client for Mac and Windows that keeps your mail in a searchable archive on your own disk. Free for 14 days.

Mac App Store Download for Windows