How to convert an email to PDF or Word on a Mac
Short answer
Open the message in OldMail, pick PDF or Word from the dropdown next to the Export as button, and press ⇧⌘E. You get a document with the subject, sender, recipients, date and the full formatted body — saved wherever you choose.
It works on every format the app opens: a single .eml, .emlx or .msg file, a message inside a .pst or .ost archive, an .mbox mailbox, or a whole folder of messages.
Why this is harder than it looks
Saving an email as a PDF sounds like it should be a one-click job, and it is — if the message is already sitting in your mail app. Apple Mail can print to PDF, and so can most clients.
The trouble starts when the message is not in a mail app. An Outlook .msg file someone attached, a message inside an archived .pst, an old .eml pulled off a backup drive — none of those can be printed, because nothing on your Mac will open them in the first place. You end up importing the whole archive into a mail client just to produce one PDF.
Reading the file directly removes that step: open the message, export it, done.
What ends up in the document
The exported file is laid out for reading rather than as a screenshot of an inbox:
- The subject as the heading.
- The attachment list immediately underneath — each one by name and file type, so you can see at a glance that the message had a 4 MB spreadsheet on it.
- From, To, Cc and Date, then a rule, then the message body.
- The body keeps its original formatting, and inline images embedded in the email are carried into the document rather than dropping out.
Attachments themselves are deliberately not embedded. That is a choice, not an omission: it keeps a document with a 20 MB attachment small enough to email, while still recording what was attached. If you need the attachment as well, save it separately from the message.
Convert an email to PDF in four steps
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Open the message
Press ⌘O in OldMail and pick the file —
.eml,.emlx,.msg,.mbox, or a.pst/.ostarchive — or drag it onto the window. For an archive, click through to the message you want. -
Choose PDF or Word
Use the small dropdown next to the Export as button in the toolbar. Your choice is remembered, so you only set it once.
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Export
Press ⇧⌘E or click the button. The document is built from the message you are currently reading.
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Save it
A normal save dialog appears, with the filename already derived from the subject line. Pick a folder and you are done.
Everything happens on your Mac: no account, no sign-in, and no copy of your mailbox sent to a server.
Other ways to do it
OldMail is not the only route, and depending on what you have available another one may suit you better.
Print to PDF from your mail app
If the message is already in Apple Mail or Outlook, ⌘P and then the PDF dropdown in the print dialog does the job for free. It is the right answer for mail you have received normally — it just cannot help with a file your Mac will not open.
Forward it to yourself first
Getting the message into your mail client and then printing it works, but it rewrites the headers, adds forwarding cruft and is painful for more than one or two messages.
Online email-to-PDF converters
They exist and they work. They also require you to upload the message, and usually its attachments, to somebody else's server. For anything with client details, contracts or personal data in it, that is a poor trade.
Common problems
The Word file is .doc, not .docx
Word export produces a Word 97-format .doc file. Microsoft Word, Pages and LibreOffice all open it without complaint, and you can re-save it as .docx from any of them if you specifically need that extension. The reason is that macOS provides .doc writing natively, whereas .docx would mean bundling a separate document writer.
My email is very long
Long messages are paginated properly across as many A4 pages as they need, rather than being cut off at the first page.
The PDF does not contain the attachments
That is by design — see above. The names and file types are listed under the subject so the record is complete, while the document stays small.
I need to export a lot of messages
Export works one message at a time. For a folder of files or a large archive, open it as a tab, use the search box to narrow the list, and export the ones that matter.
Open it in about a minute
OldMail is free on the Mac App Store. Open a PST, OST, MSG, EML, EMLX or MBOX file, then turn any message inside it into a PDF or Word document — all on your own Mac.
Frequently asked questions
How do I save an email as a PDF on a Mac?
If the message is already in your mail app, Command-P and choosing PDF in the print dialog works. For an email saved as a file — .eml, .msg, or one inside a PST archive — open it in OldMail and press Shift-Command-E, having picked PDF from the dropdown next to the Export as button.
Can I convert a .msg file to PDF on a Mac?
Yes. Open the .msg in OldMail and export it with Shift-Command-E. Nothing has to be imported into a mail client first, and the message keeps its formatting, inline images and the list of what was attached.
Are attachments included in the exported PDF?
No, and that is intentional. Attachment names and file types are listed directly under the subject so the document records what came with the message, but the files themselves are not embedded — which keeps the PDF small enough to share. Save any attachment you need separately.
Can I export to Word instead of PDF?
Yes. Switch the format in the dropdown next to the Export as button. The result is a Word 97-format .doc file, which Word, Pages and LibreOffice all open; re-save it as .docx from there if you need that specific format.
Can I convert emails inside a PST or OST to PDF?
Yes. Open the archive, click the message you want in the list, and export it. There is no need to convert the archive or import it into Outlook first.