How to save Outlook email as PDF

How to save Outlook email as PDF in any version: open the message, choose Print (File → Print in classic Outlook and on a Mac, More actions → Print in new Outlook and on the web) and pick a PDF printer, or the PDF button on a Mac, instead of paper. You get a PDF with the header block, the body and inline pictures; attachments stay separate files. If you have the message as a .msg file, SaveMail renders it in your browser with the attachments listed, and nothing is uploaded.

How to save Outlook email as PDF: the short answer

Outlook has no Save as PDF command of its own on Windows. Every built-in route goes through the print dialog, where a virtual printer called Microsoft Print to PDF writes a file instead of printing a page. On a Mac the print dialog has a PDF button that does the same job. Which route you take depends on where the email lives.

Have the email as a file (EML, MSG, MBOX)? Convert it to PDF in your browser: nothing is uploaded.

Classic Outlook for Windows: File → Print → Microsoft Print to PDF

Classic Outlook is the desktop program with the ribbon and the File menu in the top-left corner. The steps are the same in Outlook 2016, 2019, 2021 and the Microsoft 365 desktop app.

1. Double-click the email so it opens in its own window. Printing from the reading pane works too, but the window shows you exactly what will be on the page.
2. Click File → Print. A preview appears on the right.
3. Under Printer, choose Microsoft Print to PDF. If you have Adobe Acrobat installed, Adobe PDF appears here as well.
4. Keep Memo Style. Table Style prints the message list, not the message.
5. Click Print Options if you want to change the page size, margins or the header font. Leave "Print attached files" unchecked: with a PDF printer it sends the attachments to your default paper printer instead.
6. Click Print. Windows asks for a file name and location. Type a name that includes the date or the subject and click Save.

The PDF keeps the text as text, so you can search it and copy from it. That is a side effect of printing: Outlook sends the message as formatted text, not as a picture.

New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web

New Outlook (the toggle in the top-right of the desktop app) and Outlook on the web share one layout, so the path is the same. Outlook.com and Hotmail accounts use this interface as well.

1. Open the email in the reading pane.
2. Click More actions, the three dots at the top-right of the message, and choose Print.
3. A print preview opens. Click Print again to reach the system dialog.
4. Set the destination to Save as PDF (Edge and Chrome) or Microsoft Print to PDF, then Save.

Because the page is rendered by the browser engine, the margins and the "Page 1 of 2" footer come from the browser's print settings. Turn off "Headers and footers" in More settings if you do not want the URL and date printed at the bottom.

Outlook for Mac

1. Select the email, then press Command-P or choose File → Print.
2. In the print dialog, open the PDF menu in the bottom-left corner and pick Save as PDF.
3. Name the file, choose a folder and click Save.

Outlook for Mac does not have a "print attached files" option. To keep attachments, save them separately from the attachment bar, or save the email as a file as described below.

Convert an Outlook message to PDF with the attachments listed

Printing drops something that matters for records: the attachment names and the Message-ID header. When the email is already a file, the MSG to PDF converter on SaveMail keeps both.

1. In classic Outlook, drag the email from the message list to your desktop. Outlook writes a .msg file. In new Outlook and Outlook on the web, More actions → Download gives you an .eml file instead; both work.
2. Open savemail.app and drop the file on the page. The message is parsed by JavaScript in your tab; there is no upload endpoint, and the page keeps working if you go offline after it loads.
3. Check the rendered page: From, To, Cc, Date, Subject and Message-ID at the top, the body with inline images, and a list of attachments with sizes at the bottom.
4. Press Save as PDF. The browser's print dialog opens; choose Save as PDF and confirm.
5. Download the attachments one by one or all as a ZIP so they travel with the PDF.

Turn on compact mode before saving if the thread has long quoted replies: it hides quoted text and signatures, which can cut a 12-page thread to two.

What the PDF keeps and what it does not

A PDF made through the print dialog is a faithful copy of what was on screen, with a few limits worth knowing before you file it.

• Attachments are not embedded. Outlook prints their names in the header; SaveMail lists them with sizes and lets you download them. Either way, keep the files next to the PDF.
• Encrypted messages (S/MIME, Microsoft Purview) print only if Outlook can decrypt them. SaveMail shows an encrypted file as encrypted and does not decrypt it.
• Several emails in one PDF is not something either method does for you. Each message becomes its own PDF; merge them afterward in a PDF editor.
• Editing the content is not possible in SaveMail; it renders, it does not edit.

If you need the file rather than the PDF, see how to save an Outlook email as a file. For paper output, the printing guide covers the Quick Print and attachment options.

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