NSF to MBOX Conversion – Easy Methods to Convert Lotus Notes to MBOX

Written By Kiran Sharma
Updated on September 20th, 2021

Since there are various email clients as options, users commonly switch from one to another as per requirement. Email migration ain’t an easy task because most of the email clients support different file formats. While migrating from one email client to another and both support different file formats, email conversion becomes necessary for email users. In this very article, we’re going to discuss NSF to MBOX conversion in order to convert Lotus Notes to MBOX or any other email client that supports MBOX file format like Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.

Before we can learn how to convert NSF to MBOX format, let’s get familiar with the NSF and MBOX file types.

The NSF (notes storage facility) is the default file format used by IBM Lotus Notes to store data in the documents unites, called Notes. Generally, notes are used for storing the collaborative business information which includes email messages and calendar data. On the other hand, MBOX is one of the most popular email file formats. It’s the only file format supported by various email clients including Apple Mail. Being a mailbox file saved in an email storage format, it organizes email messages in a single text file. The MBOX file format saves the email messages in a concatenated format, i.e. each email is stored after another starting with the “From” header.

The MBOX file format was originally used by UNIX hosts, but now it’s supported by other email clients which include Mozilla Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Claws Mail, Pocomail, Opera Mail, Entourage, Spicebird, Mozilla Mail, Evolution, Incredimail, Eudora, SeaMonkey, Sylpheed, Mulberry, etc.

Why Convert Lotus Notes to MBOX?

Sometimes it may happen that you need to export Lotus Notes email messages and any other email clients that support MBOX format. Let’s suppose you were using IBM Lotus Notes in the previous organization. But now you’ve switched to a new organization where you need to use Apple Mail on a Mac system. You should know that both the email clients support different file formats. In order to access the old email messages and other data of Lotus Notes, you must convert NSF to MBOX file format. Also, there are some useful features in MBOX based email clients that ain’t available in IBM Lotus Notes. This may force users to switch from Lotus Notes to MBOX based email clients or Lotus Notes to Outlook.

Export Lotus Notes Contacts

If you just want to export contacts from Lotus Notes to Apple Mail, you can simply save the address book into CSV format. And then, you can import this new CSV file to Apple Mail without using any 3rd party paid tool. Follow these simple steps:

First, save the contacts into a CSV file. Launch IBM Lotus Notes, and open the NSF database containing the contacts.
Now click the File tab on the taskbar, and then click Export.
On the Export dialog box, browse a location where you want to save the CSV file. Now click the drop-down arrow next to Save as type option.
Select Comma Separated Value in the options, and click the Export button.

Once you successfully import the contacts to a CSV file, you need to import this file to Apple Mail in this way:

First, create a group in the Mac Address Book. Open Apple Mail > click File tab on the taskbar > New Group in the options.
Now give a name to this new Address Book Group.
Select this new Address Book Group, and click the File tab on the taskbar > Import.
Browse the CSV file you want to import, and double-click it.
Keep the setting at “Do not import” for the fields you don’t want to import.
If the CSV file you’re importing doesn’t contain the header columns, don’t forget to uncheck the “Ignore first box” box and then click OK.
Now you need to choose whether you want to use the existing contacts, replace existing contacts, add to existing contacts, or update existing contacts for the addresses already present. Finally, click the Import button.

The contacts are now available as a group in your Mac Address Book.

NSF to MBOX Conversion Tool

But there’s no such manual way to export Lotus Notes email messages to any MBOX based email clients. In such a situation, you should use a professional NSF to MBOX Converter. There are many vendors in the online marketplace which provide such software applications, and DRS Software is one of them. DRS NSF to MBOX Converter tool is an amazing solution that can not only export email messages but also the contacts and other data from Apple Mail to MBOX file supported by various email clients including Apple Mail and Thunderbird.

Below are the key features you’ll get in this software:

Quick and safe NSF to MBOX conversion with utmost accuracy.
Export Lotus Notes email messages, contacts, calendars, etc. into a new MBOX file.
Batch conversion of multiple NSF files at a time.
Quickly convert lotus notes to MBOX format without ant data loss.
Maintain the Metadata properties and Internet headers during email conversion.
Auto File Search feature to search the NSF files in the system directory.
Smart preview option to check the preview of the mailbox data prior to conversio.n
Data Range option to filter the mailbox data.
Exclude “All Folder” and safely remove encryption without causing any alteration to the original NSF files.
Contain an interactive and intuitive interface that contains no prior technical expertise.

Availability

DRS provides the free demo version of NSF to MBOX Converter tool. So before you can purchase this software, you must download the demo version for a free evaluation. By using the demo version, you can save the first 25 email items from all the mailbox folders of the selected NSF file(s) into new MBOX file(s). And if you’re satisfied with the results, then only you should consider purchasing the full version of this software.

Conclusion

The article explained NSF to MBOX conversion process in detail. Since there’s no direct way to open or convert lotus notes to MBOX or any other email client, you have to convert NSF to MBOX format. Neither IBM nor Microsoft provides anything to migrate data from Lotus Notes to MBOX file. The NSF to MBOX Converter recommended in this article can successfully export Lotus Notes email messages, contacts, calendars, and other data into a new MBOX file.

About The Author:

Kiran Sharma