If you want to save multiple Outlook emails as PDF in one file, classic Outlook for Windows can do it in a minute with Microsoft Print to PDF. New Outlook and Outlook on the web cannot print more than one message at a time, so there you need a different route.
Quick Answer: In classic Outlook for Windows, select the emails with Ctrl or Shift, press Ctrl+P, choose Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer and click Print. Outlook joins all selected messages into one PDF. New Outlook and Outlook on the web print one email at a time, so switch to classic or merge the PDFs afterwards.
First check which Outlook you have
The steps below only work in classic Outlook, the one with the File tab on the ribbon. If your window has no File tab, you are on new Outlook. How to know if you have new Outlook or classic Outlook shows the quick way to tell.
Save multiple Outlook emails as one PDF in classic Outlook
You do not need any add-in. Windows 10/11 already has the Microsoft Print to PDF printer.
- Open the folder and select the emails. Hold Ctrl and click to pick individual emails, or click the first one, hold Shift and click the last one to pick a range.
- Press Ctrl+P, or go to File > Print.
- Under Printer, choose Microsoft Print to PDF.
- Click Preview if you want to see which pages will be in the file, and Print Options if you need to change the page layout.
- Click Print, then give the PDF a name and pick the folder to save it in.
Outlook puts the selected messages one after another in a single file.
If you want a whole folder, click any email in it and press Ctrl+A to select everything. Try a small batch first. A big folder makes a very big PDF, and it is easier to check ten emails than a thousand.
The older emails are missing from the PDF
Outlook only prints what is loaded in the list. If you see “Click here to view more on Microsoft Exchange” at the bottom of the message list, click it first so the older items load, then select your range. A Microsoft Q&A thread has users who ended up with a PDF of one email because of exactly this.
Include attachments when you combine multiple Outlook emails into one PDF
The PDF holds the email text, not its attachments. To get the attachments as PDFs, set Microsoft Print to PDF as your default printer in Windows first. Then select the emails, open Print Options and tick “Print attached files”. Outlook sends each attachment to the default printer, so each attachment becomes its own PDF, and you save them one by one. If Outlook asks whether to open or save an attachment, choose Open.
This is classic Outlook only. In new Outlook and on the web, save the attachments in their original format and convert them with a PDF tool.
Can I save multiple emails as one PDF in new Outlook?
Not directly. Outlook on the web has the same limit, and in new Outlook the Print button turns grey when more than one message is selected. You have three ways around it:
- Print one email at a time. Open the email, select More actions (the three dots) > Print, and choose Microsoft Print to PDF. This is also the way to save one email as PDF in new Outlook.
- Switch to classic Outlook for the job by turning off the “Try the new Outlook” toggle at the top right, then follow the steps above. Our guide on how to switch back to classic Outlook has the details. Microsoft has said classic Outlook stays supported until at least 2029, so this is not going away tomorrow.
- Merge afterwards. Save each email as its own PDF, then join them with a PDF editor or merge tool. It is slower, but it works when you cannot go back to classic.
Microsoft’s own answer on this is that new Outlook has no built-in “save all as PDF” option: see Microsoft Q&A.
Save emails from Outlook as PDF one at a time
To convert an Outlook email to PDF on its own, open the email in its own window, press Ctrl+P, choose Microsoft Print to PDF and click Print. To keep several emails as separate PDFs, repeat this for each message.
Is there a way to bulk convert emails to PDF?
In classic Outlook, yes: select the whole folder with Ctrl+A and print it as above. That is the built-in way to bulk save emails from Outlook, and it needs no extra software. In new Outlook there is no bulk option today.
Is a PDF good enough as an email archive?
For reading and sharing, yes. For legal or audit use, be careful. A printed PDF is a picture of the message, not the original. Headers, timestamps and other metadata may be missing or changed. If someone needs proof of the original, export the emails to a PST file (our post on where the Outlook PST file is helps) or save them as .msg files, and keep the PDF as the readable copy.
Third-party bulk converters exist too. If you use one, check what it does with your mail first, especially if the emails are confidential.
