Render Outlook data files as HTML, PDF, and image files Leave feedback

GroupDocs.Viewer for .NET allows you to render Microsoft Outlook data files in HTML, PDF, PNG, and JPEG formats. Use this library to display the contents of OST and PST files within your .NET application (web or desktop).

To start with the GroupDocs.Viewer API, create a Viewer class instance. Pass a document you want to view to the class constructor. You can load the document from a file or stream. Call one of the Viewer.View method overloads to convert the document to HTML, PDF, or image format. These methods allow you to render the entire document or specific pages.

View Outlook files online View demos and examples on GitHub

GroupDocs.Viewer supports the following Outlook data file formats:

• Outlook Offline Storage Table (.OST)
• Outlook Personal Storage Table (.PST)

GroupDocs.Viewer can detect the document format automatically based on information in the file header.

To convert an OST or PST file to HTML, call the HtmlViewOptions.ForEmbeddedResources method to create an HtmlViewOptions class instance and pass this instance to the Viewer.View method.

using GroupDocs.Viewer;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Options;
// ...

using (var viewer = new Viewer("sample.pst"))
{
    // Create an HTML file.
    var viewOptions = HtmlViewOptions.ForEmbeddedResources("output.html");
    viewer.View(viewOptions);
}

The following image demonstrates the result:

Create a PdfViewOptions class instance and pass it to the Viewer.View method to convert an OST or PST file to PDF. The PdfViewOptions class properties allow you to control the conversion process. For instance, you can protect the output PDF file, reorder its pages, and specify the quality of document images. Refer to the following documentation section for details: Rendering to PDF.

using GroupDocs.Viewer;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Options;
// ...

using (var viewer = new Viewer("sample.pst"))
{
    // Create a PDF file.
    var viewOptions = new PdfViewOptions("output.pdf");
    viewer.View(viewOptions);
}

The following image demonstrates the result:

Create a PngViewOptions class instance and pass it to the Viewer.View method to convert an OST or PST file to PNG. Use the PngViewOptions.Height and PngViewOptions.Width properties to specify the output image size in pixels.

using GroupDocs.Viewer;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Options;
// ...

using (var viewer = new Viewer("sample.pst"))
{
    // Convert the PST file to PNG.
    // {0} is replaced with the page numbers in the output image names.
    var viewOptions = new PngViewOptions("output_{0}.png");
    // Set width and height.
    viewOptions.Width = 800;
    viewOptions.Height = 900;
    viewer.View(viewOptions);
}

The following image demonstrates the result:

Create a JpgViewOptions class instance and pass it to the Viewer.View method to convert an OST or PST file to JPEG. Use the JpgViewOptions.Height and JpgViewOptions.Width properties to specify the output image size in pixels.

using GroupDocs.Viewer;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Options;
// ...

using (var viewer = new Viewer("sample.pst"))
{
    // Convert the PST file to JPEG.
    // {0} is replaced with the page numbers in the output image names.
    var viewOptions = new JpgViewOptions("output_{0}.jpg");
    // Set width and height.
    viewOptions.Width = 800;
    viewOptions.Height = 900;
    viewer.View(viewOptions);
}

Follow the steps below to obtain information about folders contained in an Outlook data file.

1. Create a ViewInfoOptions instance for a specific view.
2. Call the Viewer.GetViewInfo method, pass the ViewInfoOptions instance to this method as a parameter, and cast the returned object to the OutlookViewInfo type.
3. Use the OutlookViewInfo.Folders property to obtain the list of folders in the Outlook data file.

using GroupDocs.Viewer;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Options;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Results;
// ...

using (var viewer = new Viewer("sample.pst"))
{
    // Create an HTML file.
    var viewInfoOptions = ViewInfoOptions.ForHtmlView();
    var viewInfo = viewer.GetViewInfo(viewInfoOptions) as OutlookViewInfo;

    if (viewInfo != null)
    {
        // Display information about the PST file.
        Console.WriteLine($"File type: {viewInfo.FileType}");
        Console.WriteLine($"The number of pages: {viewInfo.Pages.Count}");

        // Display the list of folders that the PST file contains.
        Console.WriteLine("The file contains the following folders:");
        foreach (string folder in viewInfo.Folders)
            Console.WriteLine(folder);
    }
}

GroupDocs.Viewer supports the OutlookOptions class that allows you to specify different options for rendering Outlook data files. To access these options, use the OutlookOptions property for one of the following classes (depending on the output file format):

• HtmlViewOptions
• PdfViewOptions
• PngViewOptions
• JpgViewOptions

When you convert an OST or PST file to HTML, PDF, or image format, GroupDocs.Viewer renders messages from all folders contained in the file (including nested folders). If you want to render items from a specific folder, set the OutlookOptions.Folder property for a target view. Specify the folder name as follows: {Parent folder name}\\{Subfolder name}.

using GroupDocs.Viewer;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Options;
// ...

using (var viewer = new Viewer("sample.pst"))
{
    // Create an HTML file.
    var viewOptions = HtmlViewOptions.ForEmbeddedResources();
    // Render messages from the "Inbox" folder and its subfolders.
    viewOptions.OutlookOptions.Folder = "Inbox";
    // Render messages from a specific subfolder in the "Inbox" folder.
    // viewOptions.OutlookOptions.Folder = "Inbox\\Work\\Urgent";
    viewer.View(viewOptions);
}

When you load large Outlook data files, it may take a significant amount of time to retrieve and render file contents. To improve rendering performance, use the OutlookOptions.MaxItemsInFolder property to limit the number of rendered items (messages, contacts, or tasks) in each folder. The default property value is 50. Set this property to 0 to render all existing items.

The following example demonstrates how to specify the maximum number of folder items to render:

using GroupDocs.Viewer;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Options;
// ...

using (var viewer = new Viewer("sample.pst"))
{
    // Create an HTML file.
    var viewOptions = HtmlViewOptions.ForEmbeddedResources();
    // Specify the maximum number of folder items.
    viewOptions.OutlookOptions.MaxItemsInFolder = 30;
    viewer.View(viewOptions);
}

Microsoft Outlook allows you to filter messages by specific words in the message body or by part of the sender’s or recipient’s address.

With GroupDocs.Viewer, you can also filter messages before rendering an Outlook data file to HTML, PDF, or image format. To do this, use the following properties:

• OutlookOptions.TextFilter—Allows you to render all messages that contain specific text in the subject or body.
• OutlookOptions.AddressFilter—Allows you to render all messages that contain specific text in the sender’s or recipient’s address.

The following code sample filters messages in a PST file before rendering this file to HTML:

using GroupDocs.Viewer;
using GroupDocs.Viewer.Options;
// ...

using (var viewer = new Viewer("sample.pst"))
{
    // Create an HTML file.
    var viewOptions = HtmlViewOptions.ForEmbeddedResources();
    // Set filters.
    viewOptions.OutlookOptions.TextFilter = "Viewer";
    viewOptions.OutlookOptions.AddressFilter = "groupdocs.com";
    viewer.View(viewOptions);
}