How to save a webpage as a PDF (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, iPhone, Android)

You do not need an extension or a converter site to save a webpage as a PDF. Every major browser does it through the print dialog: instead of a printer, you pick Save as PDF (Firefox calls it Save to PDF) and the "printout" lands on your disk as a file. On a Mac, the print dialog of every app has a PDF button for the same job, and on an iPhone, Safari can save a page as a PDF from the Share menu.

Here are the exact steps for each browser and phone, a trick that makes the file much cleaner, and what to do when the PDF comes out cut off or as one endless page.

The quick version

1. Open the page and press Ctrl+P (Windows, Linux) or Command+P (Mac).
2. Where the dialog asks for a printer or destination, choose Save as PDF (Chrome, Edge, Android), Save to PDF (Firefox) or the PDF button (Mac).
3. Check the preview, then click Save and pick a folder.

Start with reader view for a cleaner file

A PDF keeps everything the preview shows, including menus, sign-up boxes, ads and the comments. For an article, switch to your browser's reader view first and then save: the PDF holds just the headline, the text and the pictures that belong to the story.

• Safari (Mac and iPhone): click or tap the page menu in the address bar and choose Show Reader. The option only appears when Safari finds an article on the page.
• Firefox: in the print dialog, choose Simplified under Format. Firefox prints the Reader View version of the page.
• Chrome: right-click the page and choose Open in reading mode, or go to More > More tools > Reading mode. Chrome's reading mode is for reading, not printing, so for a clean PDF from Chrome the reliable route is a print-cleanup extension; How to print an article without ads walks through that.
• Edge: open Immersive Reader from the address bar (or press F9 on Windows), then print. Microsoft points to it as the way to get a clutter-free printout.

Chrome on a computer

1. Open the page in Chrome.
2. Choose File > Print, or press Ctrl+P (Windows, Linux) or Command+P (Mac).
3. Next to Destination, choose Save as PDF.
4. Open More settings if you want to change the paper size, scale or margins, or turn headers and footers and background graphics on or off.
5. Click Save and choose where the file goes.

Safari on a Mac

Safari uses the standard macOS print dialog, so the PDF step is the same in every Mac app.

1. Open the page in Safari. For an article, choose Show Reader from the page menu first.
2. Choose File > Print, or press Command+P.
3. Click the PDF button in the bottom-left corner of the dialog, or open the pop-up menu next to it and choose Save as PDF.
4. Enter a name, choose a location and click Save.

Apple notes that a PDF saved this way looks exactly as the page would when printed, and the same pop-up menu can send the PDF by email or save it to iCloud Drive instead.

Firefox

1. Open the page, then click the menu button (three lines) and choose Print, or press Ctrl+P (Windows, Linux) or Command+P (Mac).
2. Next to Destination, choose Save to PDF.
3. Under Format, choose Simplified if it is offered, for a clutter-free article.
4. Open More settings to turn Print headers and footers or Print backgrounds on or off.
5. Click Save and name the file.

Microsoft Edge

1. Open the page in Edge.
2. Press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Command+P (Mac), open Settings and more (three dots) and choose Print, or right-click an empty part of the page and choose Print.
3. Under Printer, choose Save as PDF.
4. Use More settings for paper size, scale, margins, headers and footers, and background graphics. Microsoft's tip: if the preview looks different from the page, turn Background graphics on.
5. Click Save.

Safari on an iPhone

Apple's documented route goes through Markup. It also lets you highlight or write on the page before you save it.

1. Open the page in Safari. For a cleaner file, tap the page menu in the address bar and choose Show Reader first.
2. Tap the page menu, then tap Share. If your tabs are at the top or bottom of the screen, tap the Share button there instead.
3. Tap Markup. Annotate if you like, or skip straight to the next step.
4. Tap Done, then choose Save File To.
5. Enter a name and tap Save. The PDF is now in the Files app.

If the page you are looking at is already a PDF (a report or a menu, say), there is a shorter path: tap the page menu, tap Share, then Save to Files.

To print a page from an iPhone instead, tap Share and then Print; you need an AirPrint printer on the same Wi-Fi network. How to print a webpage has those steps for every phone and browser.

Chrome on an iPhone

Chrome on iOS prints through AirPrint: tap Share, then View more, then Print. Google's help page does not describe a Save as PDF option in that flow, so for a PDF, copy the address into Safari and use the Markup steps above.

Chrome on Android

1. Open the page in the Chrome app.
2. Tap More (three dots), then Share, then Print.
3. At the top, where the printer is chosen, tap Save as PDF. Tap the down arrow to change paper size, orientation or pages.
4. Tap the print button and choose where to save the file.

When the PDF is one long page, or cuts off

• The PDF is a single tall page. That is usually a page that keeps loading as you scroll. Scroll to the bottom first so everything has loaded, then save again, and check the paper size under More settings.
• The right side is missing. Lower the Scale in More settings, or switch to landscape. Wide tables nearly always need landscape.
• It stops after the first page or two. Try the reader view route, which rebuilds the page from the article text. In Edge you can also select the part you want, right-click the selection and choose Print, so only that part goes into the file.
• Colors, highlights or charts are missing. Turn on Background graphics (Chrome, Edge) or Print backgrounds (Firefox).
• The address and date print on every page. Turn off Headers and footers.
• The comments came along. Type a page range, such as 1-3, in the pages field, so the PDF stops where the article does.
• The page is subscriber-only. A PDF can only hold what has loaded in your browser, so sign in first, open the full article, then save.

Common questions

Is saving a webpage as a PDF free?

Yes. The PDF destination is built into Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Android and the macOS print dialog. No add-on is needed.

Why does my PDF look different from the screen?

Websites can give themselves a separate layout for printing, and that layout is what the PDF uses: menus may vanish, columns may stack and colors may change. The print preview shows exactly what the file will contain, so check it before saving.

How do I save just the article and not the ads?

Switch to reader view first (Safari's Show Reader, Firefox's Simplified format, Edge's Immersive Reader), then save. For Chrome, use a print-cleanup extension. The steps are in How to print an article without ads.

Where did the PDF go?

Wherever you chose in the save step: the Downloads folder by default on most computers, the Files app on an iPhone, and the folder you picked on Android. Search for the page title if you lose track of it.

Can I turn a ChatGPT conversation into a PDF the same way?

Yes, the browser print to PDF works there too, with a couple of quirks for long chats. See How to save a ChatGPT conversation as a PDF.

If you do this for a lot of articles

Saving one article as a PDF is quick. Saving twenty and then reading them on a screen is where the habit usually breaks down. If you keep making PDFs because you would rather read long pieces away from a screen, Offprint is built for that: you text it a link whenever you find something worth reading, and your saves become a printed magazine mailed to your door. For a single piece on paper today, the print steps in How to print an article are all you need.