Extract Phone Numbers from SquirrelMail

You need phone numbers from your SquirrelMail account for a client list, a lead sheet or a new phone, and you cannot find a button for it. SquirrelMail stores contacts as plain text and has no phone column, so numbers sit inside email bodies and signatures instead. Below are three ways to extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail, with limits for every method.

Can you extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail?

Yes, you can extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail, but not with a built-in button. SquirrelMail is a PHP-based webmail client, and its address book holds only a few fields. A hosting knowledge base guide lists your Add Address form as Nick name, Email address, First name, Last name and Additional info. There is no phone number box.

That shapes your method. If you typed numbers into Additional info, an address book export carries them. If numbers live in signatures and message text, which is where most business numbers sit, you must read your mail. Select your method by where your numbers are.

Where does SquirrelMail store contacts before you extract phone numbers?

SquirrelMail keeps every address book as a plain text file on your server. A DirectAdmin forum thread shows an admin who found that every address book sits in a data directory, in a file named after your email address. DirectAdmin support replied that its standard backups already include address book, preference and signature files for every account.

On cPanel hosting, a Letshost knowledge base article places files in a hidden .sqmaildata folder, with names like name@yourdomain.com.abook. It says that file holds one contact per line with fields split by a pipe character |. SquirrelMail developer docs describe contact records with nickname, name, email and a label field, and list no phone field.

How to extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail address book?

Download your .abook file from cPanel File Manager and open it in a spreadsheet to extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail contacts. That only helps when you saved numbers in Additional info.

1. Sign in to cPanel and open File Manager.
2. Open Settings and enable Show Hidden Files (dotfiles).
3. Open your .sqmaildata folder and download your .abook file.
4. Open it in Excel or LibreOffice Calc with text import.
5. Set your separator to Other, enter |, then save your sheet as CSV.
6. Scan your last column, which holds Additional info, for phone numbers.

These steps follow that Letshost article, which uses them to move contacts into Horde. An IIT Kanpur help page also shows an option to export a SquirrelMail address book to your computer as a CSV file. Catch: if your contacts never held numbers, an export returns none.

How to extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail emails by hand?

Open messages one by one, find a signature and copy its number into a sheet. It is free and slow, and it suits a short list.

1. Sign in to SquirrelMail and open your folder, such as Inbox or Sent.
2. Open a message and read its signature and body for a phone or mobile number.
3. Copy that number into a spreadsheet next to your sender name.
4. Open your next message and repeat.
5. Remove duplicates when you finish.

Catch: numbers inside PDF or Word attachments need a separate download, and one missed signature means one missed lead. At a few seconds per message, a mailbox of 5,000 emails takes days.

Steps to extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail with software

1. Install it on a Windows PC and start it.
2. Select Open, then Email Accounts and Add account.
3. Enter your SquirrelMail email address and password. Open Advance Settings to add your IMAP server and port. Your hosting panel lists them, and common values are port 993 with SSL or port 143.
4. Select Add and wait while your folder tree loads. Switch on Compact View if you want a tighter list.
5. Select Extract, then Phone Numbers.
6. Tick folders to read. Set your save location with Browse. Leave Extract phone numbers from attachments on to read attached files too.
7. Select Save. Numbers appear in Phone Numbers Found with a total, and a TXT file lands in your folder.

Same menu also lists Email Addresses, Attachments and Associated Email and Phone Numbers. Its product page says free trial saves 10 emails per folder, so test one folder before you buy. Lifetime licence starts at $99 with a 30-day money-back window. Need only addresses? See how to extract email addresses from EML files.

Which way to extract SquirrelMail phone numbers is best?

Match your method to where your SquirrelMail phone numbers sit. Use address book export for saved contacts, copy by hand for a short list and software for full mailboxes.

Moving your mail too? See how to export SquirrelMail emails to Gmail.

Why does SquirrelMail phone number extraction go wrong?

SquirrelMail phone numbers missing from address book export

SquirrelMail contacts carry nickname, name, email and a note. Numbers appear only if you typed them in Additional info. Search your messages to extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail emails.

You cannot see your .abook file

Files sit in a hidden .sqmaildata folder. In cPanel File Manager, enable Show Hidden Files in Settings before you look for them.

Spreadsheet puts all contact data in one column

SquirrelMail splits fields with a pipe character. Choose Other as your separator and enter | during text import.

Your host removed SquirrelMail and you cannot extract phone numbers

Many hosts dropped SquirrelMail screens, yet your mailbox is intact. Software reads it over IMAP, so a retired webmail screen does not block extraction.

SquirrelMail phone numbers hide in attachments

Quotes and invoices carry numbers in PDF and Word files. Hand copying skips them, so keep your attachments switch on in software.

What to do after you extract phone numbers from SquirrelMail?

Open your TXT file of SquirrelMail phone numbers and check a few against their original emails. Remove duplicates, add country codes where they are missing and save a second copy on another drive. Contact people only where you have permission. To save mail itself, see how to backup SquirrelMail email, and for files attached to your mail, read how to extract SquirrelMail attachments.

Questions about extracting phone numbers from SquirrelMail