Quick tip to really nail down archiving your digital communications: if you want to download a HubSpot email as a PDF, the most straightforward way is to use your web browser’s built-in “Print to PDF” function. It’s a lifesaver for keeping important messages exactly as they were sent. We’ll walk you through that and a bunch of other handy tricks, not just for HubSpot, but for your other email platforms too.
, our inboxes are basically filing cabinets, brimming with crucial conversations, marketing campaigns, and important documents. Sometimes, just having an email sitting in your inbox isn’t enough. You might need a more permanent, universally accessible, and secure record. That’s where saving emails as PDFs comes in. It’s a simple yet incredibly powerful practice that can save you a lot of hassle down the road. Whether it’s for legal reasons, client records, or just keeping a clean archive, knowing how to turn an email into a PDF is a must-have skill for anyone using business tools like HubSpot.
Why Bother Saving Emails as PDFs? The Real Reasons
You might be thinking, “Why go through the trouble? My emails are already stored.” And you’re right, they are! But there are some really solid reasons why pulling them out as PDFs is a smart move. Think of it like taking a snapshot of something important.
Preservation and Compatibility
One of the biggest advantages of a PDF is its ability to preserve content and formatting. Ever forward an email only for it to look completely different on someone else’s device? PDFs pretty much eliminate that problem. They ensure your email, with all its text, images, and links, looks exactly the same no matter where or when it’s viewed. This means you can count on the visual appearance and structure of the message staying intact, even if the recipient’s email client or settings are different from yours.
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Legal and Compliance Needs
For businesses, this isn’t just about neatness. it’s often a legal requirement. Many industries have strict rules about how long you need to keep certain communications. Emails often contain critical business-critical information, with some studies suggesting up to 60% of such data lives exclusively in email. Having them in an unalterable PDF format makes them excellent for legal documentation, audits, or compliance checks. In fact, the email archiving market is huge, valued at around $8.01 billion in 2025 and projected to grow to $18.01 billion by 2030, which tells you how serious businesses are about keeping these records. When a lawsuit or audit comes knocking, a comprehensive archive of emails can really speed up the discovery process.
Enhanced Security
PDFs offer an extra layer of security that standard emails don’t. You can encrypt and password-protect sensitive or confidential email content, giving you more control over who can access it. This is super important if you’re dealing with private client information or proprietary business plans.
Offline Access and Sharing
Imagine needing to review an important client conversation, but your internet is out, or you’re on a flight. If you’ve saved that email as a PDF, you’re all set! You can access important communications offline. Plus, PDFs are incredibly easy to share. Everyone can open them, regardless of their system or software, which makes collaborating a breeze. Your Ultimate Guide to Acing the HubSpot Digital Marketing Exam
Storage and Organization
While email providers offer plenty of storage, sometimes it’s nice to have key documents organized outside your overflowing inbox. Exporting emails to PDF allows you to save them in dedicated folders on your computer or cloud storage, making them easier to find and manage in the long run. Some solutions even help reduce storage space in your email client.
Method 1: The Go-To for HubSpot Emails – Using Your Browser’s Print Function
Alright, let’s get down to how you actually download a HubSpot email as a PDF. Since HubSpot doesn’t have a direct “Export as PDF” button for individual email content they usually offer exports for email performance data or templates, your browser’s print function is your best friend here. This method works across most web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Access the Email in HubSpot:
- First things first, log into your HubSpot account.
- Navigate to Marketing > Email.
- Find the specific email you want to save. Instead of clicking to edit it, you’ll usually see an “Actions” dropdown or a “View email” option when you hover over it or click on it. Click “View email” or the “Actions” dropdown and then “View” to open the email in a new tab in your browser. This opens an online preview of the email, looking exactly as recipients would see it.
- Open the Print Dialogue:
- Once the email is open in your browser, you’ve got a couple of options to bring up the print menu:
- Keyboard Shortcut: On Windows, press Ctrl + P. On a Mac, it’s Command + P.
- Right-Click: Right-click anywhere on the email content making sure you’re not clicking on an image or link that might open a different menu, and select “Print…” from the context menu.
- Browser Menu: Look for the three dots or a similar icon in the top-right corner of your browser window for Chrome, Edge, Firefox or the “File” menu for Safari, and then select “Print.”
- Once the email is open in your browser, you’ve got a couple of options to bring up the print menu:
- Select “Save as PDF”:
- In the print dialogue box that pops up, you’ll see a “Destination” or “Printer” section. This is usually set to your physical printer by default.
- Click on the dropdown menu next to it.
- You should see an option like “Save as PDF,” “Microsoft Print to PDF” on Windows, or “Print to PDF.” Select that option.
- Important Settings to Check:
- Before you hit “Save,” take a moment to look at the settings:
- Pages: Make sure “All” is selected if you want the entire email. Sometimes, if the email is long, the print preview might initially only show what’s visible on the screen. By selecting “Save as PDF,” it should capture the full scrollable content.
- Layout: Usually, “Portrait” is best for emails.
- Background Graphics: This is crucial! To make sure your email looks exactly like the original, with all its branding, colors, and design elements, make sure the “Background graphics” option is enabled or checked. Without it, you might just get plain text on a white background.
- Review the Preview: Most print dialogues give you a live preview. Scroll through it to make sure everything looks good and all the content is included.
- Before you hit “Save,” take a moment to look at the settings:
- Save Your PDF:
- Once you’re happy with the settings, click the “Save” or “Print” button the button name might vary depending on your browser and OS, but it essentially means “save the PDF”.
- A “Save As” dialogue box will appear, asking you where you want to save the file and what you want to name it. Give it a descriptive name so you can easily find it later.
- Choose your desired folder and click “Save.”
And just like that, you’ve got a clean, perfectly formatted PDF copy of your HubSpot email!
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Beyond HubSpot: How to Save Emails as PDFs from Other Popular Platforms
While the “Print to PDF” method is super handy for HubSpot, it’s also a universal trick that works for almost any email client or web application. Let’s look at how you can apply this to some other popular email platforms you might be using.
Gmail
Saving a Gmail email as a PDF is incredibly easy, whether you’re on your computer or a mobile device.
Desktop Web Browser
- Open the Email: Go to your Gmail inbox and open the email you want to save.
- Find the Print Icon: Look for the printer icon near the top right of the email, next to the “More” three vertical dots menu. Click it.
- Select “Save as PDF”: In the print preview window that appears, click the “Destination” dropdown menu. Choose “Save as PDF”.
- Save: Click the “Save” button, choose your desired location, and name your file.
Mobile iPhone/Android
The process is similar on mobile, utilizing the print functionality.
- iPhone/iPad:
- Open the Gmail app and open the email.
- Tap the three dots More options at the top of the email.
- Select “Print” or “Print all” if it’s a thread.
- You’ll see a print preview. Pinch outwards on the thumbnail preview to expand it to a full-screen PDF view.
- Tap the Share icon usually a square with an arrow pointing up in the top right corner.
- Choose “Save to Files” or select another app like a PDF editor to save it.
- Android:
- Tap the three dots in the top right corner of the screen.
- Select “Print”.
- In the print dialogue, tap the dropdown at the top which might say “Select a printer” and choose “Save as PDF”.
- Tap the yellow PDF button, choose your location, and save.
Outlook
Outlook, both the desktop application and the web version, also makes it straightforward to save emails as PDFs.
Desktop Application Windows
- Open the Email: Open the Outlook application and double-click the email you want to save.
- Go to Print: Click on “File” in the top-left corner, then select “Print”. You can also use Ctrl + P.
- Choose “Microsoft Print to PDF”: In the Printer dropdown menu, select “Microsoft Print to PDF”.
- Print/Save: Click “Print” which will actually save it as a PDF, choose a folder, name the file, and click “Save”.
Desktop Application Mac
- Open the Email: Open the Outlook application and select the email.
- Go to Print: Go to “File” > “Print”. You can also use Command + P.
- Save as PDF: In the print menu, look for a “PDF” dropdown button usually in the bottom-left corner. Click it and select “Save as PDF”.
- Save: Name your file, choose a location, and click “Save”.
Outlook on the Web / New Outlook
- Open the Email: Log into Outlook.com or use the New Outlook desktop app, and open the email.
- More Actions > Print: Click the three dots More actions at the top of the email or on the toolbar. Then select “Print” from the dropdown menu.
- Select “Save as PDF”: In the print preview window, change the “Destination” to “Save as PDF”.
- Save: Click “Save,” choose your location, and name the file.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp emails, especially campaigns, are often designed with a lot of flair. Saving them as a PDF can be really useful for showing off your work or keeping records. Mastering the HubSpot Digital Marketing Certification: Your Smart Guide to Success
- View Email in Browser:
- Log into your Mailchimp account.
- Go to Campaigns > All campaigns.
- Find the campaign you want to save. You’ll usually need to click on an option like “View email” or “Preview” to open the live email in your web browser.
- Use Browser’s Print Function:
- Once the email is open in your browser, use the same print methods we discussed: Ctrl + P Windows or Command + P Mac, or right-click and select “Print”.
- In the print dialogue, select “Save as PDF” as the destination.
- Make sure “Background graphics” is enabled if you want to keep the design elements.
- Click “Save,” choose your location, and name the file.
Some users have also had success by first exporting a Mailchimp template or campaign as HTML, then opening the HTML file in a browser and printing that to PDF. This is a more advanced step, but it might give you more control over the output if the direct browser print isn’t quite right.
Apple Mail iPhone/iPad/Mac
For those in the Apple ecosystem, the built-in Mail app also offers excellent ways to create PDFs from your emails.
iPhone or iPad Mail App
- Open the Email: Launch the Mail app and open the email you wish to convert.
- Tap Share/Reply: Tap the Share button the square with an arrow pointing up, usually at the bottom or top of the screen. For some versions or if using the Outlook app on iOS, it might be the reply arrow icon or three dots.
- Select “Print”: Scroll down the menu that appears and tap “Print”.
- Pinch-Zoom for PDF: You’ll see a print preview. Pinch outwards on the small thumbnail image of the email to zoom in and bring up a full-screen PDF preview.
- Share the PDF: Tap the Share icon again, a square with an arrow in the top-right corner of the full-screen preview.
- Save to Files: Choose “Save to Files” and select a location on your iPhone, iPad, or iCloud Drive.
Mac Mail App
- Open the Email: Open the Mail app on your Mac and select the email or multiple emails for a single PDF you want to save.
- File > Export as PDF: Go to the menu bar at the top of your screen, click “File”, and then select “Export as PDF…”.
- Save: A dialogue box will appear. Name your PDF file, choose where you want to save it, and click “Save”.
Alternatively, you can use the “File > Print” option on Mac, and in the print dialogue box, click the “PDF” dropdown menu in the bottom-left corner and select “Save as PDF”.
Tips for a Smooth PDF Conversion
Getting a perfect PDF out of your email isn’t always just about hitting “Print.” Here are a few things to keep in mind to make sure your converted files are just right: Dharmesh Shah: The Driving Force Behind HubSpot’s Inbound Revolution and AI Future
Check Formatting
Always, always preview your PDF before you finalize the save. Sometimes, certain elements like complex layouts or specific fonts might not render perfectly in the PDF. This is where enabling “Background graphics” in your print settings as mentioned for HubSpot becomes super important, as it helps retain the original look and feel of your email. If you notice anything off, you might need to adjust browser zoom before printing or try a different browser.
Handle Attachments
This is a common question: will attachments be included in the PDF? Generally, when you save an email as a PDF using the print method, the attachments themselves are not embedded within the PDF. The resulting PDF will show that there were attachments with the message, but it won’t include the files themselves.
If you need the attachments too, you’ll have to download them separately from the original email first. Then, you can either keep them as separate files or, if you’re using a PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat, you could combine the email PDF with the attachment PDFs into a single document. For Apple Mail on Mac, there’s good news: if you save an email as a PDF, it will include any attachments from the original email in the PDF file.
Naming and Organizing
Once you have your PDF, give it a clear, descriptive filename. Instead of “Untitled.pdf,” try “HubSpot_Campaign_Q3_Report_2025.pdf” or “Client_Onboarding_Email_JohnDoe_2025-09-05.pdf.” This makes it much easier to find later without having to open every file.
Also, create a consistent folder structure on your computer or cloud storage for these archived emails. For example, “Client Communications,” “Marketing Reports,” “Legal Records.” Good organization saves you so much time and frustration down the line. Download hubspot
The Big Picture: Email Archiving & Business Value
It’s clear that saving emails as PDFs is more than just a convenient trick. it’s a vital part of good digital hygiene and smart business practice. With billions of emails sent daily over 333 billion emails are sent daily, as of Statista 2024 data! and a significant portion containing critical business information, organizations are increasingly investing in robust archiving solutions.
The email archiving market itself is booming, with strong growth fueled by regulatory scrutiny, the need to protect against cyber threats like ransomware, and the shift to cloud-based systems. Businesses recognize that effective email archiving helps them:
- Meet Compliance: Adhere to industry regulations and avoid hefty fines.
- Mitigate Risk: Have immutable records for legal disputes and e-discovery, which can be crucial when 91% of organizations have faced at least one email-based cyberattack in the past year.
- Preserve Knowledge: Keep a complete history of decisions, agreements, and intellectual property, even if employees leave.
- Improve Efficiency: Reduce the burden on primary email servers and make it faster to find old information.
The average IT administrator spends about 3.5 hours per week just hunting down old emails or restoring lost messages. That’s a lot of time that could be saved with proper archiving practices, like regularly converting important emails to PDF. So, when you’re saving that HubSpot email as a PDF, you’re not just performing a simple action. you’re contributing to a more organized, secure, and compliant business environment.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I download multiple HubSpot emails as PDFs at once?
Unfortunately, HubSpot doesn’t have a direct built-in feature to export multiple email contents as PDFs in a batch. The browser “Print to PDF” method works best for one email at a time. If you need to archive many emails, you would have to open and print each one individually. For bulk data, HubSpot typically offers exports of email performance data or contact lists in formats like CSV, but not the visual content of multiple emails as PDFs. On a Mac using Apple Mail, however, you can select multiple emails and export them as a single PDF or multiple PDFs.
Does saving an email as PDF include attachments?
Generally, when you use the browser’s “Print to PDF” function, the attachments themselves are not included in the resulting PDF file. The PDF will typically show that attachments were part of the original email, but you’ll need to download them separately if you want to keep them. An exception is Apple Mail on a Mac, where saving an email as a PDF will include any attachments within the PDF.
Is there a built-in “Export to PDF” feature in HubSpot for email content?
No, HubSpot does not currently offer a direct “Export to PDF” button for the visual content of individual emails within its marketing email interface. Your best bet for saving an email’s content as a PDF from HubSpot is to use your web browser’s native “Print to PDF” functionality after viewing the email in a new tab, as detailed in this guide.
Why do my PDF emails look different sometimes?
If your saved PDF email doesn’t look exactly like the original, it’s often due to print settings. The most common culprit is “Background graphics” not being enabled in your print dialogue. This setting ensures that background colors, images, and other design elements are included. Also, certain complex CSS or interactive elements might not render perfectly in a static PDF format. Always check the print preview before saving! Mastering Content Marketing: Your Guide to HubSpot’s Free Certification Course
Can I password-protect a PDF email?
Yes, you absolutely can! Once you’ve saved your email as a PDF, you can open it with a PDF editing software like Adobe Acrobat, Foxit Reader, or many free online PDF tools and add a password for extra security. This is a great way to protect sensitive information within your archived emails.
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