Save raw eml file using IMAP and POP3

There are times that you need to save raw email data in eml format.

This tutorial shows how to use Mail.dll POP3 and IMAP clients to achieve this goal.

Note that we don’t need to parse the emails, so we aren’t using MailBuilder class and IMail interface.

Samples provided use both POP3 and IMAP protocols and both C# and VB.NET.

Save email using IMAP:

The code below will search for all the emails with specified subject and write all these emails to your c: drive.

// C# code

using (Imap imap = new Imap())
{
    imap.Connect("imap.example.com");    // use ConnectSSL for SSL connection.
    imap.UseBestLogin("user", "password");

    imap.SelectInbox();

    List<long> uids = imap.Search(
        Expression.Subject("email subject"));

    foreach (long uid in uids)
    {
        var eml = imap.GetMessageByUID(uid);
        string fileName = string.Format(@"c:\email_{0}.eml", uid);
        File.WriteAllBytes(fileName, eml);
    }
    imap.Close();
}

' VB.NET code

Using imap As New Imap()
	imap.Connect("imap.example.com")    ' use ConnectSSL for SSL connection.
	imap.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

	imap.SelectInbox()

	Dim uids As List(Of Long) = imap.Search( _
		Expression.Subject("email subject"))

	For Each uid As Long In uids
		Dim eml = imap.GetMessageByUID(uid)
		Dim fileName As String = String.Format(@"c:\email_{0}.eml", uid)
		File.WriteAllBytes(fileName, eml)
	Next
	imap.Close()
End Using

Save email using POP3:

As POP3 protocol does not allow searching, the code below will write all emails to your c: drive. You can easily limit this to the specified uid.

// C# code

using (Pop3 pop3 = new Pop3())
{
    pop3.Connect("pop3.example.com");    // use ConnectSSL for SSL connection.
    pop3.UseBestLogin("user", "password");

    foreach (string uid in pop3.GetAll())
    {
        var eml = pop3.GetMessageByUID(uid));
        string fileName = string.Format(@"c:\email_{0}.eml", uid);
        File.WriteAllBytes(fileName, eml);
    }
    pop3.Close();
}

' VB.NET code

Using pop3 As New Pop3()
	pop3.Connect("pop3.example.com")    'use ConnectSSL for SSL connection.
	pop3.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

  For Each uid As String In pop3.GetAll()
		Dim eml = pop3.GetMessageByUID(uid)
		Dim fileName As String = String.Format("c:\email_{0}.eml", uid)
		File.WriteAllBytes(fileName, eml)
	Next
	pop3.Close()
End Using

You can download Mail.dll at: Mail.dll .NET email component

Tags: C# eml IMAP IMAP component POP3 POP3 component VB.NET