How to Convert an Email (EML/MSG) to PDF With Attachments

To convert an email to PDF, open the message and use Print, then choose "Save as PDF" as the destination. This works for EML and MSG files and for Outlook, Gmail, and Apple Mail. Printing captures the message body and headers, but attachments do not come along automatically — you save those separately, convert each to PDF, and merge everything into one file.

Key takeaways

• The fastest way to save an email as a PDF is the built-in Print to PDF option in any mail app or browser.
• Printing captures the email body and headers, but attachments are not included — you handle those as a second step.
• For a single combined file, convert the email and each attachment to PDF, then merge them in order.
• EML and MSG are just file formats: an EML opens in almost any mail app or a browser, while MSG is an Outlook-specific format.
• For archiving, expense claims, or legal records, a PDF freezes the message so it can't be edited or lost when an inbox changes.

Why save an email as a PDF at all

Emails live inside accounts and apps. That's fine until you need a copy that stands on its own — a receipt for an expense report, a contract thread for your records, or proof of a conversation you can hand to someone who doesn't have access to your mailbox. A PDF turns a message into a fixed document that looks the same on any device and won't disappear if you switch email providers or your company migrates to a new mail system.

There's a practical angle too. Attachments often matter as much as the words in the email — an invoice, a signed form, a photo of a damaged package. A good PDF copy keeps the message and its attachments together so nothing gets separated later, which is exactly what an auditor, a lawyer, or a future version of you will thank you for.

Understanding EML and MSG files

Before converting anything, it helps to know what you're working with.

• EML is a standard, open email format based on the same MIME structure email servers have used for decades. A single .eml file holds one message — the headers, the body, and any attachments encoded inside it. Most mail programs and even web browsers can open an EML file.
• MSG is Microsoft's format, used by Outlook. A .msg file also stores the full message and its attachments, but it's tied more closely to the Outlook world and isn't as universally readable.

You'll usually run into these when someone forwards you an email as a file, when you export messages from a mail app, or when you drag a message to your desktop. The good news is that the conversion approach is the same for both: open the message, then print or save it as a PDF. The only real difference is that MSG sometimes needs Outlook (or a workaround) to open in the first place.

How do I save an email as a PDF? (the quick method)

This is the most common task, so let's do it first. These steps work whether you're in Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, or you've double-clicked an EML file that opened in your browser.

1. Open the email you want to save. If it's an EML file, double-click it — your default mail app or browser will display it.
2. Open the print dialog. Use the Print menu, or press Ctrl + P on Windows or Cmd + P on a Mac.
3. Set the destination to "Save as PDF." In the printer or destination dropdown, choose Save as PDF (Chrome, Edge, macOS) or Microsoft Print to PDF (Windows desktop apps).
4. Check the preview. Make sure the full message body, sender, date, and subject are visible. Adjust margins or scale if anything is cut off.
5. Save the file and give it a clear name, such as 2026-06-Invoice-from-Acme.pdf. A dated, descriptive name saves you hunting through a folder of email.pdf files later.

That's the email body handled. The catch — and it's an important one — is that attachments are not part of this PDF. Printing only captures what's shown on screen, and attachments are separate files riding along with the message. We'll deal with them next.

How to save an Outlook email as a PDF with attachments

Outlook deserves its own walk-through because it's where most people hit the attachment problem.

1. Open the message in Outlook, either in the reading pane or in its own window.
2. Go to File > Print, choose Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer, and click Print. Pick a location and save. This gives you the email body as a PDF.
3. Save the attachments to a folder. In the open message, select the attachments, choose Save All Attachments, and put them somewhere easy to find — a dedicated folder for this email works best.
4. Convert each attachment to PDF if it isn't one already. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image files can each be exported or printed to PDF using the same Print-to-PDF trick.
5. Merge the email PDF and the attachment PDFs into one file, in the order you want them to appear.

Newer versions of Outlook also offer Save as PDF directly under the Save or Export options, which streamlines step 2 — but it still won't pull the attachments in for you. The save-and-merge step is the part that makes the final file complete, and there's no built-in Outlook button that does it all in one click.

Quick tip: name the email PDF something that sorts first, like 00-Email.pdf, and number the attachments 01-, 02-, and so on. They'll line up in the right order automatically when you merge.

Combining the email and attachments into one PDF

Once you have a PDF of the email plus a PDF of each attachment, merging them is the final move. You can do this in our online PDF editor without installing anything:

1. Open the editor and upload your email PDF.
2. Add each attachment PDF in the order you'd like — email first, then attachments.
3. Reorder pages by dragging if anything landed out of sequence.
4. Download the single combined PDF.

Files are processed on our servers and aren't kept around long-term, so you simply upload, merge, and download a clean copy. If an attachment is a Word doc, spreadsheet, or image, convert it to PDF first so it merges cleanly — mixed formats can't be stitched together directly, since a merge tool combines pages, not arbitrary file types.

The result is one tidy document: the message at the front, every attachment behind it, in an order you control. That's exactly what you want for an expense claim, a case file, or a long-term archive.

The realistic failure mode (and how to avoid it)

The single most common mistake is assuming the attachments came along. They almost never do. You print the email, get a nice PDF, file it away — and three months later discover the invoice that was attached is simply gone, because it was never inside the PDF to begin with.

A few other things trip people up:

• Long emails get clipped. Wide tables or large signatures can run off the right edge in the print preview. Switch the scale to Fit to page or change the orientation to landscape before saving.
• Inline images don't load. If the email pulls images from the internet and you're offline (or the images have expired), they'll be blank. Open the message while connected so images render before you print.
• MSG won't open. A .msg file needs an app that understands Outlook's format. If you don't have Outlook, forward the message to yourself as an EML, or open it in a webmail account, then print from there.
• Encrypted or rights-protected emails may refuse to print. You'll need the original sender to send an unprotected copy.
• Quoted reply chains balloon the page count. A long back-and-forth thread can run to many pages once printed. That's usually fine for a record, but trim signatures or collapse old quotes first if you want a tighter file.

If you find yourself doing this often, build the habit: save the email and save the attachments, every time, then merge. It takes about thirty extra seconds and saves a real headache later.

A note on saving web pages, too

Emails aren't the only thing worth freezing into a PDF. If your message links out to an order confirmation, a shared document, or a web receipt, you may want a copy of that page as well — links rot, and a hosted receipt can vanish when an account closes. Our guide on how to save any web page as a PDF in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge walks through that, and the resulting PDF merges neatly with your email file using the same steps above.

FAQ

How do I save an email as a PDF?

Open the email, then open the print dialog with Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac). In the printer or destination dropdown, choose Save as PDF, confirm the full message is visible in the preview, and save. This captures the email body and headers; attachments are saved separately and then merged in.

Do attachments get included when I convert an email to PDF?

No. Printing or "Save as PDF" only captures what's displayed — the message itself — not the files attached to it. To keep everything together, save the attachments separately, convert each one to PDF, and merge them with the email PDF into a single document.

What's the difference between EML and MSG?

EML is an open, widely supported email format that most mail apps and browsers can open. MSG is Microsoft's Outlook-specific format. Both store the full message and its attachments, and both convert to PDF the same way: open the message, then print or export it as a PDF.

Can I convert an MSG file to PDF without Outlook?

Yes, with a workaround. If you can't open the .msg file directly, forward the original message to yourself so it arrives in a normal inbox, or ask the sender to resend it as an EML. Then open that copy in any mail app or browser and use Save as PDF.

How do I merge an email PDF with its attachment PDFs?

Convert the email and each attachment to PDF first, then upload them to an online PDF editor, arrange them in the order you want (email first, attachments behind), drag to reorder any pages, and download the combined file. Make sure every piece is a PDF before merging, since mixed file types can't be stitched together directly.

Will the PDF look exactly like the original email?

Mostly, yes. The text, sender, date, and subject carry over faithfully. Layout can shift slightly with very wide tables or rich signatures, and internet-hosted images only appear if they were loaded when you printed. Use Fit to page and view the email while online to get the closest match.