How to Print to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android

Printing to PDF is one of the most useful things built into modern operating systems. Instead of sending output to a printer, you're capturing a pixel-perfect snapshot of whatever is on your screen as a portable PDF file. It works from virtually any application that has a Print option — browsers, Word, Excel, email clients, photo viewers, and more. Here's how to do it on every major platform.

How to Print to PDF on Windows

Windows 10 and Windows 11 ship with a virtual printer called Microsoft Print to PDF that appears alongside your physical printers in any Print dialog.

The Standard Method (Works in Any App)

1. Open the document, webpage, or file you want to save as a PDF.
2. Press Ctrl+P to open the Print dialog.
3. In the printer dropdown, select Microsoft Print to PDF.
4. Adjust settings as needed (page range, orientation, paper size).
5. Click Print.
6. A Save As dialog appears. Choose a location and filename, then click Save.

The resulting file is a standard PDF. One important caveat: printing to PDF re-renders the visual output, so interactive elements like hyperlinks, form fields, and bookmarks are stripped out. If you need those to survive, use a dedicated export-to-PDF option in your application instead. See our guide to PDF hyperlinks for a more detailed explanation of what survives the print process.

Printing Webpages to PDF in Chrome or Edge

Both Chrome and Edge have their own built-in PDF printer that often produces cleaner webpage output than Microsoft Print to PDF:

1. Press Ctrl+P in the browser.
2. Select Save as PDF (Chrome) or Microsoft Print to PDF (Edge) from the printer list.
3. For cleaner output, toggle off "Headers and footers" and adjust the scale if the layout is getting cut off.
4. Click Save.

How to Print to PDF on Mac

Every Mac application that supports printing can save to PDF natively. The option lives at the bottom of the Print dialog.

1. Open the document or webpage you want to save.
2. Press ⌘P to open the Print dialog.
3. In the bottom-left corner, click the PDF dropdown button.
4. Select Save as PDF.
5. Choose a filename and destination, add an optional title and author in the Security Options, then click Save.

Mac's PDF printer preserves significantly more document structure than Windows does in some cases — Safari in particular does a good job of rendering clean webpage PDFs. For Word and Excel documents, though, using File → Export → PDF inside the application usually produces better results than printing to PDF, since the export path can preserve document headings, bookmarks, and links.

Quick PDF from the Share Menu (Mac)

In many Mac apps, you can also find PDF export under the Share menu: File → Share → Send a Copy, or simply drag a file to the Desktop while holding certain modifier keys in Preview. The Print to PDF route is the most universal, but worth knowing these shortcuts exist.

How to Print to PDF on iPhone and iPad

iOS doesn't use the phrase "print to PDF" in its interface, but the functionality exists through the Share menu on every app that supports printing.

Method 1: Share Menu (Fastest)

1. Open the document, email, webpage, or image you want to save as a PDF.
2. Tap the Share icon (the box with an arrow pointing up).
3. Scroll down and tap Print.
4. On the print preview screen, use a pinch-to-zoom outward gesture on the page thumbnail. This converts the print preview into a PDF preview.
5. Tap the Share icon that now appears and choose Save to Files or AirDrop, or send it directly.

Method 2: Save to Files (Safari)

In Safari, there's an even quicker path for webpages. Tap the Share icon, then scroll through the top row of icons and tap Save to Files. iOS automatically saves the webpage as a PDF. This method also captures the full page, not just the visible portion.

How to Print to PDF on Android

Android's approach varies more by manufacturer and app than iOS does, but there are two reliable methods that work broadly.

Method 1: Through Any App's Print Option

1. Open the document, email, or webpage.
2. Tap the three-dot menu and select Print (or look for a Print option in Share).
3. In the printer dropdown at the top, select Save as PDF.
4. Tap the PDF icon (a download arrow) in the top right of the print preview.
5. Choose where to save the file.

Method 2: Chrome on Android

1. Open the page in Chrome.
2. Tap the three-dot menu, then Share, then Print.
3. Select Save as PDF from the printer list.
4. Tap the download icon to save.

What Print to PDF Keeps (and What It Loses)

Understanding the limitations helps you decide when to use print-to-PDF versus a dedicated export option:

For documents where you need hyperlinks, form fields, or bookmarks to survive, use the application's built-in export or Save as PDF option rather than the print path. For a Word document specifically, our Word to PDF guide covers the export options that preserve document structure. If you need to protect the resulting PDF with a password, run it through our Protect PDF tool after saving.

When Print to PDF Is the Right Choice

Print to PDF is the best option when:

• You want to save a webpage exactly as it looks right now (before content changes)
• You're converting a file type that doesn't have its own PDF export (like a text file, an older spreadsheet format, or a legacy app)
• You want to flatten a document before sharing, removing all interactive elements intentionally
• You need a quick PDF from an email, receipt, or confirmation page

For professional documents where structure matters — or where you'll need to compress, merge, or add a watermark afterward — starting with the application's native export and then processing with our free PDF tools gives you more control over the final result.