The 5 Best Winmail.dat Opener for Mac in 2022

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Bianca Huang
August 19, 2022 Preview 22.9K Preview 1
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When composing emails in Microsoft Outlook, Rich Text Format is applied to maintain the formatting. However, if the email recipient is not using Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express or Exchange, the email will be wrapped in a Winmail.dat file.

A Winmail.dat file includes the email subject, recipient, sender, message body and attachments with rich text formatting, which can be opened by Microsoft mail clients only. If you want to open on Mac, an opener is required. We have listed 5 best Winmail.dat openers for Mac users below, you can choose the one that fits your needs the most. 

The Best Winmail.dat Viewer for Mac

Cisdem Document Reader for mac

Price: License for 1 Mac (lifetime): $29.99; license for 2 Macs (lifetime): $44.99; license for 5 Macs (lifetime): $82.99

Recommended by authorities like New York Times and CNET, Cisdem Winmail Viewer is always regarded as the best tool for opening Winmail.dat files on Mac system.

Cisdem Winmail Viewer for mac is a one-stop solution to open winmail.dat files on Mac and allows any attachments contained in them to be previewed and saved. No matter how large the Winmail file is, Cisdem can load and open it fast and well. Besides, it enables users to open multiple Winmail.dat files under different tabs at the same time, so you can switch between and compare all files for your purposes.

While, the full version of Cisdem Document Reader, which not only supports opening Winmail.dat files, but also allows viewing WPD, WPS, VISIO, OXPS/XPS, DJVU, PDF files on Mac. With a set of viewing tools, you can open and view all these supported files comfortably. Still, it provides extended features, like rotate, bookmark, search, extract images, convert to PDF/Text/Image format.

Why is Cisdem the Best Winmail.dat Reader for Mac?

  • Compatible on macOS 12 and earlier
  • Open and list all contents of a Winmail.dat file automatically
  • Batch open and view multiple Winmail files at same time
  • Load fast
  • Maintain original formatting
  • Full version supports WPD, WPS, VISIO, OXPS/XPS, DJVU and PDF file type
  • Extended features: rotate, bookmark, search, extract images, convert
  • No risk of leaking email information.

How to Use Cisdem Winmail.dat Opener on Mac:

  1. Download and install Cisdem Document Reader on your Mac first.
    Free Download
  2. Drag and drop one or more Winmail.dat files to the program, or click Open File to add files from your local computer.cisdem winmail.dat viewer for mac02
  3. Open and view Winmail.dat files on mac.
    The Winmail.dat file will be automatically opened after you add it and all the attachments contained in the file will be displayed below the program. You can preview the file with thumbnails, or double click on the attachment files, open with authoring app and save to your Mac. cisdem winmail.dat viewer for mac01

4 Other Best Winmail.dat Viewer for Mac

#1. MSG Viewer for Outlook

Price: $18.99, each software license is valid for a single user only up to 2 computers.

MSG Viewer for Outlook 3.99 is designed to open Microsoft Outlook MSG, OFT and Winmail.dat files in Mac Mail app, it has a batch support. Seamlessly work with Mail, users can easily view Winmail.dat file with the attachment, also can use the tools built in Mail app to extract attachment, send/forward/reply/move/tag emails, save as PDF and so on.

Advantages:

  1. Support opening Winmail.dat, MSG and OFT files
  2. Convert files to native Mac formats .eml or .vcf
  3. Import and save contacts to vCards
  4. Use Apple Mail built-in features to manage Winmail.dat files
  5. Multi-language interface
  6. Highly compatible with Mac native apps

Disadvantages:

  1. Pre-setting is required to integrate with Apple Mail
  2. Cannot show attachments in emails with digital signatures or encryption
  3. Different windows will appear when opening files in batches

How to Use MSG Viewer for Outlook:

  1. Download and install MSG Viewer for Outlook on your Mac.
  2. Configure the preferences.msg winmail opener 01
  3. Drag and drop the Winmail.dat files to MSG.msg winmail opener 02
  4. Now, you can open the Winmail.dat file in Mail app, go to File to save the attachment or export as PDF, also you can reply/move/forward this message.msg winmail opener 03

#2 Winmail DAT File Viewer

Price: $7.99 for Winmail.dat opener, $19.99 to open Winmail.dat, XPS and MSG files

Winmail DAT File Viewer can open Winmail, XPS, MSG files without working with Apple Mail. It offers Lite free version to view these 3 files, but users cannot access to attachments, images, address book cards, notes or receipts in the file, neither they can export XPS to PDF, unless they pay for the premium version. 

Advantages:

  1. Open Winmail.dat files easily and fast
  2. Support reading 3 file formats
  3. Extract attachment and images from Winmail, MSG files
  4. List view of file contents in the left panel

Disadvantages:

  1. Expensive when comparing with competitors
  2. Discontinued to update since 2017, but works good on latest macOS

How to Use Winmail DAT File Viewer on Mac

  1. Download and install this program from Appstore.
  2. Drag and drop the Winmail files to following area.winmail dat operner 01
  3. Check the text and attachment, extract and save to your Mac.winmail dat opener 02

#3. Letter Opener for macOS Mail

Price: $49.99 per year, you can use this app on every Mac you own with one license key.

Letter Opener for macOS Mail is a plug-in that make it possible for users to display the content of Winmail.dat files inside macOS mail. That’s to say, even the Winmail.dat emails can be viewed and processed the same way as other emails in Apple Mail. There is no need to go back for composing emails in other email clients after displaying the Winmail.dat file.

Advantages:

  1. Automatically convert and display Winmail.dat file inside macOS Mail, which is convenient for managing email
  2. Directly process (edit, reply, forward, copy, search) Winmail.dat emails in Apple Mail
  3. Support multiple languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, etc.
  4. Support Winmail.dat, MSG and XPS files
  5. Provide 14-day free trail.

Disadvantages:

  1. Too expensive for what it does
  2. Multiple windows pop up when opening files in batches
  3. No conversion function

How to use Letter Opener for macOS Mail:

  1. After you’ve installed the app on your Mac, launch Apple Mail. Go to Mail > Preferences>Manage Plug-ins.letter opener 01
  2. Check the box before Letter Opener and click Apply and Restart Mail.letter opener 02
  3. Then double-click the Winmail.dat file to open it, you can also extract the attachment from the file.open winmail.dat in apple mail

#4. TNEF's Enough

Price: Free.       

With a 19-year history, TNEF’s Enough from Josh Jacob has served countless users on Winmail.dat solution. It is a program allowing users to read and extract files from Microsoft TNEF stream files, including Winmai.dat and application/ms-tnef. It works good on latest macOS 10.15 Catalina and earlier.

Advantages:

  1. Allow opening Winmail.dat and application/ms-tnef
  2. Free to use
  3. Support batch open Winmail.dat files

Disadvantages:

  1. Cannot open and view Winmail.dat directly in the app, you have to save the files first
  2. Fail to open Winmail.dat files sometimes
  3. Interface isn’t user-friendly
  4. Winmail.dat file may show more or less information, including the body of email
  5. Multiple windows will pop up when opening files in batches
  6. Only the above-mentioned file-opening method is supported

How to Use TNEF’s Enough

  1. Install and launch the application on your Mac.
  2. Right click the Winmail.dat file, choose “TNEF’s Enough” in Open With.
  3. If the file successfully opens, you'll be presented with a window showing the contents of the file.open winmail.dat by tnef's enough

Key Factors for Choosing the Best Winmail.dat Viewer

There are many Winmail.dat file openers and readers for Mac on the market currently. Some are free, while others are paid; some are only for Winmail.dat, while others support multiple formats. As a result, we must choose the best Winmail.dat reader based on certain essential features. Here are 4 key factors to help you make decision.

1. User-friendly interface

The simplicity of the interface has a direct impact on the user's intuition impression. You need to evaluate if the software’s interface is easy to use, otherwise even if it has powerful functions, it won’t help you accomplish the desired impact.

2. Supported file formats

Some apps are specifically designed for the Winmail.dat file, although the majority of apps can also read other types of files. I suggest you choose an app that supports multiple file formats, viewing different types of files in one app can help you save time and money.

3.Batch opening

With so many different types of files to work with, choosing an app that can open files in a variety of formats in batched can help you enhance your job productivity.

4. Show full Winmail.dat file contents

The ability to display the complete contents of a Winmail.dat file and the attachments it contains is a must-have function for a professional viewer.

Extended: Best Winmail.dat Viewer for iPhone/iPad

Sometimes work follows you around, and you have to process email on your phone promptly. To open Winmail.dat files on iPhone or iPad, a third-party Winmail.dat viewer is also necessary.

In fact, when discussing what is the best app for opening Winmail.dat on macOS as above, the tools we listed are also available for iOS. For example, Letter Opener for iOS. It is free to download and try, but offers in-app purchases for full features.

Main Features:

  • Open and view Winmail.dat files
  • Convert to iOS native formats
  • Export files to another app

How to Use the Best Winmail.dat Viewer for iPhone/iPad?

  1. Go to AppStore, download and install Letter Opener for iOS.
  2. Tap the Winmail.dat file and open with Letter Opener.
  3. View, convert or export the Winmail.dat file on your iPhone as needed.winmail.dat viewer for iphone

Conclusion

You can choose any one of these 5 top apps to open Winmail.dat files on your Mac. But after a thorough comparison on their features, user experience and prices, it’s no doubt that Cisdem Document Reader for Mac would be the best Winmail.dat opener for mac 2022.

Just have a try on the free trial version and open your Winmail.dat files quickly and easily.

Free Download

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Bianca Huang

Bianca is a senior tech editor and strategist at Cisdem with Over 10 years of experience on PDF related solutions which covers all document editing, annotating, converting and managing etc.

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  • Amy

    Thanks, I really like your posts. Each time you post a new article, I will take a look at it.

    8 years ago commonReply

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