How to Save a Gmail Email as a PDF

To save a Gmail message as a PDF on a computer, open the message, choose Print, then select Save as PDF in the browser’s print window. A PDF gives you a version of the message to store or share. Use the print dialog to choose where to save the file.

Before saving, decide whether you need one message or the entire conversation. Also check the finished PDF: attachments and some message details, such as routing information, may not appear in a printed copy.

Save one Gmail message on a computer #

1. Open Gmail and open the message you want to save.
2. In the message’s upper-right corner, click the three-dot More menu.
3. Select Print.
4. In the print window, choose Save as PDF as the destination.
5. Click Save, choose a folder, and confirm the file name.

Gmail’s print route creates the PDF through the browser’s print window, as described in this Gmail PDF walkthrough. The exact labels in the print window depend on your browser and operating system.

Save an entire conversation #

Gmail groups related replies into a conversation, also called a thread. To include the whole conversation, open it and choose Print all near the top-right of the thread. Then select Save as PDF in the print window.

If you use Print from an individual message’s menu, Gmail prints that message rather than automatically including every reply. Check the PDF’s pages before sharing it to confirm that it contains the full conversation.

Check what the PDF includes #

A printed PDF shows the message as it appears on screen, but it generally omits email information such as routing details. Attachments may also be left out. Open the saved file and check both the message and any attachment you expected to include. Save attachments separately when needed.

If you need the original email details for your records, keep a copy of the email as well. Google’s Gmail export instructions say an account export includes message content, headers, and attachments. Google provides the export in an archive, rather than as a PDF, and encrypted messages remain encrypted in the download.

Gmail confidential mode blocks printing the message text and attachments. If Print is unavailable or Gmail restricts the output, there is no print-to-PDF workaround for that message.

If you need to save many emails #

Gmail’s print method works one message or conversation at a time. For bulk PDF exports, third-party browser extensions offer additional options, but they may request access to Gmail messages. Review an extension’s permissions and privacy practices before installing it, especially if the emails contain personal, financial, or confidential information.

If you only need a backup of Gmail rather than PDFs for sharing or reading, Google Takeout exports Gmail data in an archive. The archive is not a collection of PDFs.

$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vincentsch/mailmd/main/install.sh | sh

Set up mailmd so you can read my email. Use https://github.com/vincentsch/mailmd: read its AGENTS.md and follow the steps. Connect my mailbox and run the first sync. Then show me where the files are.