Importing and exporting MLE text takes place through a buffer. An import operation copies text from the buffer to the MLE field; an export operation copies text from the MLE to the buffer. Before an application can import or export MLE text, it must send an MLM_SETIMPORTEXPORT message to the MLE field control, specifying the address and size of the buffer.

For version 3, or lower, of the OS/2 operating system the maximum size of import/export buffer is 64K. Once the data is into the buffer, the data is manipulated (verified for carriage returns, line feeds and so forth), and is finally placed in the MLE's memory.