How to Save an Email as a PDF — Gmail, Outlook & More (2026)
By PDFKits Team — Published July 2, 2026
Why Save Emails as PDF?
Emails contain important information that often needs to be preserved beyond the lifespan of an email account. Saving emails as PDF files creates permanent, portable records that can be stored, shared, and referenced independently of any email service. Here are the key reasons to save emails as PDFs:
Legal records: Courts and regulatory agencies accept PDF documents as evidence. Saving important correspondence as PDF creates a timestamped, unalterable record of communication.
Offline access: PDF files can be opened without an internet connection. If your email provider goes down or you lose access to your account, your saved PDFs remain accessible.
Professional archiving: Businesses need to retain communications for compliance, auditing, and reference. PDFs provide a standardized format for email archives.
Universal format: PDFs look the same on every device and operating system. Unlike forwarding an email (which may lose formatting), a PDF preserves the exact appearance of the original message.
Easy sharing: You can share a PDF of an email with someone who does not have access to your email account, without forwarding the original message.
How to Save an Email as a PDF in Gmail
Gmail on desktop browsers provides a straightforward way to save any email as a PDF. Follow these steps:
Open Gmail in your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge).
Open the email you want to save.
Click the three-dot menu (More options) in the top-right corner of the email message.
Select Print from the dropdown menu. Alternatively, press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac).
In the print dialog, change the Destination to Save as PDF.
Adjust settings if needed: choose page layout (portrait or landscape), select which pages to include, and set margins.
Click Save and choose a location on your computer.
This method captures the full email including headers (sender, recipient, date, subject), body text, and inline images. Attachments are not included in the PDF — you need to download those separately.
How to Save Email as PDF in Outlook
If you are looking for how to save outlook email in pdf format, the process varies slightly depending on your platform:
Outlook Desktop (Windows)
Open the email in Outlook.
Go to File → Print.
Select Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer.
Click Print, choose a save location, and name your file.
Outlook Desktop (Mac)
Open the email in Outlook for Mac.
Press Cmd+P or go to File → Print.
Click the PDF dropdown in the bottom-left corner of the print dialog.
Select Save as PDF, choose a location, and click Save.
Outlook Web (outlook.com)
Open the email in your browser.
Click the three-dot menu (More actions) at the top of the message.
Select Print.
In the browser print dialog, change the destination to Save as PDF and click Save.
How to Save Email as PDF on iPhone
The iPhone uses the same "print trick" that works for converting photos to PDF:
Open the email in the Mail app (or Gmail app).
Tap the Share button (or the reply/forward arrow, then look for Print).
Tap Print.
On the print preview screen, pinch outward with two fingers on the preview thumbnail. This transforms the preview into a full PDF view.
Tap the Share button from the PDF preview.
Choose Save to Files to save the PDF to your device or iCloud Drive.
This method works with the built-in Mail app, Gmail, Outlook, and most other email apps on iPhone.
How to Save Email as PDF on Android
Android devices offer a similar approach through the system print service:
Open the email in your email app (Gmail, Outlook, or any other).
Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
Select Print.
Change the printer selection to Save as PDF.
Tap the download icon or Save button.
Choose a save location on your device.
On Samsung devices, you may also see a "Share as PDF" option directly in the share menu, which provides an even faster workflow.
How to Save Email as PDF in Apple Mail (Mac)
Apple Mail on macOS provides a direct PDF export option:
Open the email in Mail on your Mac.
Go to File → Export as PDF.
Choose a save location and file name, then click Save.
Alternatively, you can use File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF for more control over page size and layout. The Export as PDF option is the quickest method and preserves the email formatting faithfully.
Compress Email PDFs for Storage
Emails with inline images, embedded graphics, or HTML-heavy formatting can produce surprisingly large PDF files. If you are saving many emails for archiving, the file sizes can add up quickly. Use PDFKits Compress PDF to reduce the file size of your email PDFs without noticeable quality loss.
This is especially useful when you need to share saved emails via messaging apps that have file size limits, or when attaching email PDFs to other documents. For detailed tips on reducing PDF sizes for email attachments, see our guide to compressing PDFs for email.
Merge Multiple Emails into One PDF
When you need to compile an email thread or a series of related emails into a single document, save each email as an individual PDF first, then combine them:
Save each email as a PDF using the methods described above.
Drag to reorder them in chronological or logical order.
Click Merge to combine them into a single PDF document.
This creates a comprehensive record of an entire conversation or project thread in one file, which is much easier to reference and share than multiple individual files.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I save an email as a PDF?
The universal method is to use your browser or email app's Print function and change the destination to "Save as PDF." This works in Gmail (three-dot menu → Print), Outlook (File → Print → Microsoft Print to PDF), Apple Mail (File → Export as PDF), and most other email clients on any platform.
How do you save an email as a PDF on iPhone?
Open the email, tap Share or Print, then pinch outward with two fingers on the print preview to create a PDF. Tap Share again and choose Save to Files. This works with the Mail app, Gmail, Outlook, and other email apps on iPhone.
Can I save multiple emails as one PDF?
Yes. Save each email as a separate PDF first, then use PDFKits Merge PDF to combine them into a single document. You can reorder the pages before merging to ensure the emails appear in the correct sequence.
How do I save an Outlook email as PDF with attachments?
Outlook's Print to PDF feature saves only the email body, not attachments. To include attachments, download them separately, convert them to PDF if needed, and use PDFKits Merge PDF to combine the email PDF with the attachment PDFs into one file.
Is saving an email as PDF the same as printing?
Saving as PDF uses the same print pipeline but sends the output to a file instead of a physical printer. The result is a digital document that preserves the email layout exactly as it would appear on paper, including headers, formatting, and inline images.