Import Entourage to Thunderbird from Email Client or Backup

Rollins Duke
Published: February 17th, 2026 • 7 Min Read

Overview: A comprehensive guide to help users migrate from Microsoft Entourage to Mozilla Thunderbird with complete data safety & integrity, whether you have Entourage installed (for older Mac devices) or you are using an Entourage RGE backup file.

Microsoft Entourage for MacOS is a legacy email client that was discontinued in 2008. It was later replaced with Outlook for Mac after 2011. It is not supported by the latest Mac OS versions, like Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura, and more. Users only have it installed on older devices or have Microsoft Entourage in backup files.

This can be an issue, as it may lead to data loss when upgrading to a newer Mac. Entourage’s native ability to export mailboxes in MBOX and RGE makes it simpler to convert Entourage to Thunderbird Mac for free or using an automated tool.

This guide elaborates step-by-step process to move Entourage data to Thunderbird on all Mac devices.

Reasons to Migrate Entourage to Thunderbird

There may be a few reasons why you want to export the mailbox from Entourage to Thunderbird. For Example:

Thunderbird is an open-source, free, standalone email client, MBOX-supporting email client that can be easily extracted from RGE or Entourage itself.
Users upgrading to a newer Mac convert Entourage to Thunderbird by continued access.
While other users only have backup files and need to restore their Entourage (.rge archived files) to Thunderbird Mac.

How to Extract and Import Entourage to Thunderbird Mac

Migrating from Entourage mail to Thunderbird is a two-step process. First, you’ll need to extract MBOX files from the Entourage profile folder and then convert them to Thunderbird either with a free add-on like ImportExportTools NG (used only for small data and mailboxes) or using BitRecover Tool for larger data files.

Note: The .RGE file is the native format Entourage uses to archive or export emails. Inside this archive, the email data is stored in an MBOX format. Thunderbird cannot directly import .rge files. However, it can import MBOX files that are extracted from an .rge archive.

Now, we will give you a brief step-wise solution for the Entourage to Thunderbird migration.

Phase 1: Extract RGE or MBOX (Directly) Files From Entourage

Disclaimer: For users who still have Microsoft Entourage installed on a legacy Mac. Skip this step if you already have an exported RGE archive or MBOX files from Entourage.

The MS Entourage email application stores its mailboxes in MBOX format on a Mac machine. In order to import Entourage to Thunderbird, one needs to export MBOX files from the Entourage mail account and thereafter import them to Thunderbird.

Entourage enables you to directly export MBOX files to your desktop from email clients via drag & drop.

You can further use the Thunderbird ImportExportNG add-on to import MBOX into Thunderbird.

However expert recommend exporting RGE and then extracting MBOX from RGE for users with larger mailboxes to preserve folder hierarchy and better compatibility with Thunderbird.

Here are the exact steps you need to follow to extract RGE files from Entourage and further extract MBOX from the Entourage Database File:

First of all, start your Entourage mail account on a Mac machine.
Now, tap on the File tab and choose the Export option from it.
Thereafter, select the radio button corresponding to Items to an Entourage Archive option. Now, choose the checkbox labelled with the desired emails that you wish to migrate from Entourage to Thunderbird
Then, when the email prompts, hit “No, Keep the items in the Entourage after they are archived”.
Name (eg, Entourage) and select the destination path of the exported Microsoft Entourage Database file. Press Save. The saved file will be an RGE Main Identity File and not a standalone MBOX
Exporting Entourage to Thunderbird is now completed.

Export Entourage RGE to MBOX for Thunderbird Import

If you have an Entourage RGE file and want to migrate Entourage to Thunderbird, you first need to extract MBOX from the RGE file for import into Thunderbird.

Go to the Finder on your Mac Desktop.
Right-Click and Make a New Folder.
Go to your Entourage RGE archive.
Right-Click and choose “Show Package Content.”
Copy all the content and paste it into the Newly created folder.
Go to the Mails Folder >> Open the desired Folder from Mailbox to access its MBOX files.

Now, you have exported MBOX files from your Entourage (either directly or via the RGE archive), which you can easily copy to a pen drive or an external drive. To move to another device (Mac/Windows), you must first copy them to a pen drive or an external drive and access them in new computer.

Later, in the next step, you can convert Entourage to Thunderbird on the Mac/Windows platform

Phase 2: Import Entourage to Thunderbird on Mac/Windows

Once you have the MBOX files of Entourage on your desired device, it becomes super easy to migrate Entourage mailboxes into Thunderbird. To accomplish this conversion, quickly download the BitRecover MBOX Converter for Mac & Windows. Install it properly and thereafter, follow these stepwise guidelines to import Entourage to Thunderbird.

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Here we go for the major steps involved in importing Entourage emails to Thunderbird process.

After installation, open the BitRecover Entourage to Thunderbird Migration Software.
Choose the Add Folder option.
Select the newly created folder from the Microsoft Entourage RGE export.
Select the email folders you want to import from Entourage to Thunderbird Mac/Windows.
Choose Thunderbird from the Saving Options.
Press the Export Button.

Key Features of the Entourage to Thunderbird Migration Tool

This software works on all Mac & Windows devices, and hence, a user can efficiently import Entourage to Thunderbird. It supports MBOX files of numerous email applications, which are popular among users like Eudora Mail, Apple Mail, Gmail Takeout, SeaMonkey, Netscape Mail, The BAT, etc. Also, this software is capable of migrating unlimited Entourage mailboxes to Thunderbird without disturbing the original formatting of data. Users can evaluate the tool’s features with the free demo version. However, if it is completely satisfactory to you, then purchase it for unlimited transfer of Entourage emails to Thunderbird.

Users can upload Entourage MBOX files into Thunderbird software in batch mode.
There are dual approaches to loading MBOX files into the software panel for the conversion.
It allows migrating Entourage to Thunderbird with associated attachments without any hassle.
This utility supports all the latest and earlier versions of Mac & Windows operating systems.
The toolkit retains the integrity of data as well as the original hierarchy of all folders.
With each version of this toolkit, there are no file limitations.
This software is secure and never saves the details of the user in the database of toolkit.

Conclusion

In this write-up, we have completely explained how a user can export Entourage MBOX files to the Thunderbird application. We have described the proper guidelines for this automated solution. This software provides a perfect set of features that are required for a fluent email migration from Entourage mail to Thunderbird for Windows. For any query, please contact our technical support team.