ChrisA few months ago I requested a data export from my former google account.
Especially containing emails and contacts saved in my account.
Received a 3GB zip file containing a 10GB mbox file.
This is how I managed to read it, either in the terminal (mutt) or with Thunderbird.
mutt
Mutt is a small but very powerful text based program for reading and sending electronic mail …
Read more at https://www.commandlinux.com/man-page/man1/mutt.1.html
Reading the mbox file (read-only mode -R) was straightforward
mutt -R -f <PATH_TO_MBOX_FILE>
Additionally, if you want to strip the HTML tags from the messages, here is an excellent resource.
Essentially you add auto_view text/html to your ~/.muttrc
and
text/html; lynx -dump %s; copiousoutput; nametemplate=%s.html to your ~/.mailcap
Now you can read your email messages without the gross HTML in the way.
Search through your inbox with <ESC>b
Thunderbird
In Thunderbird, it’s even simpler.
Install the extension/addon “ImportExportTools NG” and import your mbox file.