Why Save Emails as PDF?
Modern technology makes it easy to share and store electronic messages straight from your inbox. However, learning how to save an email as a PDF can be a valuable skill for several reasons.
Some reasons to save email as PDF include:
- Document Preservation: An email saved as a PDF remains accessible even if your mail service provider or messages are no longer available.
- Offline Access: Even if you know how to backup emails, there are times when you may need to access the information without an internet connection.
- Easy Sharing: Saving an email as a PDF makes it easy to share with others because it is a standard file format that can be opened on virtually any device. You can attach email messages as PDFs to share with anyone.
- Reduced Clutter: When you save emails to PDF, you can delete the messages and declutter your inbox.
- Printing Convenience: If you need a hard copy of a letter for record-keeping or other purposes, saving it to a PDF simplifies the printing process.
In other words, knowing how to turn email into PDF is a practical skill that can help you better manage, preserve, and share important information, as well as meet legal or compliance requirements when necessary.
How to Save Emails as PDF
Saving electronic letters to documents involves fairly similar steps across all platforms. However, since there are some variations, we have broken down how to save email as PDF based on your preferred mail client: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Apple Mail, and mobile devices.
💡 Note: These methods work for both Windows and MacOS devices, with some small variations in the final dialog box.
How to save a Gmail email as a PDF
- Access your inbox at https://mail.google.com/.
- Scroll and click to open the desired letter.
- Click on More (three dots) in the upper right corner (next to Reply).
- Select Print.
- The Gmail print screen will open.
- In the drop-down for Destination, select Save as PDF.
- Press Save at the bottom of the screen.
- Name your file and select the folder, then press Save.
You can also refer to our guide on how to download Gmail emails if you wish to store Gmail messages in other formats.
How to save Outlook email as PDF
- Open the Outlook web app.
- Locate and click on the desired message.
- Click More Actions (three dots) in the top right corner of the letter.
- Select Print.
- This opens a preview. Click Print in the upper left corner.
- In your printer destination settings, choose Save as PDF.
- Click Save, then name the file and select where you want to store it.
- Press Save a final time.
How to save Yahoo email as PDF
- Login at https://mail.yahoo.com/.
- Click and open the email you want to download.
- Click on More options (three dots) and choose Print message. Or simply press P.
- When the print preview screen opens, select Save as PDF.
- Press Save at the bottom of the screen.
- Name your file and select the destination folder, then press Save.
How to save emails to PDF in Apple Mail
- Open Apple Mail from your MacOS device.
- Click on the letter to open it.
- Press Command + P on your keyboard to print.
- When the print dialog box opens up, select the dropdown in the bottom left corner.
- Choose Save as PDF.
- Enter a file name and choose where to store the PDF.
- Press Save.
Another option is to open File menu and choose Export as PDF. Then choose a destination folder and press Save.
How to save email as PDF on Android
- Open the Gmail app* on your phone.
- Tap on the email you plan to save as PDF.
- Tap More (three dots) in the upper right corner.
- Tap on Print.
- At the top, tap Select a Printer, then choose Save as PDF.
- Tap the PDF icon that appears in the top right to download the file.
- Name the file and choose where to keep it, then tap Save.
*If you use a different mail app on your Android phone, refer to the steps for the desktop or web version of that app above for how to locate the Print function. Then, follow Steps 5-8 in this section to print email to PDF.
How to save email as PDF on iPhone
- Launch your preferred mailing app and open the desired message.
- Tap the Options button.
- Select Print or Print all to open the preview.
- At the top right, tap the Share icon, then choose Save to Files.
- Name the file and choose where to store it.
- Then, click Save.
Manage Your Inbox Effectively with Clean Email
Knowing how to turn email into PDF is one of many email hacks that can help you maintain a more organized inbox. However, no amount of hacks can compare to the features offered by the mailbox management app Clean Email, which is available for mobile and desktop devices.
For instance, you can program automations that organize or remove messages with the Auto Clean tool. All you have to do is specify information about the messages, such as the sender, size, or read status, and then select what action you want Clean Email to take. This makes it easy to set up folders that remind you to export email as PDF, or program an automated rule that removes messages in the “Printed” folder after 30 days.
Smart Folders is another handy feature that could benefit you if you’re trying to save emails to PDF. This tool packages your messages up into bundles based on commonalities the messages share, like “financial statements” or “online shopping messages.” From here, you can pull up entire mail chains and star them so you remember to print email to PDF later. (Unfortunately, Clean Email can’t help you print messages.)
Meanwhile, the Unsubscriber tool makes it easy to remove your address from certain subscription-based messages. Within the tool, you can view all of the “subscription” messages you receive and choose any number of them to unsubscribe from. Clean Email takes care of the rest.
Other key features include Cleaning Suggestions, which offers quick actions you can take, Screener, which intercepts messages from unrecognized addresses and places them in a separate folder you can visit, and many other tools designed to help you maintain a clean and organized inbox.
As a Google-verified software company, you can trust Clean Email. The app doesn't analyze, collect, or sell your data. Everything stays safe, encrypted, and private.
Wrap-up
As you have learned, saving emails as PDFs is a straightforward process once you get the basics down. This handy hack is a great way to reduce the amount of clutter in your mailbox, and it can also help you share messages with others. Just remember that this tip alone isn’t a complete solution for mailbox management; you need an inbox management app like Clean Email to help as well.
