How to use your web browser's built-in printer tool to save emails as PDF files

If you want to save any one or more emails as archives or for offline use, every modern browser these days makes it easy to "print" an email to a PDF file with just a few taps. simple setup.

How to save emails as PDF on Windows

Nearly all popular web browsers today have built-in printing tools. You can use Chrome, Edge, or Firefox to print your email to PDF.

In this article, we will take Chrome as an example. First, launch Chrome on your Windows PC. Then you go to Gmail and log in to your Google account as usual.

Next, open the email that you want to save as a PDF. In the email interaction window, click the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the screen and select 'Print'.

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In the 'Print' window, click the drop-down menu next to 'Destination' and select 'Save as PDF'. If needed, you can configure other options such as the layout and margins of the file.

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Once done, click 'Save' to start the PDF creation process.

After a few seconds, the save document dialog box will appear. In this window, you name the PDF file and choose a destination folder to save it, then click "Save".

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The email is now saved as a PDF file in the folder you just specified. You can virtually 'print' as many emails as you want this way.

How to Save Emails as PDF on Mac

Like Windows, you can also use your browser's built-in PDF print engine to save emails as PDF files on your Mac.

To get started, open the Gmail page in your favorite web browser and log into your account as usual.

Next, open the email that you want to save as a PDF file. In the email view window, you click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner and select 'Print'.

(Tip: If you click 'Print' and see a pop-up blocker message in Firefox, click the 'Preferences' tab in the upper-left corner of the Gmail window and select 'Allow pop-ups for mail.google. com'. Then click 'Print' again).

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On the print window, under 'Destination', select 'Save as PDF'. You can adjust other settings that you want to apply on the target document. Then click 'Save'.

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In case you use Safari, click the drop-down menu that says 'PDF' at the bottom of the print window and select 'Save as PDF'.

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On the save document window that appears on the screen, enter the PDF file name in the text field at the top. Then choose a destination folder to save the file and click 'Save'. (The save document window in Safari will look slightly different from the image below, but the options available are essentially the same.)

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Jessica Tanner

Update 23 May 2021