How to Save an Email as a PDF

Step-by-step instructions for Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail, iPhone and Android, and how to keep the attachments too.

Updated October 2, 2026 ยท PDFVerge

To save an email as a PDF, open the email, choose Print, and pick Save as PDF (or Microsoft Print to PDF on Windows) as the printer. Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail and the iPhone Mail app all work this way. The exact clicks for each one are below, along with how to keep attachments.

Gmail on a computer

  1. Open the email.

  2. Click the Print all icon (the printer) at the top right of the conversation. To save only one message from a thread, click the three dots next to Reply on that message and choose Print.

  3. In the print window, set Destination to Save as PDF, then click Save.

Gmail puts the sender, recipients and date at the top of the PDF automatically.

Gmail app on Android

  1. Open the email and tap the three dots on the message itself (next to its Reply arrow, not the ones at the very top).

  2. Tap Print.

  3. Choose Save as PDF as the printer, tap the round PDF button and pick where to save it.

Gmail app or Mail app on iPhone and iPad

  1. Open the email. In the Gmail app tap the three dots on the message; in Apple Mail tap the Reply arrow at the bottom.

  2. Tap Print.

  3. On the Print Options screen, tap the Share button at the top (on older iOS versions, pinch outward on the page preview first), then choose Save to Files.

Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows

  1. Open the email and click More actions (the three dots) at the top right of the message.

  2. Choose Print, then click Print in the preview.

  3. Select Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer and save the file.

Classic Outlook for Windows

  1. Open or select the email.

  2. Click File, then Print.

  3. Under Printer, choose Microsoft Print to PDF, click Print, then name the file and save it.

Classic Outlook's Save As doesn't offer PDF. It saves a .msg file, which you can turn into a PDF with MSG to PDF.

Outlook for Mac

  1. Select the email and choose File, then Print.

  2. Click the PDF menu at the bottom left of the print window.

  3. Choose Save as PDF, name the file and click Save.

Apple Mail on a Mac

  1. Select the email.

  2. Choose File, then Export as PDF.

  3. Name the file and click Save.

Yahoo Mail

  1. Open the email and click the three dots (More) in the toolbar.

  2. Choose Print.

  3. Set the destination to Save as PDF and save.

Keep the attachments, or save many emails

Printing to PDF saves the message but not its attachments. To keep everything in one file, save the email as a file first, then convert it:

  • Gmail: three dots next to Reply, then Download message (saves a .eml file).
  • Outlook on the web and new Outlook: More actions, then Save as or Download (saves a .eml file).
  • Classic Outlook for Windows: drag the email from the message list to your desktop (saves a .msg file).
  • Apple Mail: File, Save As, with Raw Message Source as the format (saves a .eml file).

Then convert it with EML to PDF or MSG to PDF. Both put the header at the top, list the attachments and can embed them inside the PDF. To put several emails in one PDF, convert each one and join them with Merge PDF.

Why save an email as a PDF?

  • Records and evidence: a PDF keeps the sender, recipients and date with the message, and can't be edited by accident.
  • Receipts and confirmations: bookings, orders and invoices sent by email can be filed with your other documents.
  • Sharing: anyone can open a PDF, without access to your mailbox.
  • Keeping it: emails can be deleted or lost when an account closes; a PDF stays.

Problems and fixes

Images are missing in the PDF

Many email programs block images from the internet until you allow them. Click Display images or Download pictures at the top of the email, then print again.

The right side of the email is cut off

Wide newsletters don't fit a portrait page. In the print window, open More settings and set Scale to Fit to page, or switch the layout to Landscape.

The PDF has no sender or date

Printing from your browser's own menu, rather than the email program's Print button, can leave out the header. Use the Print option inside Gmail, Outlook or Mail, or convert the .eml or .msg file, which always includes it.

The PDF is too big to send

Emails full of photos make large PDFs. Compress the PDF to shrink it.