Turn an Outlook .msg email into a PDF without Outlook. The converter reads the message file directly in your browser and lays out the subject, sender, recipients and date, the formatted HTML or rich-text body with its inline pictures, the attachment list and any attached (forwarded) emails on clean pages.
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MSG
Attachments
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How to use the MSG to PDF Converter
Get the .msg file: in Outlook for Windows drag the message to a folder or the desktop, or choose File, Save As, Outlook Message Format.
Open it here by dropping it on the box or choosing it. The subject, sender, recipients, body and attachments appear in the preview.
Pick the page size, margins and text size, and which parts to include: headers, attachment list, inline images, attached photos and attached emails.
Press Convert to PDF. The PDF is created on your device and downloaded straight away.
Need every alphabet or emoji? Use Print / Save as PDF and choose Save as PDF in the print dialog.
How an Outlook .msg file is converted
A .msg file is a small file system inside a file (Compound File Binary Format). Each piece of the email is a stream named after its MAPI property tag. The converter reads them like this:
The compound file's sector tables and directory are read to find the message storage, the recipient storages (__recip_version1.0_#…) and the attachment storages (__attach_version1.0_#…).
Properties are decoded: subject (0x0037), sender name and address, sent time (0x0039), recipients with their To, Cc or Bcc type, and the message codepage for older non-Unicode files.
The body is taken from the HTML property (0x1013) when present; otherwise the compressed RTF (0x1009) is decompressed and, if it wraps HTML, the original HTML is recovered; otherwise the plain-text body (0x1000) is used.
Attachments are read with their file names, MIME types and content IDs, so pictures referenced as cid: in the body appear in place. Attached Outlook items are parsed as messages of their own.
The header block and body are laid out on pages and saved as a PDF.
Outlook item types
Message class
What it is
Result
IPM.Note
Ordinary email
Full conversion
IPM.Schedule.Meeting.Request
Meeting invitation
Subject, organizer, attendees and invitation text
IPM.Appointment
Calendar item
Subject and description
IPM.Note.SMIME
Signed or encrypted email
Signed emails usually work; encrypted bodies cannot be read
IPM.Contact, IPM.Task
Contact card, task
Basic fields and notes
MSG or EML?
Classic Outlook for Windows saves emails as .msg. Most other mail apps, including Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Gmail and the new Outlook, save the standard .eml format, which you can convert with EML to PDF. To just read a message and its headers without making a PDF, use the MSG File Viewer.
Frequently asked questions
What is a .msg file?
A .msg file is a single email, meeting request, contact or task saved by Microsoft Outlook. It uses Microsoft's Compound File Binary format (the same container as old .doc files) and stores each part of the message, such as the subject, sender, body and attachments, as MAPI properties described in Microsoft's MS-OXMSG specification.
How do I convert an Outlook email to PDF without Outlook?
Open the .msg file in the converter above and press Convert to PDF. The file is decoded in your browser, so you do not need Outlook, a Microsoft account or any software, and the email is never uploaded.
Does it keep the formatting and images?
Yes. If the email has an HTML body it is used with its fonts sizes, colors, tables, lists and links. Many Outlook messages store their HTML inside compressed RTF; that is unpacked too. Inline pictures referenced by the body are embedded in the PDF. Plain rich-text emails without HTML are converted as text.
What happens to attachments?
Every attachment is listed under the header with its size, and you can download each one from the list. Photos can be appended at the end of the PDF, and attached Outlook emails (for example forwarded messages) are converted too and added on their own pages with a bookmark. Other files such as PDF or Word documents are listed but not merged.
Why does the date differ from Outlook?
The sent date is stored in UTC inside the .msg file. The converter shows it in your device's time zone with the zone name, which may differ from the zone where the email was sent or the one Outlook was set to.
Can it open encrypted or signed Outlook messages?
Messages encrypted with S/MIME or protected with Information Rights Management cannot be read without the recipient's key, so their body will be missing. Digitally signed but not encrypted messages usually convert normally.
Is my email uploaded?
No. The .msg file is parsed and converted to PDF entirely in your browser, so nothing leaves your device.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.