QueueExplorer is a desktop application for inspecting message flow, finding and repairing problematic messages, managing queueing objects, and testing producers and consumers. One installation supports Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ, MSMQ, and ActiveMQ Classic.
QueueExplorer is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. MSMQ connections are available only on Windows because MSMQ is a Windows component. Unless marked Professional, the features below are available in both Standard and Professional editions. Exact operations depend on what each broker supports.
Messages appear progressively as a queue is opened, so investigation can start before the requested batch finishes loading. Choose a practical Top 10, 100, 1000, 10000, or Show all limit. The available view still depends on broker limits and on messages changing while producers and consumers are active.
Select a row to inspect its body and properties immediately. Viewers include formatted JSON and XML, text with multiple encodings, hexadecimal data, WCF content, and .NET serialized objects where supported.
Display the broker and application fields that matter for the investigation. Message IDs, correlation fields, timestamps, delivery state, headers, custom properties, body data, and broker-specific fields can be used as columns where available.
Sort by a column, build filters across multiple fields, search loaded rows, or group rows that share a value. These operations change the displayed working view; they do not reorder messages in the broker.
QueueExplorer can decompress GZip or Deflate content for inspection. When compression is enabled for a queue, new or edited messages can be compressed again before they are sent.
Refresh queue lists and message views automatically, highlight changed data, and review status reports and warnings for connected servers. Manual refresh remains available whenever a precise current view is required.
Select one or many messages and use menus, keyboard shortcuts, clipboard operations, or drag and drop. QueueExplorer can work across queues and connected servers where the source, destination, permissions, and broker allow it.
Edit supported body and application fields, then send the repaired message to its original queue or another destination. This is generally a new broker send rather than an in-place update, so broker-assigned IDs, timestamps, position, and delivery state can change.
Inspect failure details and requeue or replay dead-lettered and journaled messages where the broker supports it. QueueExplorer also exposes broker-specific dead-letter properties that help identify the original destination and failure reason.
Save one or many messages to a compressed QueueExplorer .mq file and load them later into a compatible
queue. This is useful for selected-message backup, migration, incident evidence, and repeatable tests; it is not a
complete broker backup.
Export body bytes for use in other tools, create messages from body files, export selected message fields to CSV, or import messages from CSV. Body-only imports create messages with new default metadata.
Purge all available messages from a queue, or send selected messages to the back where that operation is supported. Send-to-back creates a new send and does not guarantee the same result on every broker or queue type.
Create, inspect, edit, purge, or delete supported queues and other broker objects. Depending on the messaging system, QueueExplorer also manages topics, subscriptions, exchanges, bindings, policies, rules, shovels, sessions, and object status.
Keep connections to different environments and messaging systems in one tree, organize servers into groups, and open queues or management views in tabs. Multiple objects can be selected for supported batch operations.
Connection features include Microsoft Entra ID and SAS for Azure Service Bus, TLS and client certificates for RabbitMQ, Jolokia and OpenWire settings for ActiveMQ Classic, and direct or QueueProxy connections for MSMQ.
Run QueueExplorer in read-only mode when an operational or production investigation must not expose message and queue mutation commands. Broker permissions should still be restricted independently.
Collapse queues with common name prefixes to reduce clutter in environments with many related destinations.
Choose a dark or light theme, use sharp vector icons on high-density displays, and adjust text size for the workstation.
Enter a body, load it from a file, choose an encoding, and set the supported editable properties. Send the message to a queue or topic to test a consumer without waiting for the real producer.
Create hundreds or thousands of copies for performance and scalability testing, with an adjustable delay between messages. Use an isolated environment and monitor quotas, consumers, and storage during load tests.
Save representative messages to .mq files, import bodies or CSV, edit properties, and replay the same cases
against another queue or environment.
Simulate either side of a message flow, inspect the exact payload and headers, and verify routing and consumer behavior without building temporary diagnostic utilities.
QueueExplorer presents a consistent interface while preserving the capabilities and limitations of each messaging system.
| Messaging system | Objects and message locations | Notable QueueExplorer capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Service Bus | Queues, topics, subscriptions, dead-letter and transfer subqueues, scheduled and deferred messages, and sessions | Microsoft Entra ID or SAS connections, namespace or single-entity access, Service Bus Emulator, AMQP and WebSockets, subscription rules, entity status, session state, dead-letter repair, defer, schedule, and resubmit operations |
| RabbitMQ | Queues, streams, exchanges, bindings, policies, virtual hosts, and shovels | Immediate queue browsing, dead-letter analysis, binding and policy management, and stream browsing page by page. Jump to the start, end, or a specific stream offset. |
| MSMQ | Private and public queues, journals, subqueues, outgoing queues, and system queues | Local or remote computer management, QueueProxy connectivity, MSMQ-specific properties, poison-message repair, and journal or dead-letter requeue. MSMQ connections are supported only on Windows. |
| ActiveMQ Classic | Queues, topics, dead-letter queues, messages, and queue or topic definitions | Progressive queue browsing, live topic monitoring, full message properties, and Jolokia/OpenWire connection settings. QueueExplorer supports ActiveMQ Classic, not Artemis. |
Professional adds tools for larger environments and repeatable message or schema workflows.
Export, import, copy, compare, and synchronize definitions of supported queues, topics, subscriptions, exchanges, bindings, virtual hosts, policies, and other objects. Migrate between environments or duplicate an object under a new name.
Extract business data from JSON, XML, text, or .NET content using JSON expressions, XPath, or regular expressions. Display the extracted values as columns, then sort, filter, or group by them.
Save reusable combinations of columns, filters, sorting, grouping, encodings, and custom fields. Apply a view to one or many queues and export or import view definitions.
Organize selected queues into folders or populate folders automatically with wildcard and regular-expression matches.
Use the fully functional trial to verify the features you need with your own queues and brokers.