How to Turn an Email into a PDF File

When you save an email as a PDF file, you get several important benefits that are critical for emails of all types, from meeting requests to support tickets to employee reviews to invoices.

But, how do you turn an email into a PDF file? Once you save an email as a PDF, it’s easy to share and archive. It’s viewable by anyone with a PDF reader or PDF editing software such as Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor. You can even protect an email saved as a PDF with eSignatures and passwords. Whether you need to preserve correspondence for compliance, share communications with team members, or create permanent records that can’t be accidentally deleted, converting email to PDF is essential.

Tips for naming and storing your saved PDFs

Before going into the conversion methods, let’s talk about organization. Saving emails as PDFs is only useful if you can find them later.

  • Create a consistent naming convention. Instead of accepting default filenames like “Email.pdf,” use descriptive names that include key information. A format like “Date_Sender_Subject” works well. For example: “2025-02-09_JohnSmith_QuarterlyBudgetApproval.pdf” tells you immediately what’s inside.
  • Include dates in a sortable format. Use YYYY-MM-DD at the beginning of filenames so PDFs automatically sort chronologically, making it easy to find emails from specific time periods.
  • Organize by project or category. Create folders for different projects, clients, or types of correspondence—like “Client Communications,” “Internal Memos,” “Invoices and Receipts,” or “HR Documents.”
  • Consider a dedicated archive location. Rather than scattering email PDFs across your desktop, create a specific “Email Archives” directory. Within that, organize by year, department, or whatever structure makes sense for your needs.
  • Back up your email PDFs regularly. Since these often contain important business communications, include them in your regular backup routine. Cloud storage services provide automatic backup and easy access from multiple devices.

How to save an email as a PDF in Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail

You can save any printable file as a PDF, regardless of whether you’re using Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail or another email program. Here are a few ways to do so.

Print the email

To save the email message as a PDF, use the print functionality available in most email clients. While it may seem counterintuitive, printing the email allows you to generate a PDF file. To access the print options, look for a printer icon or go to the email client’s menu and select the “Print” option. In Gmail, you can find the file menu at the top and the printer icon in the upper-right corner of the email window.

Once you navigate to the Print Dialog Box within the email you wish to save as a PDF, then do the following:

  1. Click Print. After selecting the print option, a print dialog box will appear.
  2. Adjust Print Settings. Before saving the email as an html file or a PDF, you can customize the print settings to meet your requirements. You may have options to choose the paper size, page orientation (portrait or landscape), and the scale of the content to save the email. Consider selecting the “Fit to Page” or similar option to ensure the entire email content is visible on the PDF.
  3. Choose “Save as PDF,” “Print to PDF,” or” Export as PDF” in the Print dialog box. Instead of selecting a physical printer, choose the option to “Print to PDF” or “Save as PDF.” This option may be labeled differently depending on printer options and on your operating system. In some cases, you may need to scroll through a list of available printers to find the PDF printer option.
  4. Choose the location where you want to save the file. Select the appropriate file destination for your PDF.
  5. Click “Save.”

Save a Gmail as a PDF file on your computer

The method to save an email as a PDF may vary depending on the email platform you use. Commonly used platforms include Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, and Apple Mail. While the general principles remain the same, the specific steps may differ slightly. For this tutorial, we will cover the process using Gmail, an email provider which is widely used and offers a user-friendly interface to convert email messages.

Be sure to save an email as a PDF document and store it where it makes the most sense, like grouping employee evaluation emails with other providers in an employee’s file.

Here’s how to save a Gmail email as a PDF:

  1. Click on the email you want to open.
  2. Open the Print dialog by clicking the Printer icon.
  3. Select “Print as PDF” from the Destination drop-down menu.
  4. Navigate to the desired location, then click “Save.”

By putting all the tools you need to save a Gmail email as a PDF, Foxit PDF Editor makes it easy to convert emails from your Gmail into a PDF. All the tools for emails to PDF are in one place.

Save a Gmail email as a PDF using the Gmail App on your mobile

You can use the Gmail app to save an email as a PDF by doing the following:

  1. Locate the email you want to save as a PDF file in the Gmail application.
  2. Choose the three-dot option. On iOS and Android, the menu is typically located at the top right corner of the screen.
  3. On an iPhone, select “AirPrint” and zoom into the thumbnail. On Android, select “Print.”
  4. Choose the “Share” icon in the upper right corner of iOS, then select “Save to Files.” Android users can select the down arrow and then choose Save as PDF > PDF.
  5. The Gmail email sent to iOS should now be saved as a PDF. On Android, select “Save,” then indicate the location where you want to save the PDF.

Save an email to PDF using an iPhone

To convert an email to a PDF using the Mail app on your iPhone, simply follow one PDF these steps:

  1. Open the email using the Mail app.
  2. Tap “Print.”
  3. Tap “Share” >” Books” to save the email as a PDF file.

You can access your saved email on any device using iCloud Drive.

Convert multiple emails into PDF in Microsoft Outlook

The Foxit PDF Editor digital printer feature lets you select the print icon to convert multiple emails to PDF files at the same time in Outlook by using the Foxit Outlook Add-In.

  1. In Outlook, Foxit PDF Editor appears as a tab. After clicking the tab in it, click the “Selected Message” button and choose “Create New PDF” to create new PDF documents.
  2. Or right-click on any message and choose “Convert to Foxit PDF.”

How to save an entire email thread as a PDF

Email threads—those back-and-forth conversations with multiple replies—require special attention when converting to PDF since most email clients treat each message separately.

In Gmail: When you open an email thread and use the print function, it will capture all expanded messages. Make sure to expand all replies by clicking “Show trimmed content” on any collapsed messages before printing to PDF. This ensures the entire conversation is included.

In Outlook: Outlook’s print function typically only captures the currently selected message, not the entire thread. To save a complete thread:

  1. Print each message individually and merge the PDFs later using Foxit PDF Editor.
  2. Forward the entire thread to yourself, which consolidates all messages, then save that forwarded email as PDF.
  3. Use the Foxit Outlook Add-In to convert multiple selected messages at once.

In Apple Mail: Apple Mail’s print function captures the selected message. To get the entire thread, expand all messages in the thread, use Command+A to select all, then print to PDF.

How to convert multiple emails to a single PDF (Outlook & Gmail)

Sometimes you need to combine several related emails into one PDF—for example, when documenting a project timeline or creating a comprehensive record of client communications.

In Gmail: Gmail doesn’t have a built-in feature to convert multiple emails to a single PDF directly. Your best approach is:

  1. Save each email as an individual PDF using the print method.
  2. Use Foxit PDF Editor to combine all the individual PDFs into one document.
  3. Arrange them in chronological or logical order.

In Outlook with Foxit PDF Editor: The Foxit Outlook Add-In makes this process simple:

  1. Select multiple emails in Outlook (hold Ctrl/Command while clicking).
  2. Click the Foxit PDF tab.
  3. Click “Selected Messages” and choose “Create New PDF.”
  4. All selected emails will be converted and combined into a single PDF.

Alternatively, you can:

  1. Save each email individually as PDF.
  2. Use Foxit PDF Editor’s merge function to combine them with better formatting control.
  3. Add bookmarks to help navigate between different emails.
  4. Include a cover page or table of contents if needed.

Can I edit an email after saving it as a PDF?

Yes, you can edit an email after converting it to PDF format, but you’ll need PDF editing software to do so. Once an email is saved as a PDF, it becomes a static document that can’t be edited in your email client anymore. However, tools like Foxit PDF Editor let you modify text, add annotations, redact sensitive information, or make other changes to your saved email PDFs.

How can I ensure attachments are included when saving emails as PDFs?

One of the trickiest parts of saving an email as a PDF is making sure attachments don’t get left behind. The default print-to-PDF method in most email clients only captures the email body, while attachments are ignored.

The most reliable method across all platforms:

  1. Save the email body as a PDF.
  2. Download all attachments to the same folder.
  3. Use Foxit PDF Editor to combine the email PDF and attachment PDFs into a single document.
  4. Name the final merged PDF clearly to indicate it includes attachments.
  5. This ensures nothing gets lost, and you have one complete file containing all information from the original email.

Tip: When saving emails as PDFs with the Foxit Outlook Add-In, you can directly use the settings option to choose whether attachments are included in the conversion.

Take control of your email records

With these options to save an email as a PDF, you can share important PDF files easily. Learning how to save an email as a PDF is a useful skill that allows you to preserve important correspondence and its attachments in a portable and widely compatible format. Regardless of the email platform or device you use, the general process of saving emails often involves printing the email and selecting a PDF printer. By following the step-by-step guide provided in this article, you can confidently convert email into PDF format, ensuring easy access and secure storage of vital information for future reference.

Ready to streamline your email archiving workflow? Download Foxit PDF Editor and discover powerful features like the Outlook Add-In for batch conversions, PDF merging capabilities, and advanced editing tools. Stop juggling scattered email files and start managing your correspondence like a pro—with professional PDF tools designed for business users.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *