Convert Entourage .rge to .pst to import into MS Outlook 365 for Mac

I did finally manage it without going through Outlook 2011. I used AussiePiper's method of right clicking on the "Main Identity.rge" archive file that results when you choose "Export" in Entourage's file menu, and then select "items to an Entourage archive" in the first little window that appears. (Note that the export process takes a fair while, but eventually "Main Identity.rge" will appear on your desktop). As AussiePiper rightly suggests in his post above, right-clicking on the "Main Identity.rge" will allow you to "Show package contents" and then you will see this list of folders:

And this is where I went another step beyond AussiePiper's suggestion to double-click on each folder with the intention of getting them to open into Outlook 2016. That unfortunately didn't work for me, so I decided to try something else that did work. I opened each of the folders and looked at the contents. For example, here's part of what I found in the "Calendar" folder:

I think each of those files stands for one particular calendar entry in my Entourage, 13,324 items in all (whew!), but anyway, by this time I was feeling adventurous, so I just took a chance by selecting all those items in the folder and dragging them onto the calendar window of Outlook 2016. Amazingly, they were accepted! It took quite awhile for them to get in there, but it worked.

I did the same for the Contacts, Notes and Tasks folder items but (and I'm a bit embarrassed to say this), for a couple of them (likely Notes and Tasks), dragging the folders' items onto the corresponding window of Outlook didn't work, but dragging them onto the Outlook icon in the Dock did. When I did that, a whole bunch of separate little windows opened up on the screen, so all I had to do then was close each one and then the items were safely inside Outlook. For some reason, the tasks didn't appear in Outlook's Tasks window but strangely they were working in the background because they kept popping up on the screen every now and then to remind me of things undone, as they normally do. However, they did magically appear in the Tasks window this morning. Typical computer mystery!

I know it sounds like a huge saga, but it's done and I can now use Outlook just as I have been using Entourage for all these years. The ironic thing is, though, that the reason I wanted to do this in the first place was so that I could sync Outlook calendar with my Mac Calendar which would then sync with the Calendars on my iPad and iPhone. After going through the saga above, I found out that in fact Outlook's calendar can't be synced with Calendar!! I could have sworn that I saw an article about how it was possible, but lesson learned. 😟

Chris

Hi, Wayne.

I've also had a trouble just like yours.

And finally I found it's simple and easy solution.

Check the URL and get "office for mac 2011". It demands "office 365" contract, credit card and microsoft ID.

But you already have "office for mac 2016". So you have to do is just "try 2011".

MS site would ask you some details but it's just usual forms.

When you download "2011" and launch it, you can transfer Entourage Identity data from "2008" into "2011".

When it's finished, then you proceed to transfer from "2011" into "2016".

That's it.

I've already done smoothly and it's fine. One thing you should not forget is to stop automatic contract in MS site. Unless you do it, you'll have to pay every month.

Anyway please try it.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_other-mso_mac/office -for-mac-2011-download-site/c0c39692-390…

ken_kurt

Hi AussiePiper,

Were you using Outlook 2016 or 2011 when you performed this amazing feat? As I write this (Dec. 2017), Outlook 2011 is no longer available, so if I can get my Entourage stuff into Outlook 2016 without having to go through Outlook 2011, that would be fantastic.

Cheers!

Chris

Converting from Mac Entourage e-mail to a PST file for import into Mac Outlook 2016

Purchase SYSTOOLS’ “SysTools Mac MBOX Converter” and install.

https://www.systoolsgroup.com/mac/mbox-converter/

Runs on a Mac, is a little pricey for a one-trick pony, but it does work.

From within Entourage, export the mailbox – resulting output will be “Main Identity.rge” file.

Right-click or <Opt><RC> on the Main Identity file and select Show Package Contents.

E-mail is in Mail/On My Computer/ (Folders listed below)

Deleted Items, Drafts, Inbox, Junk E-mail, Saved Messages, Sent Items

Within each of the mailbox folders listed above is its respective .mbox file.

Right-click on ‘Mail’, or on ‘On my Computer’, or the desired mailbox and select Copy.

On the Desktop, right-click Paste, then just close the Finder window that is showing the Entourage Package Contents (you can always re-open it the same way). Do not delete the Main Identity file as you may struggle initially or need to retrieve deleted e-mails you originally thought you don’t need.

Note: You could import the mbox file(s) directly into Mac Mail if you so desire.

Create a folder on the Desktop where you will ultimately save the PST file(s) to.

Run Mac MBOX Converter and follow these basic steps until you get the hang of it.

From the choices listed on the right side, select Add File(s) and navigate to the desired mbox file and select it and then select the Open button.

Select the Next button and make sure PST is selected and the filter dates are the desired beginning and ending date range.

Select the Browse button to select your destination path for the resulting PST file.

Select the Export button and observe the status.

When complete, in Outlook select the File menu > Import and navigate to your PST file.

Outlook will create PST folder under On My Computer. Within the folder will be 6 other folders, but all the imported e-mails will be in the Mails folder.

You can highlight and drag e-mails to desired location mailbox or folder locations, rename folders, etc.

Note: If you have multiple Entourage folders and sub-folders, it will take a while to recreate everything as you may have had it set up in Entourage. It will be cumbersome at first, but you’ll establish a rhythm and it will eventually go much quicker. Remember to retain the Main Identify file.

Turns out that Mac Mail can actually read the .mbox files directly once you follow the advice to 'Show Package Contents' of the Entourage .rge file. You can descend into the directory structure, move or copy the .mbox file somewhere and then from Mac Mail (I am using version 11.2) you can choose 'File', 'Import Mailboxes...' select the radio button for 'Files in mbox format' and then browse to where the file is and select it.

Since I had my Mac Mail set as a client for MS Exchange server at work, after the import I just selected and dragged the emails within Mac Mail to where I wanted them.

The only bad part about this is that it is tedious (but it is free). In my case the files were spread out in many sub-folders that I didn't really care about; I just wanted the ability to search through the old emails. So I used a simple shell command to concatenate all the .mbox files from an Entourage archive into a single file first. After all, these are just text files, although they are using carriage returns like Windows instead of the normal bare unix linefeed.

For example, I had an archive named 20131001.rge. From a bash shell (terminal) prompt I did:

$ find ./20131001.rge -type f -name '*.mbox' -exec cat {} \; > 20131001.mbox

That gave me one big .mbox file named 20131001.mbox instead of lots of little ones so importing and moving the emails via the process outlined above was very easy. It does take a while for Mac Mail to churn through the larger file of course.

Hi LaurelT7,

Was wondering if you ever got an answer to this question from February? I am having the exact same issue and cannot currently find a workaround.

You are correct that everything assumes you are moving to Windows. I am not. I am running both my macs on windows 365 for mac and need to export that main_identity.rge file into the new version of Outlook for Mac 2016 with my entire folder architecture. If you have any additional insight here, it would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks so much,

Ray

Hi, Laurel.

Don't know if you found your solution yet but I am sure others are still looking. Here's what I found.

If you Ctrl+click (or right click) on your .rge archive and select "Show Package Contents", you'll find it is actually just a set of folders named Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Notes and Tasks. Guess what's inside?

Outlook won't let you "import" the events, contacts or tasks, etc., but if you double click on any of them they will open up in Outlook by default. (If not try setting Outlook as the default program in the info panel and then clicking the "Change All" button/pull down menu under the "Use this application to open all documents like this one." message)

Mail folders are in their original hierarchy with the .mbox files next to them. When I imported them into Mail.app manually the .mbox files doubled up the folders - so there was for example an "Inbox" folder within an "Inbox" folder - but all the mail was still intact. It was a big mess, but it was manageable, even if somewhat tedious. Anyway, that was Mail not Outlook.

The good news is you don't need an .rge to .pst converter to get your email files into Outlook, which tend only to run on Windows. You just need an .mbox (or Mail) to .pst converter. There are some available through the App store. I trialled "Mail To PST Converter" from the developer and it worked fine for Outlook 2016, but that is just one example. I am sure there are others out there if you search for them.

Hope this helps.

The Piper

Just happened to purchased MS Office 2016 for Mac with Outlook. I was using the Entourage for Mac 2008 for many years.

Entourage can only export .rge, but Outlook 2016 is not able to import the .rge

Hope someone will have solution :-)

Wayne