Outlook Email Extraction: Extract Key Information Like Names, Companies, Numbers, and Email Addresses

Author: Sun Last Modified: 2025-03-11

In today’s fast-paced email communication, quickly extracting key information from emails—such as names, email addresses, numbers (e.g., prices, phone numbers), and company names—is crucial. Especially when dealing with lengthy emails, extracting this information not only helps users understand the content faster but also significantly improves work efficiency and accuracy. This tutorial introduces three methods for extracting email information: Manual Extraction, VBA Semi-Automated Extraction, and Kutools AI Fully Automated Extraction, helping you choose the best approach for your needs.

Traditional Extraction – Manual

Manually copy and paste data from emails. Simple but slow and prone to errors.

Kutools AI for Extraction – Fully Automated

Automatically extract data with one click using Kutools for Outlook’s AI Assistant. Fast, accurate, and easy to use.

VBA for Extraction – Semi-Automated

Use VBA srcipts to partially automate extraction. Requires coding skills and offers limited customization.

Traditional Extraction – Manual

Manual extraction is the most basic method, requiring users to open emails, manually locate key information (e.g., names, email addresses, phone numbers), and copy-paste it into Excel or other documents.

Step 1. Open the target email and read through its content.

Step 2. Manually locate and select the key information (e.g., names, email addresses, phone numbers), then press Ctrl + C to copy it.

Step 3. Go to Excel or other documents and press Ctrl + V to paste.

Pros and Cons

Pros

No additional tools required.
Simple and suitable for occasional use.

Cons

Time-consuming and prone to errors, especially with large volumes of emails.
Not suitable for frequent use or large-scale extraction tasks.

Kutools AI for Extraction – Fully Automated

Kutools for Outlook’s AI Assistant offers a fully automated solution. Leveraging advanced AI technology allows users to extract key information (e.g., names, company names, phone numbers, email addresses) with just one click.

👉 Kutools for Outlook has a free version now, whose 70+ features are free for a lifetime. Download the Free Version Now.

Step 1. Install Kutools for Outlook, and then open Outlook, click Kutools > AI to enable the Kutools AI feature.

Note:

If you are using Kutools’ AI feature in Outlook for the first time, an AI Settings dialog will pop up, prompting you to select an AI provider (e.g., OpenAI, Google Gemini, Baidu) and enter your AI key.
If you don't have an AI key yet, I recommend you apply the Kutools AI key, which allows you to use Kutools AI features 100 times free of charge. How do I get a Kutools AI key?

Step 2. Go to the activated Kutools AI pane, click the Extract tab, then click the Generate button to extract the information from the current email by AI.

You can see all key information is extracted and listed in the pane.

Step 3 - 1. If the content is not stratified, click the Regenerate button to allow the AI to extract new key information for you.

Step 3 - 2. If the content is satisfied, click the Copy button to copy the extracted content, and paste it to anywhere you want.

Customization

Users can customize the types of information to extract (e.g., names, company names, phone numbers).

Click the Skill Library Management button, locate the Extract skill, and click the Add Options button to enter your custom requests and save them.

Pros and Cons

Pros

No coding knowledge required; easy to use.
Fast extraction with high accuracy.
Highly customizable and flexible.

Cons

Need to instal Kutools for Outlook

VBA for Extraction – Semi-Automated

VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) is a semi-automated method that allows users to extract specific information from emails by writing srcipts.

Note: The VBA provided here can only extract email addresses and numbers, displaying the extracted content in a dialog box without the ability to copy.

Step 1. Open the target email and read through its content.

Step 2. Press Alt + F11 keys to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, then click Insert > Module to create a new module.

Step 3. Copy the VBA below and paste it to the new module.

VBA: Extract email addresses and numbers from current email

Sub ExtractDataFromCurrentEmail()
'UpdateByKutools
    Dim xCurEmail As Object
    Dim xEmailBody As String
    Dim xEmailPattern As String
    Dim xPhonePattern As String
    Dim xMatches As Object
    Dim xMatch As Variant
    Dim xExtractedData As String
    On Error Resume Next
    'Get the currently selected email
    If Application.ActiveWindow = Inspector Then
        Set xCurEmail = Application.ActiveInspector.CurrentItem
    Else
        Set xCurEmail = Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection.Item(1)
    End If
    'Check if the selected item is an email
    If xCurEmail.Class <> olMail Then
        MsgBox "Please select an email to extract data.", vbExclamation
        Exit Sub
    End If
    'Extract the email body
    xEmailBody = xCurEmail.Body
    'Define regex patterns for email addresses, and phone numbers
    xEmailPattern = "\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b"
    xPhonePattern = "\d+"
    'Initialize the extracted data string
    xExtractedData = "Extracted Data:" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf
    'Extract email addresses using regex
    Set xMatches = ExtractUsingRegex(xEmailBody, xEmailPattern)
    If xMatches.Count > 0 Then
        xExtractedData = xExtractedData & "Email Addresses:" & vbCrLf
        For Each xMatch In xMatches
            xExtractedData = xExtractedData & xMatch & vbCrLf
        Next xMatch
        xExtractedData = xExtractedData & vbCrLf
    Else
        xExtractedData = xExtractedData & "No email addresses found." & vbCrLf & vbCrLf
    End If
    'Extract phone numbers using regex
    Set xMatches = ExtractUsingRegex(xEmailBody, xPhonePattern)
    If xMatches.Count > 0 Then
        xExtractedData = xExtractedData & "Numbers:" & vbCrLf
        For Each xMatch In xMatches
            xExtractedData = xExtractedData & xMatch & vbCrLf
        Next xMatch
    Else
        xExtractedData = xExtractedData & "No numbers found." & vbCrLf
    End If
    'Display the extracted data in a message box
    MsgBox xExtractedData, vbInformation, "Extracted Data"
End Sub

Function ExtractUsingRegex(Text As String, Pattern As String) As Object
    Dim xRegex As Object
    Set xRegex = CreateObject("VBsrcipt.RegExp")
    With xRegex
        .Global = True
        .IgnoreCase = True
        .Pattern = Pattern
    End With
    Set ExtractUsingRegex = xRegex.Execute(Text)
End Function

Step 4. Click the Run button or press the F5 key, and then click the Run button to run the code.

A dialog pops up to display the extracted information.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Reduces manual effort, suitable for users with programming knowledge.
Reduces manual effort, suitable for users with programming knowledge.

Cons

Requires coding skills; customizing extraction rules involves modifying the srcipt.
Extraction results may lack precision, and managing data is inconvenient.
If the VBA srcipt is lost, it must be rewritten or recovered.

Comparison of Methods

Method	Manual Extraction	Kutools	VBA
Ease of Use	Simple	Very Easy	Moderate
Best For	Occasional use	Frequeny or large-scale task	Advanced users
Customization	None	Highly customizable	Limited (requires coding)
Extraction Speed	Slow	Fast	Moderate
Accuracy	Low	High	Moderate

Whether you need to extract information occasionally or handle large volumes of emails frequently, the three methods introduced in this tutorial can meet your needs. If you’re looking for a fast, accurate, and coding-free solution, Kutools for Outlook’s AI Assistant is your best choice. Download it now and enjoy a free trial to experience the convenience of one-click email extraction!