How to Combine an Outlook Email and Attachments into One PDF
Question details
The user wants to merge an Outlook email and its attached files into a single, continuous PDF file, but default conversion tools often create a PDF portfolio or leave attachments as separate linked files.
- Product
- Microsoft Outlook / PDF Converters
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Exporting or archiving email conversations along with their attachments as a single seamless document for reading.
- Observed behavior
- The conversion creates a PDF portfolio or an email PDF with clickable links to attachments, rather than appending the attachment pages directly after the email pages.
Ensure you have saved both the Outlook email and all of its attachments to a local folder on your computer before beginning the merging process.
Convert Separately and Combine (Recommended)
Since direct conversion plugins often fail to append pages correctly, exporting files individually and merging them ensures a continuous standard PDF.
This manual method is the most reliable way to ensure your email body and attachments flow sequentially as standard PDF pages, bypassing the forced portfolio settings of many email plugins.
Open the email in Outlook, go to File > Print, and select 'Microsoft Print to PDF' (or your preferred PDF printer) to save the email body to your computer.
Open each attachment in its native application (such as Word or Excel) and save or print them as separate PDF files into the same folder.
Open a PDF merging tool, add the email PDF first followed by the attachment PDFs, and use the 'Combine Files' or 'Merge' function to create a single document.
Adjust PDF Plugin Settings in Outlook
Modify the default conversion settings in your Outlook PDF add-in to attempt to prevent the creation of PDF Portfolios.
Easily Combine Emails and Attachments with WPS PDF
WPS Office provides a powerful built-in PDF toolkit. Once you save your email and attachments as individual PDFs, you can use WPS PDF to seamlessly merge them into one continuous document without dealing with complex portfolio settings.
- 1. Open WPS Office: Launch WPS Office on your computer and navigate to the 'PDF' tab on the home screen.
- 2. Select Merge PDF: Click on 'Merge PDF' from the PDF toolkit options available in the main menu.
- 3. Add Your Files: Upload your converted Outlook email PDF and the attachment PDFs. Ensure the email PDF is placed first in the sequence.
- 4. Combine and Save: Click 'Merge' to combine the files into a single continuous PDF, then save the merged document to your desired folder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Outlook create a PDF portfolio instead of a single file?
When converting emails with attachments, the default behavior of many PDF add-ins is to create a portfolio to keep the original attachment file formats intact. This bundles the files together in a container rather than merging their pages sequentially.
Can I combine attachments without converting them to PDF first?
Yes, if you use an advanced PDF editor with a 'Combine Files' feature. Many advanced editors allow you to add non-PDF attachments (like Word or Excel files) and the software will convert and merge them automatically in one step.
How do I change the order of pages after combining the email and attachments?
Open the merged PDF in your PDF editor, navigate to the Page Thumbnails pane or Page Organize view, and drag and drop the pages into your preferred order before saving.
