Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. You may cancel before the renewal date. Either do so during the ordering process with Cleverbridge, or click the cancellation link provided in your order confirmation email, or visit the following page: https://www.cleverbridge.com/?scope=cusecolp

Cancellations take effect at the end of the current billing period.

An Activation Code enables online activation via the Fookes Software license server.
A Key File is used for offline or air-gapped systems and ties your license to specific hardware.
Learn more in the End-User License Agreement.

Aid4Mail verifies your Activation Code or Key File during setup.
Activation requires an internet connection unless you use an offline Key File.
Your license stays valid for the duration of your subscription.
Full details are in the EULA.

Yes. You may transfer your license within your organization or to a new computer, subject to activation limits.
Each reactivation requires an internet connection and may be performed up to four times per year.
See transfer terms in the EULA.

If you exceed the yearly reactivation allowance, Aid4Mail will block further activations.
Contact helpdesk@fookes.net for assistance.
Activation limits are defined in the EULA.

Yes. Annual subscribers can request a Key File for offline activation.
The Key File binds your license to approved hardware without requiring internet access.
Instructions are in the EULA.

Aid4Mail Enterprise monthly subscriptions require an initial four-month commitment.
After that, you may cancel anytime, effective at the end of the current month.
See details in the EULA.

No. Aid4Mail’s AI features follow a Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) model.
You must obtain and manage your own API keys from providers like OpenAI, Google, Mistral, or others.

Aid4Mail connects securely to these APIs but doesn’t include AI credits or usage fees in its license price.
You pay the provider directly for any AI processing performed.
See the AI Integration Guide for setup details.

Aid4Mail integrates with leading AI platforms, including Anthropic, Google, Meta AI, Mistral AI, OpenAI, and xAI.
You’ll need to create an account and obtain an API key directly from your chosen provider.

Aid4Mail connects securely to these APIs but doesn’t resell or mediate access.
For detailed setup steps, see the AI Integration Guide.

Yes. Aid4Mail supports offline AI models for maximum data security.
You can run models like Qwen 2.5 32B locally through Ollama, keeping all processing within your organization’s perimeter.

This option requires high-end hardware (e.g., 16+ CPU cores, NVIDIA A100 GPU, 128 GB RAM).
Learn more in the AI Integration Guide.

Aid4Mail itself doesn’t charge for AI processing.
You pay only your chosen AI provider’s usage fees, based on tokens processed.

In tests, Google Gemini 2.0 Flash analyzed ~50 K emails (5 GB mailbox) for under $12 USD.
To minimize cost, use pre-acquisition filtering, smaller models, and attachment limits.
See AI-Powered Analysis for optimization tips.

The best AI model depends on your priorities:

• Gemini 2.5 Flash — excellent speed, accuracy, and low cost
• Magistral Medium — GDPR-compliant EU hosting
• Qwen 2.5 32B — best open-source model for local use

For detailed performance results and comparisons, visit the AI Integration Guide.

Yes. Aid4Mail Investigator and Enterprise can run AI analysis entirely offline using locally hosted models such as Mistral Small 3.
This means your email data never leaves your system, ensuring maximum privacy and compliance with sensitive investigations.

You can also use secure third-party AI platforms like Azure, Vertex AI, or Amazon Bedrock if preferred.
See our AI Integration Guide for setup details and supported models.

Aid4Mail can export emails in JSON format, optimized for AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude.
The export includes all key fields and metadata for direct analysis or classification.

You can attach the JSON file to your preferred AI model and include a natural-language prompt.
For best results, also attach the Content Field List.csv located in Templates\Fields.

See the AI Integration Guide for examples and token-limit guidance.

Aid4Mail can collect modern cloud attachments linked in emails, such as files from Google Drive, OneDrive, or SharePoint.
When the “Collect cloud attachments and their metadata” option is enabled, Aid4Mail scans emails for cloud file links, authenticates through your connected account, and downloads the files and metadata.

Learn more in the Cloud Attachments feature overview or the detailed Cloud Attachments Guide.

Microsoft’s Graph API only allows read access for messages — it does not support email upload.
If you need to transfer messages into Microsoft 365, use either the IMAP or Outlook Profile target format instead.

See our Email Formats page for supported options.

Aid4Mail is designed for Windows and does not run natively on macOS or Linux.

However, you can use it successfully on those systems by running a Windows virtual machine (e.g., VMware, Parallels, or VirtualBox) or by installing Windows through Boot Camp on Mac computers.

All Aid4Mail editions, including Enterprise, perform normally in virtualized Windows environments.

To use IMAP with Microsoft 365, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) must be enabled on your account.
If MFA is set to “Enforced,” or conditional access policies override your settings, OAuth2 login may fail.

We recommend verifying these options in your Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
If the issue persists, use the Microsoft Graph API format instead.
More help is available in our Troubleshooting guide.

Yes. Aid4Mail can run in virtual environments such as VMware, Hyper-V, or Citrix.
This option is available on request for all Aid4Mail editions.

Virtual setups provide the same performance and functionality as standard Windows installations.

Yes. Aid4Mail can collect publicly shared Google Drive and OneDrive files without credentials.
However, for private or restricted files, you must connect a valid Google or Microsoft account in the source settings.
Without credentials, only files accessible to anyone with the link can be downloaded.

See the Cloud Attachments feature page for supported account types.

Recent Thunderbird versions (102 and later) stopped updating status flags such as read or replied in message headers.
As a result, third-party tools like Aid4Mail can no longer preserve these flags during import.

Folder naming issues may also occur if folder names include special or non-Latin characters.
You can temporarily rename such folders before conversion, then rename them back afterward.
See Email Formats for details.

If your Apple Mail data folder contains multiple email accounts (e.g., under V10), Aid4Mail may only process part of the data.
Set up one Aid4Mail session per Apple Mail account, each pointing to that account’s main folder (for example, V10\7FC4D42C...).

Avoid selecting a parent folder that contains multiple accounts.
See Troubleshooting for the correct configuration.

Only Aid4Mail Enterprise is licensed for server use.
It supports automated and large-scale processing in environments such as Windows Server or corporate data centers.

For details on features and pricing, visit the Aid4Mail Enterprise page.

Yes. Aid4Mail can search the contents of Hangul Word Processor (.hwp and .hwpx) documents attached to emails.
This feature expands Aid4Mail’s multilingual search capabilities, especially for investigations involving Korean-language data.

Learn more in the Filtering Guide and Cloud Attachments Guide.

MIH+ is Aid4Mail’s enhanced version of the EDRM Message Identification Hash (MIH).
When a valid Message-ID exists, MIH+ matches the standard MIH.
If missing, Aid4Mail automatically generates a reliable substitute, ensuring every email has a unique, consistent signature.

MIH+ improves deduplication, tagging, and interoperability with other forensic tools.
See our EDRM & MIH Guide for technical details and usage examples.

Aid4Mail supports over 40 email formats, including many not handled by FEC.

Examples:

• PST, OST, MSG (Outlook)
• MBOX, EMLX, OLM (Apple Mail, Outlook for Mac)
• Maildir and MIME archives
• Google Takeout, Mimecast, Proofpoint exports

This makes Aid4Mail ideal for forensic analysis, migrations, and mixed-source investigations.

See the full format compatibility list or the Aid4Mail vs FEC comparison.

Aid4Mail is a professional email processing solution used by digital forensics experts, eDiscovery professionals, compliance officers, and IT administrators worldwide. It handles email conversion, analysis, and migration across 40+ formats.

Key User Groups

• Legal & eDiscovery: Law firms and legal departments processing email evidence for litigation
• Digital Forensics: Law enforcement and corporate investigators examining email communications
• Compliance: Regulatory compliance and FOIA officers managing public records requests
• IT Professionals: Email migration and archiving specialists handling platform transitions

Aid4Mail is available in three editions:

• Converter: Email format conversion and migration
• Investigator: Advanced filtering and forensic analysis
• Enterprise: All features plus multi-user licensing and API access

You can view all recent changes and new features on our What’s New page.
Each Aid4Mail release includes a What’s New.pdf file installed alongside the software, accessible from the menu:
Help → What’s New

This document lists all updates, improvements, and fixes in the latest version.

Aid4Mail and Metaspike FEC are both professional email collection tools, but Aid4Mail offers broader coverage and advanced features.

Key differences include:

• 40+ supported formats vs. ~10 for FEC
• AI-powered filtering and analysis (FEC has none)
• OneDrive and SharePoint cloud attachment collection
• Portable Email Viewer with tagging
• More affordable and flexible licensing

See the full Aid4Mail vs FEC comparison.

No. You can install Aid4Mail 6 alongside Aid4Mail 5 on the same computer.
Each version uses a separate folder, so they do not interfere with each other.

This allows you to test Aid4Mail 6 while keeping version 5 available.
Download the latest installer from the Free Trial page.

Yes. You can activate Aid4Mail 6 using your existing Aid4Mail 5 Activation Code or Offline Key File, as long as it’s still valid.
When you do so, the Aid4Mail 5 EULA terms continue to apply.

For details about license terms, see the EULA page.

If User Account Control (UAC) blocks installation, right-click the Aid4Mail installer and choose “Run as administrator.”
Alternatively, you can temporarily lower your UAC settings while installing or updating Aid4Mail.

Once installation is complete, restore your normal UAC level for security.
See the Troubleshooting page if issues persist.

Aid4Mail runs on Windows only and requires the following minimum specifications:

• Operating System: Windows 10 or 11 (32- or 64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Core i3 or AMD equivalent
• Memory: 4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)
• Storage: 500 MB available disk space
• Display: 1280×720 resolution
• .NET Framework: 4.8 (required, auto-installed)

Enterprise Edition also supports Windows Server 2008 and newer.
Mac and Linux users can run Aid4Mail using a Windows virtual machine or Boot Camp.

The Aid4Mail Email Viewer runs entirely offline in any modern web browser — no installation or internet access is required.

Supported browsers:

• Google Chrome 90+
• Mozilla Firefox 88+
• Microsoft Edge 90+
• Apple Safari 14+

It operates on Windows, macOS, or Linux, using the browser’s built-in rendering engine.
Simply double-click index.html in your export folder to start.

See Email Viewer for usage instructions.

Aid4Mail extends FTK’s capabilities by handling email sources that FTK can’t process natively.
It enables direct API collection, pre-acquisition filtering, and cloud attachment capture from Gmail, Microsoft 365, and others.
Aid4Mail exports ready-to-ingest PST or EML files without requiring Outlook, and its carving tools recover deleted emails missed by FTK.

Learn more on our Aid4Mail + FTK integration page.

Aid4Mail complements EnCase by managing complex email sources efficiently.
It processes PST, MBOX, and cloud mailboxes before EnCase ingestion, drastically reducing case size.
Investigators can recover deleted or corrupted emails, apply AI-based filters, and export directly to EnCase-compatible formats—improving accuracy and turnaround.

See our Aid4Mail + EnCase integration page.

Yes. Aid4Mail fully complies with Microsoft and Google API Services User Data Policies.
It accesses only the data required for its intended operations and never uses it for advertising or profiling.
Learn more in the Privacy Policy.

Aid4Mail requests limited read-only scopes to access emails and cloud attachments.
For example:

• Google: gmail.readonly, drive.readonly, drive.metadata.readonly
• Microsoft: Mail.Read, Files.Read, Sites.Read.All
  See the full list in the Privacy Policy and Microsoft API Access section.

Yes. You can revoke access anytime from your account settings:

• Google: myaccount.google.com/permissions
• Microsoft: account.live.com/consent/Manage
  Instructions are also in the Privacy Policy.

Aid4Mail stores OAuth2 tokens securely on your local machine, encrypted with AES-256.
Tokens are used only for the duration of your session and can be deleted or revoked at any time.
See the Privacy Policy section on Token Handling for full details.

Aid4Mail streamlines Magnet AXIOM investigations by pre-filtering data before ingestion—cutting processing time and data volume by up to 90%.
It collects Gmail and Microsoft 365 data, including OneDrive and Google Drive attachments, and can classify emails with AI before AXIOM review.

Learn more on the Aid4Mail + AXIOM integration page.

Aid4Mail reduces RelativityOne hosting costs by pre-culling email collections locally before upload.
It captures all cloud attachments, recovers deleted content, and exports Relativity-ready load files.
App-Only Access allows silent, enterprise-wide Microsoft 365 collection while maintaining GDPR and PIPA compliance.

See our Aid4Mail + RelativityOne integration page and eDiscovery solutions overview.

Aid4Mail fills Nuix’s email-handling gaps by offering App-Only Access to Microsoft 365, enabling tenant-wide, credential-free collection.
It processes Google Vault and Proofpoint exports natively, supports differential acquisitions, and preserves complete metadata for defensible review.

See the Aid4Mail + Nuix integration page.

Yes. Aid4Mail supports Microsoft 365 App-Only Access, allowing administrators to collect data from all mailboxes in an organization.
No individual user credentials or interactive logins are needed.

This is ideal for enterprise-wide investigations, compliance monitoring, or legal holds.
See Email Collection from Microsoft 365 for setup guidance.

Aid4Mail expands the capabilities of Intella and X-Ways by connecting directly to cloud email APIs and legacy archives.
It automates repetitive email-processing tasks, converts between non-native formats, and generates portable HTML viewers for collaboration.

Visit the Aid4Mail + Intella integration page or Aid4Mail + X-Ways page.

Aid4Mail complements tools like FTK, EnCase, AXIOM, and RelativityOne by focusing on what they handle least efficiently—email evidence.
It delivers advanced filtering, cloud attachment capture, AI-powered analysis, and high-speed processing that reduce costs and turnaround time.
Aid4Mail transforms any investigation platform into a complete email forensics solution.

See all Aid4Mail integrations or our eDiscovery solution overview.

Aid4Mail and KIBIT Automator create a streamlined end-to-end workflow.
Aid4Mail performs precise email collection with server-side filtering, cloud attachment capture, and forensic recovery—ensuring smaller, cleaner datasets.
KIBIT Automator then applies AI-assisted review to prioritize and validate results, reducing review effort by up to 80% while maintaining full defensibility.
Both tools are optimized for Korean and CJK content, including HWP/HWPX documents.

Aid4Mail and KIBIT XAMINER form a powerful combination for Korean digital forensics.
Aid4Mail collects and filters emails—recovering deleted content and capturing cloud attachments—while maintaining forensic integrity.
KIBIT XAMINER then performs AI-driven review, highlighting key sentences, detecting irrelevant data, and visualizing reviewer quality.
Both tools handle Hangul and CJK formats, ensuring accurate results and defensible workflows across multilingual datasets.

This usually happens because Windows Controlled Folder Access blocks Aid4Mail from saving its authentication token.
Even though the browser shows “Authentication successful,” Aid4Mail can’t write the token file to disk.

To fix this, add Aid4Mail.exe and Aid4Mail-Authenticator.exe to the allowed apps list in Windows security settings.
See Troubleshooting for detailed steps.

For best performance, structure filters from narrow to broad:

1. Start with date or folder restrictions
2. Add metadata filters (e.g., Type:Personal, -Type:Duplicate)
3. Finish with content searches

Avoid very common words, limit proximity operators, and use search lists for long keyword sets.
These practices speed up searches and reduce false positives.

See detailed recommendations in the Filtering Guide.

Invalid or missing proxy settings can block Aid4Mail from reaching email servers or completing OAuth2 authentication.
Check that the proxy configuration in Aid4Mail’s Options > Network matches your environment.
If your organization doesn’t use a proxy, make sure these settings are disabled.

In corporate networks, consult your IT department to confirm the correct configuration.
See also our Troubleshooting guide.

Yes. Windows Firewall can block Aid4Mail’s OAuth2 authentication and online access.
To allow secure communication, add the following program to your Firewall’s allow list:

• Aid4Mail-Authenticator.exe

After adding the exception, restart Aid4Mail and try connecting again.
More details are available in the Troubleshooting section.

This often happens when Windows security features restrict file access.
Ensure that Controlled Folder Access is not blocking Aid4Mail and that you have permission to write in your selected folders.

Add the Aid4Mail executables to the allowed apps list, then restart the software.
See more solutions on the Troubleshooting page.

Aid4Mail lets you limit cloud attachment downloads using the “Collect files up to” option.
You can choose Only metadata, a specific size limit between 10 MB and 500 MB, or No limit.
This helps control storage use and reduce bandwidth throttling during collection.

See configuration details in the Cloud Attachments Guide.

MAPI conversion can fail if Outlook is installed as a Click-to-Run or packaged app.
We recommend uninstalling the Click-to-Run version and reinstalling Outlook from your Microsoft 365 account as the full desktop edition.

Alternatively, use Tools → Fix Registry for MAPI in Aid4Mail to correct registry entries.
See our Troubleshooting guide for details.

Yahoo and AOL’s IMAP servers have a long-standing bug with the SENTBEFORE and SENTSINCE operators.
Aid4Mail uses a safe workaround by replacing them with BEFORE and SINCE, which rely on internal server dates.

This may cause slight differences in results, but ensures stable processing.
Other IMAP services are not affected.

Here are common issues users face when building Boolean filters:

1. Missing parentheses

Subject:contract OR agreement AND From:john@company.com

This finds emails with contract anywhere, or agreement from John.
✅ Fix:

(Subject:contract OR agreement) AND From:john@company.com

2. Wrong operator precedence
   Remember: NOT runs before AND, which runs before OR.

3. Overuse of OR
   Long chains of OR slow searches. Use search lists instead.

4. Negating incorrectly
   Use NOT term or -term, not term NOT something.

5. Mixing symbols and words
   Choose one style — either AND/OR/NOT or +/|/- — for clarity.

For detailed syntax rules, see the Filtering Guide.

Yahoo and AOL limit IMAP search results to 1,000 messages per folder.
If a folder exceeds that limit, Aid4Mail narrows the date range automatically, but messages beyond that range can’t be collected.

To avoid missing emails, use Search query filtering instead of date-based filtering under Native Filtering in Aid4Mail.

Gmail doesn’t always refresh immediately after Aid4Mail imports messages.
Press Ctrl + R (or refresh the browser) to update the view.

If folders still don’t appear, confirm that you authenticated the correct Gmail account during sign-in.
Only the account authorized in OAuth2 will show the imported data. See our Troubleshooting guide.

(Background reference: “Gmail Doesn’t Show Imported Folders or Messages” in the release notes.):contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

Aid4Mail now automatically detects and manages IMAP rate limits.
If a mail server imposes a limit, Aid4Mail retries several times within one hour.
If the limit remains active, it stops processing to avoid indefinite hangs.

This ensures stable performance during large-scale collections or restricted connections.
See the Troubleshooting Guide for best practices.

Aid4Mail offers flexible subscription pricing with both annual and monthly plans for all three editions.

Pricing Structure

Edition	Annual	Monthly
Converter	$299/year	$49/month
Investigator	$999/year	$129/month
Enterprise	$4,999/year	$649/month

What’s Included

All subscriptions include:

• ✅ Unlimited email processing – No volume restrictions
• ✅ Free updates – All new features and improvements
• ✅ Technical support – Email and help center access
• ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee – Risk-free trial period

Discounts Available

• Academic institutions: 25% discount with valid .edu email
• Volume licensing: Contact sales for multi-user pricing
• Partner programs: Special rates for integration partners

Visit our pricing page for current rates or contact sales for custom enterprise needs.

Yes. All these documents — including the W-9 form, Certificate of Insurance, NDAA-889, and Vendor Form — are available for download directly from Cleverbridge.

Visit the following page to access them:
https://support.cleverbridge.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405449389587-I-m-a-vendor-looking-to-place-an-order-from-the-U-S-What-documents-do-I-need

Yes. You can download the free trial of Aid4Mail and use it without time limits, registration, or payment.

Trial mode includes all features but applies a few restrictions:

• Subject lines are shortened and marked with a trial notice.
• The From address appears as trial-mode@aid4mail.com.
• Large attachments may be removed (over 1 MB in Enterprise/Investigator, 10 MB in Converter).

You can test Aid4Mail for as long as you like—there’s no expiration date on the trial.

The Aid4Mail Enterprise edition offers organizational flexibility rather than unlimited simultaneous use. When installed on a Windows Server, the GUI allows one user session at a time (though it can manage multiple concurrent tasks), while the CLI supports up to four simultaneous users by default (expandable on request). When run from a shareable USB key, the license can be shared among multiple users or computers—similar to lending a book—but only one instance can be active at a time, and it cannot be used on a server. For organizations requiring greater flexibility with multiple servers or more concurrent users, VM licensing options are available with custom pricing. For complete licensing details, please refer to our End User License Agreement (EULA).

You can easily access your past orders and invoices online.

Find My Orders:
https://www.cleverbridge.com/?scope=cusecolp

After entering your purchase information, you’ll receive an email listing all your orders.
From there, you can:

• View full order details by clicking “All details on this order.”
• Manage or cancel subscriptions directly from the order details page.
• Download invoices for your records.

If you need to renew your license or require help, contact helpdesk@fookes.net.

Aid4Mail offers three editions—Converter, Investigator, and Enterprise—each with tailored features and licensing terms.
Compare all editions side by side here:
👉 Aid4Mail Edition Comparison

Yes. The Converter, Investigator, and Enterprise editions allow processing of third-party or client data, provided you have lawful access and proper authorization.
See permitted usage under License Types in the EULA.

Yes. You can download Aid4Mail Converter Light or run Aid4Mail in trial mode for evaluation.
The trial includes all features with minor restrictions.
Get it here: Free Trial Download

All sales are final because a free trial is available for evaluation.
Refunds may be issued only for accidental duplicate orders.
See our Refund Policy for details.

Yes, if you distribute the unmodified Trial Package for evaluation purposes only and meet the conditions in the EULA.
You may not charge for it except as a nominal distribution fee.
See the EULA section on Distribution.

Support and updates are included during your active subscription.
Assistance is provided in English through our helpdesk and knowledge base.
See details in the EULA and Help Center.

Aid4Mail is provided “as is,” without warranties of any kind.
Fookes Software disclaims all implied warranties and limits liability as far as permitted by law.
See the Warranty Disclaimer for complete terms.

The Aid4Mail EULA is governed by Swiss law, with exclusive jurisdiction in the courts of Bern, Switzerland.
See EULA section 14 – Governing Law / Jurisdiction.

Aid4Mail uses a subscription model that includes maintenance, updates, and support—no extra fees.
In contrast, FEC uses a perpetual license that costs more upfront and requires paid annual maintenance (~$420 after the first year).

Aid4Mail Converter starts at 299 per year, offering more features at a lower total cost.

Learn more on our pricing page or see the Aid4Mail vs FEC comparison.

Some antivirus tools may mistakenly flag Aid4Mail as malicious — a false positive.
All Aid4Mail executables are scanned by around 70 antivirus products before release and are virus-free when downloaded from our official website or trusted distributors.

If you receive a warning, contact your antivirus vendor to report it, or temporarily add Aid4Mail to your software’s whitelist or exclusion list.
See also our Troubleshooting page for more guidance.

We collect only the data necessary to provide and improve our services—such as purchase records, activation details, and support correspondence.
For details about data types, purposes, and retention, see our full Privacy Policy.

Antivirus programs can block Aid4Mail’s access to files or network connections.
To avoid this, add the Aid4Mail installation folder and its executables to your antivirus program’s trusted or exclusion list.

This ensures Aid4Mail can read and write files and connect to mail servers without interference.
For more tips, visit the Troubleshooting guide.

No. Aid4Mail runs locally on your computer or secure environment.
Fookes Software cannot access your emails unless you explicitly share data for troubleshooting.
See Privacy Policy for technical details.

Windows Controlled Folder Access can prevent Aid4Mail from saving authentication tokens, settings, or log files.
To fix this, add these executables to the “allowed apps” list:

• Aid4Mail.exe
• Aid4Mail-Authenticator.exe
• a4m-32.exe
• a4m-64.exe

After doing so, restart Aid4Mail.
See the related section in our Troubleshooting page.

Aid4Mail uses secure OAuth2 authentication and AES-256 encryption for tokens and credentials.
All processing occurs under your control—Aid4Mail never modifies or transmits account content externally.
Learn more in our Privacy Policy.

Personal data is stored securely on encrypted Swiss or trusted third-party servers.
Retention periods vary by purpose—for example, license and transaction records are kept for 10 years.
Full details are in our Privacy Policy.

Aid4Mail sends a plain-text version of each email to the AI provider, including essential headers, the body, and optional attachment text.
You control what is shared — attachments can be included, limited, or excluded entirely.

For total confidentiality, choose offline AI processing to keep all data local.
See our Privacy Policy for details.

SmartScreen sometimes flags installers that are new or updated frequently.
If you downloaded Aid4Mail from our official website, it is safe to proceed — choose “Keep” when downloading and “Run anyway” when installing.

This warning will disappear automatically once Microsoft updates its SmartScreen reputation data.
You can verify file authenticity by downloading only from aid4mail.com/free-trial.

Yes. Fookes Software complies with GDPR, UK GDPR, Swiss law, and South Korea’s PIPA.
We’re not subject to the CCPA/CPRA as defined in the policy.
See the compliance statement in our Privacy Policy.

No. We never sell, rent, or trade your personal data.
Information is shared only with trusted service providers (e.g., payment or hosting partners) under strict data-processing agreements.
See Privacy Policy.

You may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, or portability of your personal data at any time.
Submit requests by email to helpdesk@fookes.net.
For full rights, see Privacy Policy.

Send a deletion request to helpdesk@fookes.net.
We’ll confirm removal unless legal retention obligations (e.g., tax records) require us to keep certain data.
See the Privacy Policy for conditions.

We work with reputable providers such as Liquid Web, Infomaniak, Cleverbridge, Freshdesk, and Google Workspace.
Each processes limited data under binding privacy terms.
See the complete list in the Privacy Policy.

We enforce HTTPS connections, encrypted storage, and access controls to protect your data from loss or unauthorized use.
All sensitive information is encrypted both in transit and at rest.
More details are available in our Privacy Policy.

The sandbox isolates email content from your system to prevent malicious code from running.
When sandboxing is ON (default), the viewer blocks:

• JavaScript execution
• Form submissions and pop-ups
• External image or stylesheet loading

You can temporarily disable sandboxing to view trusted content that needs full functionality.
A warning banner appears when sandboxing is off, reminding you to re-enable it afterward.

Learn more in the Email Viewer Guide.

Attachments are sandboxed by default and cannot be opened directly from the main preview pane.
To access them, click the Open email button to view the message in a new browser window — this disables sandboxing.

Only open attachments if you trust the source or have scanned them for malware.
For security, always re-enable sandboxing after use.

See Troubleshooting for guidance on viewing attachments safely.

You can access the Aid4Mail User Manual in two formats:

• PDF: Download here
• CHM: Included in your Aid4Mail installation folder

Additional resources, including filtering and AI guides, are available in our Documentation Center.

Yes. You may quote short excerpts with proper attribution to Fookes Software Ltd.
For broader use or redistribution, please request written authorization.
See Terms of Service for permitted uses.

Yes. Fookes Software allows responsible indexing of public pages for search and AI model improvement, provided attribution and usage rules are respected.
See Terms of Service – Fair Use for Search Engines and AI Tools.

All website and service terms are governed by Swiss law, with exclusive jurisdiction in Bern, Switzerland.
See Terms of Service – Governing Law for more information.

For privacy or legal matters, please email helpdesk@fookes.net or write to:
Fookes Software Ltd, La Petite Fin 27, CH-1637 Charmey, Switzerland.
Contact details are listed in the Privacy Policy.

Aid4Mail filters define the search criteria you enter directly in the Search Query field — for example, Date>=2023 AND From:john@company.com.
Search lists, on the other hand, are external text files containing reusable groups of search terms. They make it easy to manage large keyword sets and update them without changing your main query.

See our Filtering Guide and Search List Guide for examples.

The “Match document revision” option downloads the version of a cloud file that existed when the email was sent.
While this ensures historical accuracy, it can cause large downloads and bandwidth throttling, especially for frequently edited documents.
We recommend leaving it disabled to collect only the latest version, unless specific historical versions are required.

See details in the Cloud Attachments Guide.

Aid4Mail supports several powerful wildcards:

• * matches zero or more characters (fraud*)
• ? matches one character (organi?e)
• # matches zero or one separator (data#breach)
• <n> finds words within n words (money<5>laundering)
• ~ enables stemming (steal~ finds steal, stole, stolen)

Use simple wildcards first for speed and limit proximity wildcards in large datasets.
See more examples in the Filtering Guide.

Yes. Aid4Mail supports proximity searches to find words appearing near each other, like:

bribe<5>official

You can also use Perl Compatible Regular Expressions (PCRE2) for complex patterns, such as matching email addresses or document IDs.
Proximity and regex searches are slower but extremely precise, making them ideal for forensic work.

Learn more in the Filtering Guide.

Aid4Mail saves cloud attachment metadata in a CSV file named FileMetadata.csv located in the Cloud attachment location path under Target → Settings.
The file lists properties such as Author, FileName, FileSize, DownloadLink, and Status.
You can use it for auditing or verifying which files were collected.

See metadata field descriptions in the Cloud Attachments Guide.

Create a plain text file (.txt) with one term per line, and save it in your project’s SearchLists folder.
You can group terms with + or -, add comments with ; or #, and even include wildcards or regular expressions.
To use it, reference the file in your filter:

{SearchList=Keywords.txt}

Search lists make large investigations easier to manage and share.
See our Search List Guide for formatting examples.

Aid4Mail supports AND, OR, NOT, and XOR operators — plus shorthand symbols + (AND), | (OR), - (NOT), and ^ (XOR).
Use parentheses to control how expressions are grouped.

Order of precedence (highest first):

1. Parentheses ()
2. NOT
3. AND
4. XOR
5. OR

For example:

Subject:contract OR agreement AND From:john@company.com

is interpreted as:

Subject:contract OR (agreement AND From:john@company.com)

To change the logic, use parentheses:

(Subject:contract OR agreement) AND From:john@company.com

See more examples in the Filtering Guide.

Tokenization makes Aid4Mail recognize similar words or characters (e.g., naïve = naive, “trade-secret” = “trade secret”).
Stemming finds words with the same root — for example, steal~ matches steal, stole, stolen, and stealing.

These features broaden searches and help catch variations in spelling or grammar.
However, they can also produce false positives, so document your settings carefully for forensic accuracy.

Learn more in the Filtering Guide.

Yes. Aid4Mail can search within attachments as well as in the email body.
It analyzes text-based files such as PDF, Word, Excel, and TXT documents — and can also examine metadata in multimedia files, including photo EXIF and IPTC information.

If enabled, Aid4Mail can search within cloud attachments (Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint).
Because attachment and metadata searches are slower, apply filters first (e.g., date or sender) to narrow results.

See the Filtering Guide and Cloud Attachments Guide for setup details.

No. Aid4Mail never alters the content of collected emails.
It reads, filters, and exports data without modifying the source.
This ensures full forensic integrity.
See the EULA and Privacy Policy for details.

Yes. Aid4Mail can run on virtual machines and servers, particularly with the Enterprise edition.
Licensing terms vary by edition—contact our team if you need multi-user or network deployment.
See the EULA and Enterprise Edition page.

Yes, when enabled. Aid4Mail can collect linked files from Google Drive, OneDrive, and SharePoint for forensic preservation.
Collected files are stored locally under your control, along with full metadata.
See Cloud Attachment Collection for supported services.

Aid4Mail transmits only essential activation information—such as hashed hardware ID, IP address, and license code—strictly for validation.
No email or user content is ever sent.
Details appear in the EULA.

The trial version lets you test all features but applies light restrictions—shortened subject lines, placeholder sender addresses, and limited attachment size.
Once activated, these limits are removed.
See Free Trial and EULA section 2.1 – Trial Mode License for details.

Aid4Mail 6.1.4 introduced enhanced recovery for unpurged (double-deleted) emails directly from PST and OST files—no Outlook required.
This extends recovery options for forensic and investigative workflows, enabling retrieval of hidden or deleted content that remains in the mailbox store.

See Email Recovery for details.

Yes. You can freely share an Aid4Mail Email Viewer export with others, as long as you include all files in the export folder.
Recipients can open the viewer by double-clicking index.html or Launch-Aid4Mail-Viewer.exe (Windows).

You may share it via:

• USB drives or secure network folders (recommended for investigations)
• Private web servers for collaborative review
• Public servers for transparency (e.g., FOIA responses)

Before distributing, review the Aid4Mail-Viewer-Distribution-License.txt included in the export folder.
See Email Viewer for deployment details.