How to save an email as a PDF in Outlook

To keep hold of your important emails, it is recommended to save them as PDF files. It is a simple method to export your messages from your mailbox to store them on your computer or company network. How you can save emails as PDF depends on the version of Microsoft Outlook you use.

How to save Outlook email as PDF with Outlook 365

1. Launch Outlook and open the email you want to save as a PDF.
2. Click the File tab on the left side of the menu bar at the top of the screen.
3. On the left-side menu you will find the entry Print. To open the print overview, click on it.
4. Click on the small arrow under Printer to open the drop-down menu, where you can see all available devices.

5. Select Microsoft Print to PDF. Then click on Print.
6. The document will not physically print. Instead, a window launches that lets you define an output location. Specify the path and file name to store the email you want to save as PDF.
7. Click Save to save the selected email as a PDF file on your computer, making it available for further use.

How to convert email to PDF on a Mac

You can convert emails to PDF on Apple devices just as easily. Simply follow these steps:

1. Launch Outlook and open the email you wish to convert to PDF.
2. Click on File from the top menu and select Print.
3. Click on the PDF dropdown menu in the dialog that opens and select Save as PDF.
4. In the subsequent window, navigate to the location on your hard disk where you want to keep the file. Name the file during this step as well.
5. Click Save to convert the email to PDF.

You will find the PDF file under the path you have specified on your system or server.

How to convert email to PDF in Outlook – the newer, the better

In principle, you can convert emails to PDF with older versions of Microsoft Outlook. Although new versions of the software do not contain a direct function for conversion, it’s best to use the latest version of Outlook. More recent Outlook versions make it easier to save emails to PDF using the ‘Microsoft Print to PDF’ function. The older the client used, the more steps you’ll need to take. You may need to apply a few tricks to convert an email to PDF using Word.

For IT security reasons, it is important to keep your software up to date. As demands on IT infrastructure grow and technology advances, software programs require essential updates. Look for modern software alternatives or updates to protect your system from potential malware vulnerabilities.

How to convert emails to PDF and other useful PDF functions

Saving data, specifically emails, as PDFs, is not a feature exclusive to Outlook. This guide has already mentioned that this is also possible with Word. Additionally, you can convert Excel files to PDF.

You can open PDF files with Adobe Acrobat Reader or a suitable browser plugin. Often saved PDFs are read-only. If you want to edit PDF files, you can get some helpful information by clicking on the article.

When you convert Outlook emails to PDF, depending on the size of the email, the resulting file sizes may be quite large. It’s a good idea to shrink PDFs. With the information provided in the link, you can minimise the amount of your data storage or lighten the inbox load of your recipients by sending compressed PDF files.

If you tend to save sensitive information as PDFs and want to protect them, you should password protect your PDF files. In this way, your documents remain protected from unauthorised access and cannot be opened without the appropriate credentials.