Convert EML to PDF online

EML to PDF in your browser: drop the .eml file on this page and press Save as PDF. You get the message with its headers, inline images and attachment list as a PDF whose text stays searchable. The file never leaves your computer: no upload, no account, no install.

What an EML file is and where it comes from

An .eml file is a single email saved in the standard internet message format (RFC 822 with MIME parts). It is plain text underneath: headers first, then the body, then attachments encoded in base64. Gmail's Download message, Apple Mail, Thunderbird and most other clients produce it, and many people meet it as an attachment someone forwarded.

Because the format is open, a browser can parse it completely: the EML file explainer shows the structure. If you only need to read it, opening an EML file covers the options without any conversion.

How to convert an EML file to PDF

1. Locate the .eml file. From Gmail: open the message, three dots, Download message. From Apple Mail or Thunderbird: drag the message to a folder. Apple Mail's own .emlx files work too; they are treated as EML.
2. Drop the file on this page. The message appears below the box: header block, body, inline images, attachment list.
3. Press Save as PDF. The browser's print dialog opens. Set the destination to Save as PDF, choose paper size and margins, and save.
4. Save the attachments. Click each name to download the original, or press Attachments (ZIP) for all of them.

For another .eml, press Open another file. Nothing from the previous message is kept.

What the PDF keeps

The top of the PDF lists From, To, Cc, Date, Subject and the Message-ID, exactly as they appear in the headers. Inline images are resolved from the message itself, so logos and screenshots print in place instead of as broken boxes. HTML bodies are sanitized and rendered; plain-text bodies are printed as plain text.

The text layer is real text, not a picture, which is why Ctrl+F works in the resulting PDF and why you can copy a paragraph from it. Page size and margins are whatever you choose in the print dialog; nothing about the page is fixed before that. Compact mode hides quoted replies and signatures when the thread is long.

Convert EML to PDF on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android

The converter is a web page, so it runs in any modern browser on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS. On a Mac, Safari's print dialog has a PDF menu in the bottom-left corner; on Windows, Chrome and Edge list Save as PDF as a printer. On iPhone and Android, pick the file in the browser, press Save as PDF and use the share or print sheet to save the PDF to Files or Drive.

You can also keep the page loaded and work offline. There is no server call during conversion, so a flaky connection does not matter. If you prefer the Mac route through Apple Mail instead, see saving an email as PDF on a Mac.

EML to PDF converter software versus this page

Searches for an EML to PDF converter return three kinds of tools, and they differ in where your mail goes.

Desktop tools win when you have hundreds of .eml files and need one folder of PDFs in one run. For a few files, or for anything confidential, converting in the tab is quicker and nothing is handed to a third party.

Limits worth knowing

• One message is rendered at a time. Converting a folder of .eml files means dropping them one after another; there is no merged PDF of many messages yet.
• Encrypted mail (S/MIME, PGP) is shown as encrypted; the page does not decrypt it.
• You cannot edit the text. Hiding quotes with Compact is the only change available.
• If you have .msg files from Outlook, they work too: see MSG to PDF. A Takeout .mbox opens as a list of messages: see MBOX to PDF.

Frequently asked questions