How to Print Emails in Outlook (2026 Guide)
Printing emails in Outlook is one of those things that should be simple but trips people up constantly — headers get cut off, batches don’t work, attachments print blank, and the formatting comes out broken. Here’s how to print emails properly in each version of Outlook, plus fixes for the most common issues.
1. Print a Single Email
The easiest case. Works in every version of Outlook.
New Outlook & Outlook on the Web
- Open the email you want to print.
- Press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac).
- The print dialog opens with a preview.
- Choose your printer, paper size, and orientation.
- Click Print.
You can also click the three-dot menu at the top of the email and choose Print.
Classic Outlook for Windows
- Open the email or select it in the message list.
- Click File > Print (or press Ctrl+P).
- Under Settings, Memo Style is selected by default — this prints the email body, sender, subject, and date.
- Click Print Options to adjust fonts, margins, or headers/footers.
- Click Print.
Tip: Press Ctrl+P twice in a row in classic Outlook to skip the print preview and send the email straight to your default printer.
2. Print Multiple Emails at Once
Useful for archiving, expense reports, or compiling a paper trail.
Classic Outlook for Windows (best support)
- In your inbox, hold Ctrl and click each email to select multiple non-contiguous messages, or hold Shift and click the first and last to select a contiguous range.
- Click File > Print.
- Choose Memo Style to print each email as a separate document.
- Click Print.
Each email starts on a new page. The print job runs through all selected emails in order.
New Outlook for Windows
New Outlook doesn’t yet support batch email printing. You can:
- Print emails one at a time, or
- Switch to classic Outlook for the bulk job (toggle Try the new Outlook off in the top-right), or
- Forward the emails to yourself in a single combined message and print that.
Outlook on the Web
The web doesn’t support batch printing either. The browser print dialog only knows about the currently open email.
3. Print a Folder as a Table (Classic Outlook Only)
If you need a list of emails in a folder — sender, subject, date, size — rather than the full content of each email, the Table Style is what you want.
- In classic Outlook, open the folder you want to print.
- Click File > Print.
- Under Settings, choose Table Style.
- Click Print Options to set the date range or filter.
- Click Preview to verify the layout.
- Click Print.
The output is a tabular summary — one row per email — perfect for compliance archives, sender reports, or auditing what came in during a date range.
Customize what columns appear
- Before printing, in your folder view, right-click any column header and choose Field Chooser.
- Drag in or remove columns (e.g., Categories, Importance, Has Attachments).
- The table print mirrors your visible columns.
4. Print an Email With Its Attachments
By default, Outlook prints the email body but not the attachments. To include them:
- Open the email or select it.
- Go to File > Print.
- Click Print Options.
- Check Print attached files.
- Click Print.
Each attachment prints starting on a new page. The email body prints first.
Note: This only works for attachments with a registered print handler — Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, and image files. Outlook will silently skip file types that don’t have a print handler installed (like .zip, .exe, or unusual formats).
For attachments that don’t print directly, open them first in their parent app, then print from there.
5. Save an Email as PDF
Saving as PDF avoids the printer entirely and gives you a digital file you can email, archive, or print later from any device.
Windows
- Open the email.
- Press Ctrl+P.
- In the Printer dropdown, select Microsoft Print to PDF.
- Click Print.
- Choose a save location and filename, then click Save.
Mac
- Open the email.
- Press Cmd+P.
- In the print dialog, click the PDF dropdown at the bottom.
- Choose Save as PDF.
- Enter a filename and click Save.
Outlook on the Web (any OS)
- Press Ctrl+P or Cmd+P.
- In the browser’s print dialog, change Destination to Save as PDF.
- Click Save.
PDFs preserve the email body, headers, sender info, and formatting. Embedded images come through. Attachments are not included automatically — save those separately.
6. Page Setup for Cleaner Printouts (Classic Outlook)
Classic Outlook lets you tune how printed emails look. Settings persist across print jobs.
- Click File > Print > Page Setup.
- On the Format tab, adjust the fonts used for the email body and headers.
- On the Paper tab, set paper size, source, and orientation.
- On the Header/Footer tab, add page numbers, the print date, or your name.
- Click OK to save.
Common adjustments:
- Reduce body font to 9pt to fit more on each page
- Switch to landscape for wide tables or HTML emails
- Add a footer with &D (date) and &P (page number)
7. Common Print Issues
Header or footer cut off. Open Page Setup > Margins and reduce the top/bottom margins to 0.5 inches. If the issue is the email’s own content getting trimmed, switch to landscape orientation.
HTML email prints with broken formatting. Some HTML emails (especially marketing newsletters) don’t render well in print. Forward the email to yourself first — Outlook re-renders it on send and the forwarded copy often prints cleaner. Or save as PDF in the web version, which uses the browser’s renderer.
Blank pages between emails. This is usually caused by HTML emails with hidden bottom padding. Open Page Setup and reduce bottom margin, or save as PDF and remove blank pages with a PDF editor.
Inline images don’t print. Check that images are downloaded — emails often block external images by default. In classic Outlook: right-click the blocked image area in the message and choose Download Pictures. Then print.
Print Options button missing. You’re in new Outlook. Advanced print options aren’t in new Outlook yet — switch to classic Outlook (toggle in the top-right) for the full dialog.
Table Style is greyed out. Table Style only prints folders, not individual emails. Click on the folder name in the navigation pane (not on a specific email) before going to File > Print.
Email prints multiple times. This happens when you have multiple printers configured and your default changes mid-job. Open the print dialog and explicitly select your printer rather than relying on the default.
Quick Reference
| Task | Best version | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Print one email | Any | Ctrl+P, Memo Style |
| Print 10 emails as separate documents | Classic Outlook | Select with Ctrl/Shift, File > Print, Memo Style |
| Print folder as a list | Classic Outlook | Open folder, File > Print, Table Style |
| Print email + attachments | Classic Outlook | File > Print > Print Options > Print attached files |
| Save email as PDF | Any | Ctrl+P, choose PDF printer |
| Print HTML newsletter cleanly | Web (browser renderer) | Open in web Outlook, Ctrl+P |
| Print with custom header/footer | Classic Outlook | Page Setup > Header/Footer tab |
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Ctrl+P — open print dialog
- Ctrl+P, Ctrl+P — print to default printer (classic Outlook)
- Cmd+P — print on Mac
- Ctrl+Shift+M — new email (useful when you want to forward and reformat before printing)
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More on Outlook: How to archive emails in Outlook · How to create folders in Outlook · How to recall an email in Outlook · How to use Quick Steps in Outlook · How to create rules in Outlook · How to schedule an email in Outlook · How to create an email template in Outlook · How to add a signature in Outlook
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