How to Open an OFT File on a Mac (Outlook Template Files)

AvatarByEric Dawson Computers & Software

An OFT file will not open on a Mac, because the OFT format is built only for Outlook on Windows, and Outlook for Mac contains no code to read it. Even a fully licensed Microsoft 365 subscription and the newest version of Outlook for Mac do not add support for the format. The practical fix is not a hidden setting, since none exists, but one of two routes: convert the OFT file into a format macOS already reads, such as EML, MSG or PDF, or rebuild the template natively as an EMLTPL file using Outlook for Mac’s own Save as Template command. Both routes, along with the exact menu paths and what to try when a converted file still will not open, are covered below.

Why an OFT File Will Not Open on a Mac

OFT files fail on a Mac because the format was built only for Outlook on Windows, and Outlook for Mac has no code to read it. Microsoft’s own support forum states the situation plainly: Outlook for Mac cannot read .oft files because the application was never built to handle them. That holds even when a Mac user owns a full Microsoft 365 subscription and runs the latest version of Outlook for Mac, since the gap is architectural rather than a missing setting.

Double-clicking an .oft attachment on a Mac produces no preview and no explanation. Finder does not recognize the extension, and both Mail and Outlook for Mac decline to open it, because macOS has no application registered to handle the OFT format at all. The file sits on the desktop unchanged until it is converted or discarded.

Business teams run into this most often with proposal templates, expense report forms and standardized reply emails built on a Windows machine and then shared with a colleague who works on a Mac. Nothing about the content is unusual, only the container, and that distinction matters because the fix is a format problem rather than a damaged or unreadable file. Once the content lands in a format the Mac already understands, every word, image and attachment carries over intact.

How Outlook for Mac Handles Email Templates Instead

Outlook for Mac stores templates as .emltpl files rather than .oft files, and the two formats serve the same purpose on their own platforms. Both hold a pre-written subject line, formatted body text and any attachments the author added, so a Mac user gets the same convenience the Windows format offers, just under a different extension. No direct conversion tool moves a file straight from OFT to EMLTPL, which is why the sections below rely on an intermediate format instead.

OFT vs EMLTPL at a Glance

The two formats differ mainly in which operating system and application can open them, not in what they store.

Aspect OFT (Windows) EMLTPL (Mac)
Operating system Windows only macOS only
Application Outlook for Windows Outlook for Mac
File extension .oft .emltpl
Creation requirement Outlook for Windows installed Microsoft 365 subscription, Outlook for Mac 15.35 (170610) or later
Cross-platform compatibility Windows to Windows only Mac to Mac only
Direct conversion available No No
What it stores Formatted text, subject line, attachments Formatted text, subject line, attachments

Reading the table this way avoids a common misunderstanding: EMLTPL is not a downgraded or partial version of OFT. Each format is the full, native template implementation for its own platform, and the only thing separating a Mac user from an OFT file’s content is the missing bridge between the two.

How to Create and Use a Template in Outlook for Mac

Outlook for Mac builds a native template through File, then Save as Template, or the keyboard shortcut Command+Shift+S, and the result is saved as an .emltpl file rather than an OFT file. That path only works with a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription and a current version of the app.

Requirements to Create Templates on a Mac

Two conditions have to be met before the template controls appear. A Microsoft 365 subscription is required, since the feature is not part of a one-time Office purchase, and Outlook for Mac needs to be version 15.35 (170610) or later. Accounts connected through Microsoft Exchange also get an extra option called the My Templates add-in, which is not available on other account types.

How to Save a New Email Template

  1. Compose the message. Open a new email in Outlook for Mac and write the subject line, body text and any attachments the template should include.
  2. Open the File menu. Click File in the menu bar, or press Command+Shift+S directly from the compose window.
  3. Choose Save as Template. Select the Save as Template option from the File menu if you did not use the shortcut.
  4. Name the template. Type a name that will let you recognize the template later, then confirm.
  5. Add a category if wanted. Assign a color tag such as Red, Blue, Important or Work to keep templates organized.

Category tags earn their keep once a template library grows past a handful of files. A Red tag for urgent client replies, a Work tag for internal announcements and a Blue tag for anything routine turns a flat list of .emltpl files into something that can be scanned at a glance, which matters more on a Mac than on Windows since Outlook for Mac has no folder structure built specifically for templates.

How to Send an Email from a Saved Template

Saved templates appear under File, then New, then Email From Template, where selecting the .emltpl file loads it into a fresh compose window. Outlook fills in the subject, body and attachments automatically, leaving the recipient field open to complete before sending.

How to Convert an OFT File for a Mac to Read

Converting the OFT file to a format macOS already supports is the most direct way to read its content, since no manual method opens an OFT file on a Mac. A dedicated conversion tool reads the proprietary OFT structure and exports it into a format such as EML, MSG or PDF that both Mail and Outlook for Mac can open normally.

Formats an OFT File Can Be Converted To

Conversion tools built for this purpose typically export an OFT file to PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF or CSV, and vendors describe the process as lossless for text, formatting and attachments. Once converted, the resulting file can also be imported straight into a web-based account such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Office 365, which sidesteps the desktop template question entirely if the message content is all that matters.

Which format to pick depends on what happens next. EML keeps the file behaving like a normal email message, openable in Mail or Outlook for Mac with a double-click. PDF freezes the layout for sharing or archiving when nobody needs to edit the content again. MSG stays closer to the original Outlook structure and suits a workflow that eventually moves the file back to a Windows machine. CSV strips everything down to raw text and works best when only the data inside a form template matters, not its formatting.

Using a Word Document to Share a Template Instead

A Word document sidesteps the format mismatch completely, since both Windows and Mac users can open a .docx file without any conversion software. Someone on Windows builds the template’s text and formatting in Microsoft Word and attaches the document to an email instead of an OFT file. The Mac recipient then opens the attachment, copies the formatted content into a new Outlook message, and saves that message as an .emltpl template through the normal Save as Template command.

If I needed the content rather than a permanent Mac template, I would choose EML as the first conversion format. It offers a better middle ground than treating the file as a document, because the article identifies EML as a format that Mail and Outlook for Mac can open normally. I would reserve PDF for a situation where the goal is simply to inspect or share the message content. After opening the EML, I would rebuild any template I expect to reuse as an EMLTPL file in Outlook for Mac.

How to Share a Template Between Windows and Mac Users

Sharing a template between Windows and Mac users works best through an intermediate format, because Outlook on the two platforms cannot read each other’s native template files. Microsoft’s own support forum confirms that no direct conversion exists between .emltpl and .oft, so teams that need templates on both platforms typically keep two separate copies, one per format, or share the plain content through email and let each side save its own version.

Two approaches hold up in practice. A Windows user can email the finished template as a regular message, and the Mac recipient saves it as an EMLTPL template locally. Alternatively, both sides keep their own template library and treat the other platform’s format as read-only reference material rather than something to import.

Mixed offices tend to settle on the first approach once the second one causes enough confusion. Maintaining two libraries sounds tidy on paper, yet it quietly drifts out of sync the moment one side updates a template and forgets to tell the other, so treating the plain email as the shared source of truth avoids that drift entirely.

What to Do if the Converted File Still Will Not Open

Check the converted file’s extension first, since a mislabeled EML or MSG file will not open even though the conversion itself succeeded. Rename the file so the extension matches its actual format, then try opening it again in Mail or Outlook for Mac.

A few other checks catch most remaining failures. Confirm Outlook for Mac is updated to the current version, since older builds reject file types a newer release accepts without complaint. Try opening the converted file in Apple Mail instead of Outlook, which reads standard EML files even when Outlook for Mac behaves inconsistently. Reach out to whoever sent the original OFT file and ask for it in a more portable format, such as PDF, or ask them to resend it as a regular email rather than a template attachment.

For calendar invitations specifically, Microsoft’s own guidance for users without a Microsoft 365 subscription is to ask the sender for an ICS file instead of an OFT file, since ICS is a widely supported calendar format that opens in Calendar, Outlook and most other mail clients without conversion.

When the Original OFT File Is Already Broken

Sometimes the OFT file itself is the problem, not the Mac. Microsoft has confirmed that OFT files are not currently supported in New Outlook for Windows, the newer interface replacing classic Outlook, and files opened there can show extra spacing, broken lines and misaligned text even on a Windows machine. If the sender created or last opened the file in New Outlook, ask them to resend it from classic Outlook or as a PDF, since a Mac cannot fix formatting damage that happened before the file ever left Windows.

Checking with the sender first saves a round of pointless conversion attempts. A file that already displays broken spacing inside Windows will not look better after it crosses over to a Mac, no matter which tool handles the conversion, so confirming the source file is clean is worth the extra message.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Outlook for Mac Open an OFT File Directly?

No. Outlook for Mac has no built-in support for the OFT format, regardless of subscription level or app version, because the format was designed only for Windows. The only ways to use an OFT file’s content on a Mac are converting it to a supported format or rebuilding it as a native EMLTPL template.

Does OFT Compatibility Work in New Outlook for Windows?

Not reliably. Microsoft has stated that OFT support in New Outlook for Windows is a design limitation at this time, and users have reported extra spacing, broken lines and misaligned text when opening OFT files there. Classic Outlook for Windows remains the more predictable option for working with OFT templates, and that matters for a Mac user too, since a broken source file stays broken after conversion.

What if I Receive an OFT File Without Using Outlook?

Ask the sender to resend the content in a more universal format. For calendar-related templates, Microsoft’s own guidance suggests requesting an ICS file instead, since ICS opens across nearly every calendar and mail application without conversion. A PDF or a plain email covers most other cases without requiring specialized software.

Is There a Free Way to Convert an OFT File on a Mac?

Free conversion tools were not documented in the sources consulted for this guide, and paid conversion software is the commonly recommended route since no manual, cost-free method opens an OFT file on a Mac. Rebuilding the content by hand is the realistic free alternative: open the OFT file on a Windows machine, copy its text, and recreate it as an EMLTPL template using Save as Template in Outlook for Mac. That approach costs time rather than money.

Can an EMLTPL Template Be Converted Back into an OFT File?

No direct conversion exists in either direction between EMLTPL and OFT, according to Microsoft’s own support forum. Content still moves between the formats indirectly, by copying the template’s text into a new message on the target platform and saving it there in that platform’s native format. There is no file-level converter that turns one extension directly into the other.

Treat the Mac and Windows template formats as separate systems that happen to serve the same purpose. Convert an OFT file to EML, MSG or PDF when you only need to read what is inside it, build a fresh EMLTPL template with Save as Template when you need something reusable on a Mac, and fall back to a Word attachment or a plain email whenever a file needs to travel between both platforms without loss.

What This Page Does Not Publish

  • I do not compare conversion tools here, so choose one based on your own workflow.
  • I do not cover other email clients, because this page focuses on Outlook for Mac.
  • I do not cover preview or beta versions of Outlook for Mac.

References

Author Profile

Eric Dawson
Eric Dawson
I'm Eric Dawson, the writer behind The Money Watch. I live in the Columbus, Ohio area and I write about the ordinary questions that turn out to be complicated: computers, shopping, food, travel, parking, small businesses, fees, rules and products. Every article starts with the official page, the maker or the agency, then the sources that check it, and I say plainly where they disagree and what I would do. More about how I work is on the About page.