Save Email as PDF — EML, MBOX, MSG, MHTML to PDF Converter

Save Email as PDF is a converter that turns EML, MBOX, MSG, EMLX, and MHTML files into clean searchable PDF documents. Everything runs in your browser. Your messages stay on your computer. Drop a file into the side panel. Pick paper size. Click Convert. Done. ▍ What this extension actually does • Convert .eml messages exported from Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Windows Mail, or Gmail's per-message download into PDF. • Open MBOX archives from Gmail Takeout or Thunderbird, filter by date or sender, and batch export the result as a ZIP of per-message PDFs. • Read Outlook .msg files (the binary CFB / OLE2 format) and save each one as a searchable PDF, attachments included. • Handle Apple Mail .emlx and Microsoft .mht / .mhtml web archives in the same converter pipeline. • Click "Save as PDF" inside Gmail or Outlook on any open message — the side panel renders the PDF locally, no API call, no OAuth, no server roundtrip. ▍ Built for serious archival, easy enough for the rest of us This converter was put together with legal e-discovery, GDPR retention, HIPAA archival, and corporate compliance work in mind. It also works when you simply need to figure out how to save email as PDF for a personal backup. Lawyers archive case correspondence. Compliance officers run audit exports. Freelancers preserve client threads. Archivists migrate organizational mailboxes. Anyone with a Gmail Takeout sitting on disk finally gets a clean way to actually open it. ★ Privacy by design Your email files are parsed by a Manifest V3 service worker and dedicated Web Workers — locally, in your browser. Nothing is uploaded. There is no cloud component. There is no analytics on your message content. Listing-URL telemetry is off by default. Works offline once installed. How it works in four steps: 1) Open the side panel from the toolbar icon. 2) Drag in a .eml, .mbox, .msg, .emlx, or .mht file. Or click the "Save as PDF" button inside Gmail or Outlook on an open message. 3) Pick paper size, header style, and attachment policy. Defaults already match what most legal exports want. 4) Convert. The PDF lands in your Downloads folder. → Supported input formats → EML — RFC 5322 single message, the universal email file → MBOX — Unix mailbox, mboxrd and standard variants, including Gmail Takeout → MSG — Outlook Desktop binary (Compound File Binary) → EMLX — Apple Mail with metadata plist → MHT and MHTML — IE and Outlook web archive ▍ PDF output you actually control You decide how the PDF looks. Paper size A4, US Letter, Legal, or custom dimensions. Margins, page numbers, and footer text are configurable. Headers can be Minimal, Standard, Full (technical fields like Message-ID, Received, DKIM), or a custom checkbox list — useful when a court asks for specific fields. Attachments can be embedded as PDF /EmbeddedFile entries (paperclip icon in Adobe Reader), appended as additional pages, or just listed by filename. Optional PDF/A-2b output for archival standards. Searchable text layer always — no rasterized-only output. ✓ Why pick this and not something else ✓ vs viewer-only EML and MBOX extensions — they show the message, this one converts it. ✓ vs web converters that require upload — your data stays on your device, period. ✓ vs desktop email archive software — no install, no license fee, runs in any Chrome. ✓ vs Gmail's "Print → Save as PDF" — preserves headers, attachments, multipart structure, and works on entire mailboxes, not one message at a time. 📥 What's inside The extension is built on Manifest V3. Permissions stay minimal: storage, downloads, sidePanel, and content scripts limited to mail.google.com, outlook.live.com, outlook.office.com, and outlook.office365.com. Body rendering uses embedded Noto Sans for Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts. The streaming MBOX parser handles archives well past 10 GB without loading the whole file into memory. Batch ZIP packing via JSZip. If a file looks corrupted or a format isn't recognized, the side panel says so instead of failing silently. Drag in another one and try again.