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Conversion

How to convert an EML email file to PDF

Emails often become evidence, records or paperwork: a confirmation you need for a claim, an agreement reached by message, or correspondence a lawyer or accountant asks to see. A PDF of the email opens anywhere and can be filed, printed or combined with other documents. This guide explains what an EML file is, how to export one from common mail apps, what VelloDoc includes in the PDF, and how to handle attachments and long threads.

By VelloDocUpdated Reading time: 6 min

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Save an exported email as a PDF record showing its subject, sender, recipient, date and message body.

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Accepts: EMLMax 80 MBDeleted after delivery

What an EML file is

An EML file is a single email saved in the standard internet message format, the same format mail servers use to pass messages to each other.

  • Headers and body: It's a text file with two parts: headers, like From, To, Cc, Subject and Date, plus technical lines that record the message's route, followed by the body.
  • What the body can hold: The body can hold a plain text version, an HTML version with formatting, and attachments encoded as text.
  • A standard format: Because the format is standard, many mail programs can save and open EML files.
  • Outlook's MSG format: Outlook for Windows usually saves messages in its own MSG format instead, which this tool doesn't read.

Exporting an email as an EML file

Menus vary between versions, but the option is usually close to Save or Download.

  • Thunderbird: In Thunderbird, open the message and use Save As to store it as a file.
  • Apple Mail: In Apple Mail, select the message and use Save As with the raw message source format.
  • Gmail on the web: In Gmail on the web, open the message's menu and choose to download the message, which saves an EML file.
  • Other webmail services often have a similar download option, or a "show original" view from which the message can be saved.
  • If you only get MSG: If your mail app only exports MSG files, check whether it offers another format before converting.

What VelloDoc puts in the PDF

  • What the document contains: EML to PDF reads the message and builds a document titled with its subject, followed by the From, To and Date lines and the message body.
  • HTML or plain text: When the email has an HTML version, that version is used, so formatting like headings, lists and tables comes across. Otherwise the plain text version is laid out with its line breaks preserved.
  • Nothing is fetched from the internet: Scripts and embedded frames are removed, and nothing is downloaded from the internet during conversion. So images the email loads from other servers won't show up. Images stored as separate parts of the message may not show up either.
  • What's left out: The Cc and Bcc lines, the technical routing headers and the attachments aren't included in the PDF.

Attachments and threads

  • Keeping attachments with the email: To keep an email together with its attachments, save the attachments from your mail app first. Convert them to PDF if needed, for example with Universal File to PDF. Then combine everything with Merge PDF. Put the email first and the attachments after it, in the order they were listed.
  • A whole conversation: A conversation is usually several separate messages: export each one you need, convert them, and merge the PDFs in date order.
  • Quoted replies: Replies that quote earlier messages keep that quoted text in their body, so the latest message of a thread often shows most of the conversation on its own.

Keeping emails as records

  • A PDF isn't the complete message: A PDF is the most practical copy for reading, printing and sharing, but it isn't a complete copy of the message.
  • What the EML keeps: The original EML file has headers that record where the message came from, plus IDs and technical checks that a PDF doesn't show. Those details can matter if anyone ever questions whether the message is real.
  • Keep both for important mail: For important correspondence, keep the EML file alongside the PDF.
  • For long-term records: If the PDF has to stay readable for many years, convert it with PDF to PDF/A, and give files names that include the date and subject so they sort and search well.

Privacy when converting emails

  • Emails are full of personal details: names, addresses, phone numbers, and sometimes account or health information.
  • How VelloDoc handles the file: VelloDoc processes the file on its server in a temporary job folder and deletes it after the PDF is delivered, as described on the file security page.
  • Check before sharing: Before sharing the resulting PDF, check whether everything in it should go to the recipient; Redact PDF removes details that shouldn't, and the guide to what a PDF can reveal covers other hidden information.

Questions

Can I convert Outlook MSG files?

Not directly. EML to PDF reads EML files. If your mail app can save the message as EML, export it in that format first.

Are attachments included in the PDF?

No. Save the attachments separately, convert them to PDF if needed and combine everything with Merge PDF.

Why are images missing from my PDF?

Nothing is loaded from the internet during conversion, so remotely hosted images aren't shown, and images stored as separate parts of the message may not appear.

Does the PDF show Cc recipients?

No. It shows the subject, the sender, the recipients in the To field, the date and the message body.

Can I convert several emails into one PDF?

Yes. Convert each EML file, then combine the PDFs with Merge PDF in the order you want.

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