How to Convert Email to PDF: Complete Methods for Any Device

Converting emails to PDF is crucial for archiving messages, sharing documents securely, and keeping permanent records for business or personal use.

Whether you want to save just one email or a whole batch, the process changes a bit depending on your email platform.

Most email services let you convert emails to PDF using the print function—just pick “Save as PDF” or “Print to PDF” in the print dialog. This works for Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and nearly every major provider on desktop and mobile.

You can also convert multiple emails to PDF at once in Outlook using Adobe Acrobat’s digital printer. That makes bulk jobs faster.

Key Takeaways

• Converting emails to PDF helps you archive or share messages securely.
• The print-to-PDF option is available on all major email platforms and devices.
• Batch tools let you convert multiple emails at once.

Step-By-Step Guide to Convert Email to PDF

To convert emails to PDF, you’ll want to pick the method that fits your needs.

The print to PDF feature is the most universal, but some email clients have direct export options.

Using the Print to PDF Feature

The print to PDF trick works with Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, and others. You’ll find it in your email client’s print menu.

For Desktop Email Clients:

1. Open the email you want to convert.
2. Hit Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac).
3. Pick your PDF printer as the destination.
4. Choose “Save as PDF” or “Microsoft Print to PDF.”
5. Click Print, then pick where you want to save.

For Web-Based Email:

Open your email and look for the three-dot menu or More options. Hit Print.

When the print dialog pops up, switch the destination to “Save as PDF.” Adjust settings if you need, then hit Save to convert email to PDF.

Mobile Email Apps:

Open the email, tap the Share icon, and select Print. On iOS, use the pinch-out gesture on the print preview to make a PDF.

Exporting Emails as PDF Directly

Certain email clients go beyond the standard print method.

Outlook, for example, offers solid direct export features for desktop users.

Outlook Desktop Export:

Go to File > Save As in Outlook. Pick PDF as the file type. This usually keeps the formatting cleaner than printing.

Gmail Bulk Export:

Use Google Takeout to export Gmail emails in bulk. You’ll get MBOX files, which you can convert to PDF with third-party tools.

Third-Party Email Converters:

Dedicated email to PDF software can handle multiple formats at once. These apps usually give you more control over the final look than built-in options.

MailStore Home and SysTools Email Backup are two popular choices. They support batch processing and keep your email threads organized.

Saving Attachments with Email PDFs

If you use standard print-to-PDF, attachments usually don’t make it into the PDF. There are a few ways around this.

Manual Attachment Method:

Download attachments before converting the email. Then use Adobe Acrobat to combine the email PDF and the attachments into one document.

Professional Conversion Tools:

Some business-grade converters export emails with attachments included. These tools either embed attachments in the PDF or create folders for them.

Attachment Handling Options:

Method	Includes Attachments	Best For
Print to PDF	No	Quick single emails
Direct export	Sometimes	Regular conversions
Professional tools	Yes	Business archives

If you need full records, especially with lots of attachments, specialized software is the way to go. Standard browser printing just doesn’t cut it for images or documents attached to emails.

Converting Emails to PDF on Different Platforms

The print function is built-in on all big email platforms, but some services have dedicated export buttons too.

On mobile, the steps can be a bit different than on desktop.

Gmail

Gmail makes email to PDF conversion pretty straightforward with its print button.

Open the email, click the print icon, or use the three dots menu if you don’t see it. That’ll open the print dialog.

Steps for Gmail conversion:

1. Open the email you want.
2. Click the print icon or three dots → Print.
3. Choose “Save as PDF” for the destination.
4. Pick your save spot and file name.
5. Make sure you’re saving as PDF.

Gmail does a decent job keeping the header, sender, and content intact in the PDF. No extra software needed.

You can rename the file right when you save it, which is handy for organizing. Most images and text formatting come through nicely.

Outlook

Outlook has a few ways to convert email to PDF, depending on which version you’re using.

The print-to-PDF method is reliable across all Outlook versions.

Desktop Outlook process:

• Select your email.
• Hit Ctrl+P or File → Print.
• Pick “Microsoft Print to PDF.”
• Click Print and save.

Outlook.com uses a browser-based approach, just like Gmail. Print, then pick “Save as PDF.”

Outlook desktop perks:

• Keeps complex formatting.
• Handles attachments better.
• Maintains threads.
• Supports batch jobs.

Desktop Outlook usually creates better-looking PDFs than the web version. You’ll notice more visual elements stick around.

Apple Mail and iOS Devices

Apple Mail on Mac uses the macOS print dialog for PDF conversion.

Open your email, press Command+P, and look for the PDF dropdown at the bottom-left of the print box.

Click “Save as PDF” and pick your folder.

iOS device steps:

1. Open the email in Mail.
2. Tap the reply arrow.
3. Choose “Print.”
4. Use 3D Touch or pinch out on the preview.
5. Tap share and save to Files.

On iOS, you have to pinch the preview to get your PDF. It’s a bit quirky, but it works.

Apple Mail is pretty good at keeping formatting when you convert. The Mac version is generally cleaner than what you get on iPhone or iPad.

Android Devices

Android email apps vary, but most use the Chrome print engine for PDF conversion.

Gmail app on Android:

• Open the email.
• Tap the three dots.
• Choose “Print.”
• Pick “Save as PDF.”
• Select where to save.

Other email apps might do things differently. Some Android phones have built-in PDF creation tools that work with any app’s print feature.

Samsung and other brands sometimes offer extra formatting options with their print-to-PDF tools. It’s a bit of a mixed bag.

Gmail’s app is usually the safest bet for reliable PDF conversion on Android. For other apps, you might want Adobe Acrobat or something similar for best results.

Batch Conversion: How to Convert Multiple Emails to PDF

If you’ve got a ton of emails, converting them in bulk is a massive time-saver.

Outlook has some built-in options, and there are third-party tools if you want more features.

Outlook Batch Processing

Outlook lets you batch convert via the Print function and with add-ins. With Print to PDF, you can select a bunch of emails and convert them all at once.

Hold Ctrl, click each email you want, then go to File > Print. Pick Microsoft Print to PDF. For small batches, this is fine, but you’ll have to name each file yourself.

For more efficient batch conversion of multiple emails to PDF, some Outlook add-ins make life easier. They keep formatting and even generate smarter filenames.

Kutools for Outlook is one example. Select your emails, then go to Kutools > Bulk Processing > Save Selected Messages as Files in Various Formats like PDF. It keeps your email metadata and organizes files for you.

VBA scripting is another option for bulk converting Outlook emails. You can automate the whole process and keep formatting consistent.

Combining PDFs from Multiple Emails

Sometimes you’ll want to merge several email PDFs into one document. Adobe Acrobat is great for this.

Open Acrobat, go to Tools > Combine Files, and add your PDFs. Arrange them however you want.

Batch settings let you keep bookmarks and original page sizes. You can even add divider pages or headers for each email.

If you don’t need all the bells and whistles, tools like PDFtk or some online mergers will do the job.

For big archives, it’s smart to organize PDFs by date, sender, or subject before merging. Makes things way easier to find later.

Using Third-Party Tools for Bulk Conversion

Specialized email to PDF conversion software can handle PST, EML, MSG, and MBOX files. These apps chew through thousands of emails at once and keep attachments and formatting.

Professional tools support more than just Outlook—they’ll process Gmail exports, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, you name it. Most keep folder structures and metadata intact.

Look for features like attachment support, custom file naming, and solid format preservation. Good tools keep headers, images, and HTML formatting in the final PDFs.

Batch options include filtering by date, sender, or folder. That helps manage big archives and keeps things organized.

Popular options include specialized bulk email converters that can even schedule automatic conversions for new emails.

Online Tools and PDF Editors for Email Conversion

There are plenty of online email to PDF converters that offer free conversion services—no downloads needed.

Dedicated PDF editors are handy if you want to tweak your converted email files after the fact.

Web-Based Email to PDF Converters

Free online EML to PDF converters let you turn email files into PDFs on the fly. No sign-up hoops to jump through, either.

These tools usually support EML, MSG, and a handful of other email file types. Handy if you’re juggling different formats.

Email2PDF.io has a quirky but clever approach. Just forward your email to their address, and—poof—it spits out a PDF with attachments in seconds.

CoolUtils takes care of Outlook and Thunderbird files. They’re pretty serious about preserving headers, body, and metadata, which is honestly a relief if you need the details.

EML2PDF doesn’t just convert the email body—it grabs attachments too. Works on both Windows and Mac, and you won’t need to install anything.

Most of these converters handle everything right in your browser. They keep the original look of your emails and can batch process a pile of files at once.

Feature Comparison of Popular Tools

Tool	File Types	Attachments	Registration	Batch Support
GroupDocs	EML, MSG	Yes	No	Yes
Email2PDF	All formats	Yes	No	No
CoolUtils	EML, MSG	Limited	No	Yes
EML2PDF	EML, MSG	Yes	No	Yes

GroupDocs conversion tool covers a wide range of email formats. It’s got secure processing, which is comforting if you’re working with sensitive stuff.

Email2PDF is probably the easiest—just forward your message, and you’re done. No upload screens or fiddling with files.

Security’s a mixed bag across these platforms. Most claim to wipe your files after conversion, but it’s always good to double-check.

Editing Saved Email PDFs

Adobe Acrobat steps in when you want to do more than just view your converted emails. It lets you edit text, toss in annotations, or even mash a bunch of emails into a single PDF.

Regular PDF editors let you highlight stuff, drop in comments, or lock down your email PDFs with passwords. That’s useful if you’re sharing confidential info.

You can fix typos or update details inside your converted emails. Some editors even bring OCR magic for scanned attachments, though results can be hit or miss.

Annotation tools are a lifesaver for organizing big email dumps. Bookmarks, sticky notes, searchable indexes—it’s all possible if you pick the right editor.

Merging is especially handy for legal or business records. Stitching together related threads into one PDF saves a lot of scrolling.

A lot of editors let you build forms from email templates. If you’re dealing with the same email layouts over and over, turning them into fillable PDFs is a real time-saver.

Best Practices and Troubleshooting for Email to PDF Conversion

Converting emails to PDF? Don’t forget about attachments and keeping things organized. It’s easy to lose track if you’re not careful.

Preserving Attachments and Formatting

Attachments are notorious for going missing when you convert emails to PDF. Most basic print-to-PDF options just grab the email text and ignore files you actually need.

Outlook users should use Adobe Acrobat integration to keep attachments bundled with the email. It’ll save everything in one PDF, which is honestly a huge help.

Gmail and webmail folks have it tougher. You’ll usually have to download attachments one by one, then convert the email body separately.

If you care about how your emails look, stick to desktop conversions. Mobile apps tend to mess up fonts, spacing, or images more often than not.

Tables and images can be tricky. Always preview your PDF before you save it—sometimes things look weird. If the formatting’s off, try tweaking your browser’s print settings or zoom in a bit before converting.

Tips for Organizing and Naming PDF Files

Consistent naming really saves you from headaches when you’re hunting down specific emails later. Try a convention like “YYYY-MM-DD_Sender_Subject”—it’s simple, and it sorts everything chronologically.

Create folder structures that actually fit how you work. Maybe you group PDFs by project, or by client, or just by date ranges—whatever matches your brain.

Enable OCR (text recognition) if your tool gives you the option. That way, you can search through your PDFs for that one detail you swore you’d remember (but probably won’t).

File size considerations can sneak up on you, especially if you’re dealing with a ton of attachments. Compress images before converting if things get out of hand—most converters let you tweak quality so you don’t end up with massive files.

Backup important conversions somewhere safe, like cloud storage or an external drive. Email servers aren’t always permanent, but your PDFs can be.