How to save a webpage as a PDF on desktop and mobile

For most browsers, the *Print* function is the fastest and most effective way to save a webpage to PDF. We know choosing *Save page as…* would be the logical choice, but that option is for saving pages in a web format, not as a contained file like a PDF. The *Print* option is the tool you need.

Step 1: Select Print from your browser’s file menu. Nearly all browsers (including Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Safari, and Edge) will open Print if you press Ctrl + P or Command + P (on a Mac).

Step 2: Select Save as PDF from the resulting menu.

Step 3: Select your settings for page layout and range.

Step 4: Save the PDF to your preferred file location. Printing to PDF on Windows is a default feature. You can also print to PDF on macOS without any additional software.

There are two ways to create a PDF using Safari on the iPhone and iPad.

The first method uses the screenshot tool:

Step 1: Open a webpage in Safari and grab a screenshot. This method depends on your device.

Step 2: On the following screen, select the Full page tab and perform any markups you want to include. Select Done when you’re finished.

Step 3: Choose Save PDF to files on the resulting pop-up.

Step 4: Choose a destination on your device and select Save to complete.

The second method to create a PDF for a web page on iOS and iPadOS uses the Share tool:

Step 1: Open the webpage in Safari and select the Share button.

Step 2: On the drop-down (iPad) or pop-up (iPhone) Share Sheet, select Options listed under the webpage title.

Step 3: Choose PDF on the following list and then select Back (iPad) or Done (iPhone).

Step 4: On the Share Sheet, select Save to files.

Step 5: Choose a destination and then select Save.

Follow these steps to save a webpage to PDF using Chrome for Android:

Step 1: Open your desired webpage in the Chrome app, select the Three-dot icon located in the top-right corner, and choose Share in the drop-down menu.

Step 2: A pop-up menu appears at the bottom of the screen. From this menu, select Print.

Step 3: Select the Down arrow at the top of the screen and choose the Save as PDF option on the drop-down menu.

Step 4: Select the Down arrow underneath Paper size and choose your document options (size, color, pages) if necessary.

Step 5: Once you’re ready to save your PDF, select the circle PDF icon on the right side of the screen.

Step 6: Give your file a name by navigating to the bottom of the following screen, entering the name in the text box, and then selecting Save. You also have the opportunity to choose your save location simply by pressing the Three horizontal lines (you’ll see these on the top left of your screen). You can select from a variety of options, including the Downloads folder, somewhere else in your device’s storage, or in your Google Drive. If you need to annotate or change the file, you can edit PDFs in Google Drive.

You’re also able to save PDFs directly from Chrome if you’re using an iOS device; however, the instructions are slightly different.

Step 1: Select the Share icon (you can find this in the top-right corner of your screen) and scroll down a bit until you see the Print option. Select it.

Step 2: From the Print menu, use both of your fingers to make a pinching motion that will allow you to zoom in and get a closer view. Doing this will cause the page to automatically transform into a full-screen PDF that you can examine.

Step 3: On the top-right of the screen, select the Share icon again, then pick Save to files. You can then enter the name you want to call your file, and that’s it – now you have a PDF of your webpage. Keep in mind that you can also implement this process on Firefox for iOS.

Do you want more options for creating specific kinds of PDFs? Do you need to customize PDFs before they’re created? There are many online extensions and web-based tools that specialize in converting HTML to PDFs, with plenty of options for how the PDF looks and where it goes. These options are particularly useful for developers and businesses that need to convert multiple pages at once.

PDFShift

PDFShift is a quick online tool designed for speed. For long-term use, all you need is a free account, but the real value is in the full set of tools that allow for mass conversions of HTML at high speeds for serious projects.

NovaPDF

NovaPDF provides business-friendly licenses for its PDF creator and manager. You can simply print to NovaPDF to automatically generate a PDF and customize the “printing” job with NovaPDF’s options for overlays, watermarks, digital signatures, and more. It’s a good tool for more detailed work.

Adobe Acrobat

If you pay for a subscription to Adobe services (or you’re willing to start a free trial), there is an additional option. Adobe allows you to install a PDF toolbar in your browser. This creates a simple *Convert to PDF* button that allows for superfast conversions on the fly. The toolbar works on Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox and could be more convenient if you regularly use Adobe tools.

PDF Candy

PDF Candy won’t let you eat your PDFs (sad, I know). Instead, you can edit your PDFs for free with a bunch of tools like signing, splitting, cropping, watermarking, and more. There is a catch, however. You can edit only one PDF per hour. Most folks that need to sign or redact something won’t need that long, so it should be fine for most people. Otherwise, full usage requires a monthly or lifetime fee.

Canva

Canva is a bit of an oddball, but it can be a fantastic PDF tool (occasionally). I say it’s an oddball because it’s not explicitly a PDF editing tool. It lets you edit and design documents that you can export to PDFs, or even edit an existing PDF. This can be a bit buggy if Canva doesn’t support the existing fonts and formats. But if you’re designing a resume or poster to convert into a PDF format, give Canva a try. It’s free!

What will you do with the PDF you created from that web page? PDFs are incredibly versatile, so you have plenty of options. You can convert a PDF into a PowerPoint presentation, for example, or convert a PDF into a JPG image.