How to print an email to PDF
How to print an email to PDF: open the message, press Ctrl+P or Cmd+P, choose Save as PDF (or Microsoft Print to PDF) as the printer and save. The result is a text PDF you can search. This page also covers the other reading of the phrase: printing a PDF file that arrived as an attachment, and what to do when the page is cut off.
Print an email as PDF: the standard steps
"Print to PDF" is the same dialog you use for paper, with a virtual printer that writes a file. Windows ships Microsoft Print to PDF; macOS has the PDF button in every print dialog; Chrome, Edge and Firefox have Save as PDF as a destination regardless of the operating system.
- Open the message. In Gmail use the three dots on the message, then Print; in Outlook use File, Print; in Apple Mail press Cmd+P.
- Choose the PDF destination.
- Open More settings (Chrome) or Show Details (Mac) and check Paper size, Orientation and Scale.
- Uncheck Headers and footers if you do not want the browser's URL and date on every page; keep Background graphics on if colored table rows matter.
- Save the file.
Why the text stays searchable: the print pipeline passes real text and fonts to the PDF writer rather than rasterizing the page. A screenshot pasted into a document loses that, and so does a scanned printout. Client-specific guides: Gmail, Outlook.
Have the email as a file (EML, MSG, MBOX)? Convert it to PDF in your browser: nothing is uploaded.
How to print an email to PDF without cutting off the right side
HTML emails are often laid out for a 600 to 800 pixel wide screen with fixed-width tables. When that is wider than the printable area of Letter paper in portrait, the right side vanishes. Fixes, in the order to try them:
| Fix | Where | When it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Scale 80 to 90 percent | Print dialog, Scale or Custom | Slightly too wide tables |
| Landscape orientation | Print dialog, Layout | Very wide newsletters and reports |
| Smaller margins | Print dialog, Margins: Minimum or None | Gains about an inch of width |
| Larger paper (Legal, A3) | Print dialog, Paper size | Spreadsheets pasted into the email |
| Render from the email file | SaveMail converter | The client's print view is the problem; the converter's rendered page reflows and uses the same dialog with your settings |
Check the preview on the last page as well as the first; wide content is usually in a signature banner or a quoted reply at the bottom.
Print an email to PDF from an EML, MSG or MBOX file
If the email exists as a file, the browser does the rendering and the printing. Drop the file on the SaveMail converter; it is parsed by JavaScript in the tab, so nothing is uploaded and no account is involved.
- The message appears with its header block (From, To, Cc, Date, Subject, Message-ID), the body with inline images, and the list of attachments with names and sizes.
- Switch on compact mode if you want quoted replies and signatures hidden.
- Press Save as PDF. The browser's print dialog opens, so all of the width fixes above apply, and the text stays selectable and searchable.
An MBOX from Google Takeout lists every message inside; you open each one and save it, one PDF per message. A single merged PDF of a whole mailbox is not something the tool produces. Format pages: EML to PDF, MSG to PDF, MBOX to PDF.
How to print a PDF file from an email
The other meaning of the search: a PDF arrived as an attachment and you want it on paper. Printing the email prints the body, never the attachment, so open the PDF first.
- Click or tap the attachment. In Gmail it opens in a viewer; in Outlook it opens in your PDF app; on iPhone it opens in a preview.
- Use the viewer's printer icon, Ctrl+P, Cmd+P, or the share icon then Print on a phone.
- Choose the printer, page range and Fit to page, then Print.
If the attachment came inside an .eml or .msg file, open the file in SaveMail, download the PDF attachment from the list, and print it from your PDF viewer. The general rules for attachments are on print an email with attachments.
What print to PDF does not give you
- Attachments inside the PDF. They stay separate files. SaveMail lists them with names and sizes in the PDF and lets you download them, but does not embed them.
- Full headers. Client print views show From, To, Date and Subject; the Message-ID and routing headers are only in the file, which is why archives keep the .eml next to the PDF.
- Editing. The PDF is a rendering of the message as received.
- PST files. A browser cannot read an Outlook data file; export the messages first. See PST to PDF.
Frequently asked questions
How do I print an email to PDF?
Open the message, press Ctrl+P or Cmd+P, choose Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer, and save.
How do I print an email to PDF without it cutting off?
In the print dialog lower the scale to 80 or 90 percent, switch to landscape, or set margins to minimum. Check the preview on every page.
How do I print a PDF file from an email?
Open the attachment first, then print from the PDF viewer. Printing the email itself does not print attachments.
Is a printed-to-PDF email searchable?
Yes. The print pipeline keeps the text as text, so search, copy and select all work in the PDF.
How do I print a PDF from an email on Mac?
Open the attachment in Preview, press Cmd+P, choose the printer and print. For the email itself, Cmd+P then the PDF button.
Can SaveMail print to PDF without the print dialog?
No. The PDF is produced by the browser's Save as PDF, so the dialog is part of the flow; that is also where page size and margins are set.