How to Save a Web Page as a PDF in Safari on the Mac

With Safari on the Mac, you can export any web page to a PDF file. You might want to do this if you plan on sharing the document with someone else and you want to make sure it looks identical to how you see it on the website.

Because the PDF format is operating system and hardware independent, any PDF file will look the exact same on every computer, tablet, phone, etc. It's also a really good alternative to printing the web page.

It just takes a few clicks to convert a web page to a PDF file with Safari. This process works on Macs only.

1. Open the web page you want to save to PDF. Make sure you're on the exact page you want since you can't change it later without returning to this step.
2. Go to the File menu and choose the Export as PDF... option.
3. In the new window that pops up, name the PDF file anything you want and choose where to save it.
4. Click Save to make the page into a PDF file.

Another way to save a web page as a PDF file is to "print" the page to PDF. Lots of apps on the Mac support this, but, in the case of Safari it's completely straight forward. Go to File while in Safari, select Print and when the sheet comes down, look to the lower left corner for a button labeled PDF. Select the PDF button and choose Save as PDF. Then it works just like the previous method.

If you really want to impress someone (or, you know, just have a nicer PDF), use Reader mode to strip out ads for a cleaner appearance. Reader mode is activated by clicking the three horizontal lines located next to the web page address (all of this exists at the top of the Safari window). Reader mode is only available after the entire page loads. Then follow the steps above to save the web page as a PDF.