How to Print an Email from Gmail, Outlook or Your Phone

Boarding passes, school letters, delivery confirmations, a long message from a relative: sooner or later you need a paper copy. Knowing how to print an email properly saves ink and frustration, because the obvious approach, pressing Ctrl+P in the browser, often prints menus, adverts and the whole inbox list along with the message. Every major email service has its own Print command that produces a clean page, and a few options that let you print exactly the part you need.

The one rule: use the mail program’s Print button

Webmail runs inside a browser page that also contains folders, toolbars and sometimes ads. The browser’s print command prints that whole page. The email service’s own Print option instead builds a print view with just the message: sender, date, subject and text. Look for it in the message’s own menu, not the browser’s.

Before you print, make sure your printer is ready on the device you are using. If you print from a laptop or phone that has never used the printer, our guides to connecting a printer to Wi-Fi and printing from an iPhone or an Android phone cover the setup.

How to print an email in Gmail on a computer

Google’s steps for a single message:

1. Open Gmail and open the email.
2. At the top right of the message, click More (the three dots).
3. Click Print.

To print every message in a conversation:

1. Open the conversation.
2. At the top right, click the Print all icon.

Gmail opens a print view in a new window, then the normal print dialog. If nothing seems to happen, your browser may be blocking the new window; allow pop-ups for Gmail and try again.

How to print from the Gmail app on a phone

On iPhone and iPad, Google’s steps are: open the email, tap More at the top right, and tap Print; to print the whole conversation, tap More and then Print all. The phone’s print screen opens, where you choose the printer (an AirPrint printer on Apple devices) and the number of copies.

On Android, the Gmail app offers the same Print and Print all choices from the More menu. The Android print screen then lets you pick a printer, or Save as PDF to keep a copy.

How to print an email in Outlook

Outlook comes in several versions, and the button is in a different place in each.

Classic Outlook for Windows (Microsoft’s steps):

1. Select the message, then choose File, Print.
2. Choose the Memo Style layout.
3. Open Print Options to choose the printer, page range, number of copies and whether to print attached files.
4. Use Page Setup if you want to change the font, margins, orientation or paper size.
5. Select Print.

New Outlook for Windows:

1. Select the message and go to the Home tab.
2. Choose Print.
3. In the preview, select Print at the top.
4. Choose the printer, layout and pages, then Print.

Outlook on the web and Outlook.com have a Print option in the message’s More actions menu (the three dots), which opens a print preview before the browser’s print dialog.

How to print attachments

Attachments, such as PDF tickets or Word documents, do not usually print with the message unless you ask for them.

• Classic Outlook: hover over the attachment, open its drop-down menu and choose Quick Print to send it to the default printer. To use another printer, open the attachment and print it from its own program. You can also tick the attachments option in Print Options when printing the message.
• New Outlook and Outlook on the web: open the attachment’s menu, choose Preview, then Print; or Download or Open it and print from the program that opens it.
• Gmail: click the attachment to preview it and use the print icon in the viewer, or download it and print from the app that opens it.

Microsoft’s advice applies everywhere: attachments are a common way to spread viruses, so only open those from people and content you trust. Previewing shows the contents without opening the file in another program.

Print only what you need

Long threads repeat every earlier message in each reply, and signatures and legal footers add whole pages. Some ways to cut that down:

• Print the single message, not Print all, when one reply has everything you need.
• Use a page range. Look at the preview, note which pages hold the useful part, and enter only those under Pages.
• Choose black and white. Logos and coloured signatures use colour ink for nothing; see how to print with only black ink.
• Two pages per sheet is readable for most emails; see how to print multiple pages on one sheet.
• Copy the text into a document if you only need a paragraph, and print that.

Save an email as a PDF instead

For bookings, receipts and anything you only need to keep or show, a PDF is often better than paper. In Gmail, use Print and then choose Save as PDF as the destination. In Outlook on Windows, print to Microsoft Print to PDF. On a Mac, use the PDF menu in the print dialog. Our guide to how to print to PDF explains each option, and our eco-friendly printing guide has more ways to print less.

When an email will not print

Problem	Likely cause	What to try
Gmail print does nothing	Pop-up window blocked	Allow pop-ups for Gmail, try again
Print option missing in Gmail	Sender used confidential mode	Google notes printing can be blocked; ask the sender for a copy
Page cut off at the right	Wide email layout	Choose fit to page or landscape; see fit to page vs actual size
Images missing	Images not loaded or background graphics off	Load images, turn on background graphics in More settings
Printer not listed	Printer not added to this device	Add the printer, or print to PDF and print from another device

Keeping printed emails private

Printed emails often carry addresses, booking references and account details. If you print on a shared or office printer, collect the pages straight away, and shred copies you no longer need rather than putting them in the recycling whole. At home, the same care applies to a printer on a shared Wi-Fi network; our guide to how to secure a home printer covers the basics.

If the printer is listed but the job never comes out, the problem is with the printer or its connection rather than the email; checking that the printer is online and has paper and ink usually finds it.