How to Read MSG Files in C#

This guide shows how to open an Outlook .msg file and extract its contents using Aspose.Email FOSS for .NET.

Step 1 — Install the Package

dotnet add package Aspose.Email.Foss

Step 2 — Load the MSG File

using Aspose.Email.Foss.Msg;

using var message = MapiMessage.FromFile("sample.msg");

You can also load from a stream:

using var stream = File.OpenRead("sample.msg");
using var message = MapiMessage.FromStream(stream);

Step 3 — Read Message Fields

Console.WriteLine($"Subject: {message.Subject}");
Console.WriteLine($"From: {message.SenderName} <{message.SenderEmailAddress}>");
Console.WriteLine($"Date: {message.MessageDeliveryTime}");
Console.WriteLine($"Body: {message.Body}");

Step 4 — Read Recipients

foreach (var recipient in message.Recipients)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{recipient.DisplayName} <{recipient.EmailAddress}>");
}

Step 5 — Extract Attachments

foreach (var attachment in message.Attachments)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Saving: {attachment.Filename}");
    File.WriteAllBytes(attachment.Filename!, attachment.Data);
}

For embedded message attachments:

foreach (var attachment in message.Attachments)
{
    if (attachment.IsEmbeddedMessage)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Embedded: {attachment.EmbeddedMessage!.Subject}");
    }
}

Complete Example

using Aspose.Email.Foss.Msg;

using var message = MapiMessage.FromFile("sample.msg");

Console.WriteLine($"Subject: {message.Subject}");
Console.WriteLine($"From: {message.SenderName} <{message.SenderEmailAddress}>");

foreach (var r in message.Recipients)
    Console.WriteLine($"  {r.DisplayName} <{r.EmailAddress}>");

foreach (var a in message.Attachments)
{
    if (a.IsEmbeddedMessage)
        Console.WriteLine($"  Embedded: {a.EmbeddedMessage!.Subject}");
    else
        File.WriteAllBytes(a.Filename!, a.Data);
}