How to save emails (and other elements) as files in Microsoft Outlook

You can save your emails, Outlook contacts and appointments as individual files. Saving these items can help you access them more quickly and easily later.. It is a convenient way to backup or share certain messages, or just make them easily accessible.

How to save an email message as a file

First, Let's take a look at how to save messages as files in Outlook. This can be useful if you want a backup of the email on your computer. (or to copy to another computer), or if you want to use the message as a template for future messages later.

Start by opening the message you want to save. In the email window, click on the menu “File” on the tape.

Select command “Save as”.

On the menu “Save as”, navigate to the location where you want to save the file and then type a name for the file. By default, Outlook names it with the subject line of the message, but you can change it to what you want.

Furthermore you can save a message as different types of files using the drop down menu “Save as type”. The default is the Outlook message format. If you choose that, you can just double click the file to open it in Outlook again. But, plus there are some other options you can select from:

• Text only: When you save your message as a text-only file, it's just saving the words, not the format or the images.
• Outlook template: Saving your message as an Outlook template means you can apply the format to future emails. When you open the file, Outlook creates a new message with the contents of the file that you can later address and send on your way.
• HTML: Saving your message as an HTML document means that you are saving your email to display on a web page.. You can open the message in any web browser.
• MHT: An MHT file is a web page archive file. In the same way as an HTML file, is designed to be viewed in a web browser. Unlike an MHT file, an HTML file saves all the text, code, images and other media in a single file.

When it's over, Click the button “Keep”.

And your message is now saved as a file.

How to save an email message as a PDF

You can also save your email as a PDF using Microsoft's built-in Office PDF printer.. Saving as PDF is a great way to back up a message that you can read in all the proper format..

In the message window, click on the menu “File” on the tape.

Click on the command “To print”.

Click on the drop-down menu “Printing machine” and then choose the option “Microsoft Print to PDF”.

Please note that if you have another PDF creation application installed on your computer (you are using macOS), the alternatives here may be different. As an example, if you have adobe installed, you will likely see the option “Adobe PDF”. That will work just as well.

Then, Click the button “To print”.

In the window “Save PDF As” that opens, select where you want to save your PDF, type a file name and then click the button “Keep”.

You have now saved your email as a PDF.

And note that, since you are only printing to a PDF rendering engine, that same trick works exactly the same way to save any item in Outlook (contacts, other, etc.) and PDF.

How to save a contact as a file

You can also save contacts as files using Outlook. It works almost the same as saving messages and can be useful for backing up individual contacts or moving them to a new computer.. Contacts are also saved as Vcard files (CVF), a format used by many other applications that work with contacts. This also makes it easy to transfer a contact to another app or send a contact's information to someone else so that they can import it into whatever app they use..

From the Contact window, click on “File” on the main tape.

Click on the command “Save as”.

In the window “Save as”, navigate to where you want to save the contact file and change the name if you want.

In the same way as with the messages, you can select a few different file formats here from the drop down menu “Save as type”:

• Text only: When you save your contact as a text-only file, it's just saving the words, not the format or the images.
• Rich text format: Saving your contact as a rich text file means that you can save several different types of format, as bold and italic, along with pictures, in your file. This format can be useful if you have an image with your contact card.
• Outlook message format: When you save your contact in Outlook message format, you can open it in Outlook (even on another computer) and it will work like any other Outlook contact. But later, it will behave the same if you save it in the default VCF format, so there is not much advantage here.

When it's over, Click the button “Keep”.

You have now saved your contact as a file.

How to save an appointment (or all your calendar) as a file

And in the same way as with other Outlook items, you can also save your appointments as files. Although it is not so useful to make a backup of saved copies of individual appointments, Outlook supports the vCalendar standard, which means you can save an appointment, send it to someone else and then they can import it into a different compatible app.

Open the appointment you want to save. In the appointment window, click on the menu “File” on the tape.

Click on the command “Save as”.

Navigate to where you want to save the appointment file and then give it a name.

As with messages and contacts, you can select a few different file formats here from the drop down menu “Save as type”:

• Text only: When you save your appointment as a text-only file, it's just saving the words, not the format or the images.
• Outlook template: Saving your appointment as an Outlook template means that you can apply the format to future calendars or calendar appointments.
• Outlook message format: When you save your appointment in Outlook message format, you can open it in Outlook again, even on another computer.
• HTML: Saving your message as an HTML document means that you are saving your appointment to be viewed on a web page..
• MHT: An MHT file is a web page archive file. In the same way as an HTML file, is designed to be viewed in a web browser. Unlike an MHT file, an HTML file saves all the text, code, images and other media in a single file.
• ICalendar format: iCalendar is another calendar standard that enables you to transfer calendar information to different calendar applications..

Select whether you want to save a single appointment or your entire calendar. By saving your entire calendar, all data will be saved in your current Outlook calendar.

When it's over, Click the button “Keep”.

And now you have successfully saved your appointment or calendar.