How to Save an Outlook Email as a PDF

Create a file that’s easier to use with other project documents

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linashib / twenty20

by Karen Marcus
Karen Marcus has been a freelance writer in the tech industry for 20+ years. She's written for companies like HP, Intel, IBM, Samsung, and others.
Updated March 19, 2019

When you’re doing a work or personal project that involves electronic information, it’s always helpful to have everything you need in one place, such as a single folder on your hard drive or in the cloud. But that can be tricky when the documents are in different formats. You may have Word files and Excel spreadsheets in a file, HTML files bookmarked online, and messages stored on your email server. 

Most of the time, it’s possible to convert files to a format that’s easier to work with. That’s the case with email, which can be converted to a portable document format (PDF) file. A PDF file can be stored alongside Word, Excel, and other types of documents in a regular document folder, and can be shared with and viewed by others regardless of the type of equipment or software they have. PDF files can also be protected with permissions and passwords.

Here’s how to convert Microsoft Outlook email messages to PDF files.

Convert Email to PDF With Outlook 2016 or Later

Follow these steps if you have Windows 2010 installed.

  1. In Outlook, open the message you want to convert to PDF.

  2. Click the File tab and select Print.

  3. Under Printer, click the drop-down menu and select Microsoft Print to PDF.

    Microsoft Outlook is showing the Print dialog box with Print to PDF selected.

  4. Click Print.

  5. In the Save Print Output As dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want to save the PDF file.

    Microsoft Outlook is showing a Save Print Output As dialog box.

  6. If you want to change the name of the file, do so in the File Name field, then click Save.

  7. The file will be saved into the folder you chose. 

Previous Versions of Outlook

For versions of Windows earlier than 2010, you’ll need to save the email message as an HTML file, and then convert to PDF. Here’s how:

  1. In Outlook, open the message you want to convert.

  2. Click the File tab and select Save As. 

  3. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want to save the file.

  4. If you want to change the name of the file, do so in the File Name field. 

  5. Click the Save as Type dropdown menu and select HTML, then click Save. 

  6. Now open Word and click the File tab, then choose Open. Select your saved HTML file.

  7. Click the File tab and select Save As.

  8. Browse to the location where you want to save the file. In the Save As dialog box, click the Save as Type dropdown menu and choose PDF. 

  9. Click Save. 

  10. The PDF file will be saved into the folder you selected.

Convert Email to PDF With Office 2007

If you’re using Outlook 2007, there’s no easy way to convert an email message directly to a PDF. But you can get the information into a PDF using a few extra steps:

  1. In Outlook, open the message you want to save.

  2. Place your cursor within the message and press Ctrl+A on your keyboard to select the entire body of the message. 

  3. Press Ctrl+C to copy the text.

  4. Open a blank Word document. 

  5. Press Ctrl+V to paste the text into the document. 

  6. Press the Microsoft Office button, then click Save. 

    This process won’t include the message header. If you want to include that information, you can type it into the Word document manually, or click Respond > Forward, copy the content, and paste it into the document. 

  7. Within the Word document, press the Microsoft Office button, hover your pointer over Save As, and select PDF or XPS. 

  8. In the File Name field, type a name for the document. 

  9. In the Save as Type list, select PDF. 

  10. Under Optimize For, choose your preferred print quality. 

  11. Click Options to select additional settings, then click OK. 

  12. Click Publish.

  13. The PDF file will be saved into the folder you selected.

Convert Email to PDF on a Mac

Follow these steps if you’re using Outlook on a Mac: 

  1. In Outlook, open the message you want to convert to PDF.

  2. Click File > Print. 

  3. Click the PDF drop-down menu and select Save as PDF. 

  4. Type in a name for the PDF file.

  5. Click the arrow next to the Save As field and navigate to the folder where you want to store the file. 

  6. Click Save. 

  7. The PDF file will be saved into the folder you selected.