Is it possible that your Outlook database is corrupt? Have you tried to rebuild it?
Outlook 2011 will export to .olm files, and there are 3rd party utilities available that will convert .olm to .mbox (UNIX mailbox). DEVONthink’s mail importer can import from .mbox mailboxes.
Korm - Thanks for the continued suggestions.
There seems to be no sign of database corruption - none of the symptoms listed in the link you gave appear in my Outlook. I may eventually give this a try, but sounds at this point like a massive outlay of time for a very small likelihood of positive return.
If I drag a folder from OUtlook onto my desktop, it becomes an MBOX archive (filename.mbox). From within DT I can then file:import:file to bring this .mbox file into DT. However, it comes in as an archive, not a folder full of easily accessible emails.
If I could find a way of unzipping this archive within DT, I’d be set.
Also, I’d use the DT file:import:email function, but when I do this, it defaults to Import from Outlook, and locks up both DT and Outlook. If there were some way not to default to Outlook for email import, I’d do that, but I don’t know what that way is.
Aha! 
– I had not realized that dragging a folder from Outlook creates an .mbox. So, don’t import that using File > Import > Files and Folders…. Instead, import it using File > Import > Email… and choose the “UNIX Mailbox…” option:
When you click “UNIX Mailbox…” DEVONthink will prompt you for the location of the .mbox.
Just tested this with a Outlook 2011 folder, dragged to the desktop, and imported as above. Perfect results, over here. Conversations are threaded, attachments are attached.
(I agree on the Microsoft instructions for repairing Outlook 2011 – way too complicated.)
Hi Korm,
I’d already tried a work-around, by dragging Outlook folders to my desktop as described, then importing the resulting .mbox file into OS Mail, and finally using DT’s email importing window to pull the mails into DT. Your approach seems cleaner and I will adopt in the future.
W/ my import via Mail, everything ran smoothly, with no hangs, which is good for a start! However, the output in Mail, and also in DT, is full of junk - most emails start with garbage such as this (I’ve added ===== to set it off from my words):
======================
st! (VPS 0649-1, 11/18/2006), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean
om>
In-Reply-To: 000901c70a67$493619a0$8d1f1c97@IBMDE5586FAFE9
Mime-version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="B_3246619704_348009990"
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 17 Nov 2006 19:48:24.0580 (UTC) FILETIME=[57F0B440]
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0649-0, 11/15/2006), Inbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean
$Üìôü(=zÔì)a?aWaoawa©aÉaÑa÷aÿa%i ¨Úâ> š ì J
|
„
®
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LX`jÊB´Ê–b
======================
So perhaps your theory about a corrupted Outlook database has merit - I’ll try to rebuild.
Another QUESTION: when I try to re-import an mbox into DT that I had previously imported, I hit a snag. The DT import emails window appears not to want to import emails a second time form the same source, and I can’t find any way to re-set the .mbox file to “fresh”, ie make DT think they’ve never been imported before, and allow emails to appear in the import emails window without a little check mark in the DT column.
Any suggestions there?
Thanks again for all your brainstorming!
“Corrupted” messages – looks like you are using (or used at one time) Avast. Their forum might be a place to ask what’s up with the content of your email. DEVONthink just takes them as it finds them, so if there’s “corruption” due to something the anti-virus app does, there’'s probably nothing for DEVONthink to do about the situation.
DEVONthink prevents reimporting already imported mail on the assumption that duplication is not wanted by most users. To reimport a individual messages, conversations, folders, entire mail boxes, delete the thing you want to reimport from your database, empty the trash, and attempt a fresh import.
You’d need to delete the previously imported emails and empty the Trash or you could uncheck the option to hide imported messages and allow duplicates (depending on how much you don’t mind cleaning up).
The “Hide > Imported” checkbox only does what it says “hide imported”. It doesn’t “allow duplicates” 
(At least, in the past 8 years it never has over here 
)
Suppose I want to maintain a complete collection of messages in a mailbox, but before I capture it I’ve captured individual messages relating to a project into my database.
If I check the option in Preferences > Email - Messages: “Previously imported will become replicants” those individually captured messages will be shown as replicants in both locations.
Otherwise, they would not be visible in the captured mailbox, as they would have been skipped because of previous capture.
Thank you so much for explaining this feature! I’ve been trying to figure out what it means by checking Help > DTPO Help, but I couldn’t find it. 
Your post was made in 2011, and it seems that since then this email Preference has been moved or removed. I can’t find it anywhere in DTP 2.8.4 Preferences.
Any suggestions?
DEVONthink Pro Office provides more sophisticated management of email than does DEVONthink Pro. The Preferences > Email item exists in DEVONthink Pro Office, but not in DEVONthink Pro.
The reference to 2011 was to the version of Microsoft Office, but my post was made in 2014.
Thanks for the quick reply, Bill.
Do you think it is worth the cost of upgrade to DTPO to just enhance handling of Outlook email? I will be sending a lot of emails to DTP.
I’ve reviewed the DTP and DTPO feature list and didn’t see anything else of interest.
Thanks.
Download the trial and try it before deciding.
(Asking a software company what to buy is sort of like asking the chef “what’s good on the menu” 
)
DEVONthink Pro Office is especially tasty.
Since I have not received any responses even suggesting that an upgrade to DTPO would be worth it, I’ll stick with DTP for now, especially considering the below post.
Let’s not take what I said in the other post out of context. I was responding to a poster that had indicated:
a) Are there any other key benefits (other than the Web Server, which I don’t require);
b) ( I don’t need DEVONthink Pro’s OCR as) I already own a license to ABBYY FineReader Pro and;
c) Email archiving isn’t of interest as I have other solutions in place.
If those three points are not important to you, then yes, I would suggest that an upgrade to Pro Office is perhaps not worth it for you either.
Sorry, Greg, it was not my intent to take it out of context.
I actually think I’m in a very similar situation, in that after having reviewed the additional benefits of DTPO, I don’t see any that I really need. However, I was not sure about the additional (if any) benefits for handling Outlook email.
So far, I have not seen any significant benefit for Outlook email. But maybe I’ve missed something.
There is no benefit to using Outlook email 
(Apart from building character and fortitude while working through the mystery that is Outlook.)
(I know this is gratuitous, but I couldn’t resist.)
No problem, like water off a duck’s back.
Outlook is no mystery to me – I’ve been using it for decades now, both on Mac and Windows, and I love it. IMO, best PIM/email client out there.