How to convert a .msg file to PDF

PDF is usually where a .msg file needs to end up: attached to a ticket, filed with a case, sent to someone who does not use Outlook, or archived somewhere that will still be readable in ten years. Doing it in the browser avoids uploading correspondence to a conversion service.

Steps

1. Open the viewer and drop your .msg file onto it.
2. Click Print / PDF in the message toolbar.
3. In the print dialog, set the destination to Save as PDF.
4. Save the file.

What the PDF contains

Printing opens a purpose-built copy of the message in a new window rather than printing the page you are looking at. That is what lets a long message flow across as many pages as it needs instead of being clipped at one. If nothing opens, allow pop-ups for this site and try again.

The output:

• keeps the full header block — sender, recipients, date and subject — at the top;
• expands the complete message body rather than clipping it to the on-screen scroll area;
• lists attachment names and sizes, so the record shows what was attached even though PDF cannot embed them;
• prints link destinations in full after the link text, so a URL in the message is still verifiable on paper;
• omits the site interface — no navigation, buttons, banners or ads appear in the PDF;
• prints on white with dark text whether or not you are using dark mode.

Getting a cleaner result

• Load remote images first if you need them in the PDF. They are blocked by default, and blocked images print as empty placeholders.
• Turn off headers and footers in the print dialog to remove the browser's page title and URL from each page.
• Enable background graphics if the message relies on coloured table backgrounds — many marketing emails become unreadable without them.

Converting several messages

Drop all the files at once, then step through them with J and K, printing each. Printing them into a single PDF is not possible from the browser; if you need one combined document, save each and merge them afterwards.

Why printing the page does not work

An obvious-looking approach fails here, and it is worth explaining so you do not waste time on it. Message bodies are rendered inside an iframe, for the good reason that email HTML ships global CSS that would otherwise restyle the whole page. But iframe content cannot paginate across printed pages: the browser prints what fits in the frame and clips the rest.

Pressing Ctrl+P on a long message therefore gives you one page and a truncated body — silently, with no warning that anything was lost. The Print / PDF button opens a separate document containing the message on its own, which does paginate. A long thread comes out as eight pages rather than one.

Making the PDF admissible as a record

If the PDF is going into a case file, an audit or a dispute, the body alone is rarely enough. What makes it defensible is the material around it:

• The header block — sender, all recipients including Cc, and the exact send time. A body without them proves very little.
• The attachment names, so the record shows what travelled with the message even though the PDF cannot contain the files themselves.
• The raw internet headers, if authenticity is likely to be questioned. Received lines, Message-ID and the SPF and DKIM results are what an investigator will ask for, and they are not in the printed body.

Keep the original .msg as well. A PDF is a rendering; the original file is the evidence, and only it still carries the headers and the attachments.

If you need the attachments too

A PDF cannot carry the original attachments. Use Download all in the attachments section to get them as a ZIP, and keep it alongside the PDF. Alternatively, export the message as .eml, which keeps the body and every attachment in one standard file.