You have a document, a web page, or an email you need as a PDF. Maybe you’re filing paperwork. Maybe your client only accepts PDF. Maybe you just want a snapshot that won’t get reformatted when someone opens it on a different machine.
Here’s the good news: you probably don’t need to install anything. I’ve been working with PDFs for over a decade, and the Print to PDF feature built into Windows, macOS, and even mobile devices handles 90% of what people need. For the other 10%, there are free tools that fill the gaps without any subscription.
I tested 11 different methods and tools for this guide – built-in OS features, browser-based options, and free desktop software. Below is exactly what works, what doesn’t, and which method fits your situation.
If you work with PDFs regularly, check out our complete roundup of the best free PDF editors for editing, annotating, and managing your files after creation.
Quick Comparison: Print to PDF Methods
| Method | Platform | Cost | Keeps Hyperlinks | Batch Print | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Print to PDF | Windows 10/11 | Free (built-in) | No | No | Quick one-off PDFs |
| macOS Save as PDF | macOS | Free (built-in) | Yes (partial) | No | Mac users, clean output |
| Chrome/Edge Print | Any OS | Free | No | No | Web pages, emails |
| Bullzip PDF Printer | Windows | Free | No | Yes | Batch jobs, watermarks |
| doPDF | Windows | Free | No | No | Lightweight alternative |
| CutePDF Writer | Windows | Free | No | No | Simple, no bloat |
| PDFCreator | Windows | Free | Yes | Yes | Auto-save, advanced features |
| LibreOffice | Win/Mac/Linux | Free | Yes | Yes (macros) | Office docs with links |
| iPhone/iPad | iOS/iPadOS | Free (built-in) | No | No | Quick mobile capture |
| Android | Android 4.4+ | Free (built-in) | No | No | On-the-go PDF creation |
| Smallpdf Online | Any (browser) | Free (2/day) | Varies | No | No-install option |
How to Print to PDF on Windows 10 and 11 (Built-in)
Windows 10 and 11 both include a virtual printer called Microsoft Print to PDF. It works with every application that has a Print function. No download, no setup.
Step-by-step
- Open the file you want to convert (Word doc, web page, image, spreadsheet, whatever)
- Press Ctrl + P to open the Print dialog
- Under “Printer” or “Destination,” select Microsoft Print to PDF
- Adjust settings if needed – page range, orientation, paper size
- Click Print
- Choose where to save the file, give it a name, hit Save
That’s it. The PDF appears wherever you saved it.
What if Microsoft Print to PDF is missing?
This happens sometimes after Windows updates or on some enterprise builds. Fix it in about 30 seconds:
- Open Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off
- Scroll down to Microsoft Print to PDF
- Check the box, click OK
- Restart if prompted
If that doesn’t work, open PowerShell as Administrator and run:
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Printing-PrintToPDFServices-FeaturesI had to do this on a clean Windows 11 install last month. Took under a minute.
Limitations to know about
Microsoft Print to PDF does the job, but it strips hyperlinks. Every link in your document becomes plain text in the output PDF. If you need clickable links preserved, skip down to the PDFCreator or LibreOffice sections below. The built-in option also doesn’t support password protection or merging multiple documents into one PDF.
How to Print to PDF on Mac (macOS)
macOS handles this more elegantly than Windows, honestly. Apple baked PDF support deep into the operating system back in 2001 with Mac OS X, and it shows.
Step-by-step
- Open your document in any application
- Go to File > Print (or press Command + P)
- Click the PDF dropdown in the bottom-left corner of the Print dialog
- Select Save as PDF
- Choose your save location and filename
- Click Save
The PDF dropdown has more options than you’d expect
That little PDF button hides some useful stuff. You can “Save PDF to iCloud Drive” for automatic cloud backup, “Mail PDF” to attach it to an email directly, or “Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder” if you’re archiving purchases. I use the Web Receipts option constantly for tax-related stuff – it dumps everything into ~/Documents/Web Receipts automatically.
Unlike Windows, macOS partially preserves hyperlinks when printing to PDF from apps like Safari and Pages. Not perfectly – some complex link structures break – but basic URL links usually survive.
How to Print to PDF in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox
Every major browser can save web pages as PDF. This is the fastest method when you’re already looking at what you want to capture.
Chrome and Edge (same engine, same steps)
- Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Command + P (Mac)
- Set Destination to Save as PDF
- Adjust layout (portrait/landscape), page range, and scale
- Toggle “Background graphics” on if you want colors and images
- Click Save
Pro tip: the “More settings” section lets you change margins and scale. Setting scale to 80% sometimes prevents content from getting cut off on wide pages. I use this for printing Jira boards and Google Sheets that overflow the default page width.
Firefox
Same basic process, but Firefox’s print preview is different. Press Ctrl+P, and you’ll see a simplified preview. Click “Save to PDF” instead of selecting a printer. Firefox does a better job than Chrome at preserving page layouts for text-heavy sites. Worse for complex layouts with lots of CSS.
Browser extension alternative: GoFullPage
Regular Print to PDF in browsers sometimes splits content badly across pages, cutting tables or images in half. GoFullPage (free Chrome extension) captures the entire page as one continuous image, then exports it as PDF. The output file is larger, but nothing gets chopped. Useful for capturing long web pages, dashboards, or social media threads.
Best Free Print to PDF Software for Windows
The built-in Microsoft option works, but it’s bare-bones. If you need password protection, watermarks, batch printing, or hyperlink preservation, these free tools are worth installing.
1. Bullzip PDF Printer
I’ve been using Bullzip since 2018 and it’s still my go-to recommendation for Windows power users.
It installs as a virtual printer, so it works everywhere the built-in option does. The difference: after you “print,” a settings dialog pops up where you can add passwords, watermarks, merge with existing PDFs, adjust quality, and set metadata like author and title. You can also configure it to auto-save to a specific folder with a naming template – useful if you’re processing invoices or receipts regularly.
What I like:
- Password protection (both open password and edit-restriction password)
- Append pages to existing PDF files
- Custom watermarks with text or images
- Auto-save with folder rules and filename templates
- Output to PDF/A for archival compliance
Downsides:
- The installer bundles GhostScript (necessary but adds ~60MB)
- UI looks like it was designed in 2010
- Free for personal and commercial use up to 10 users, then it’s paid
Download: bullzip.com – 62MB installer, Windows 7 through 11.
2. PDFCreator
PDFCreator from pdfforge does everything Bullzip does plus a few extras. The standout feature: it can preserve hyperlinks from certain applications. Not universally – it depends on how the source app sends print data – but it works reliably with Microsoft Office documents.
The auto-save profiles are more flexible than Bullzip’s. You can create different profiles for different workflows (one for invoices that auto-names by date, another for contracts that prompts for a filename, etc.) and switch between them per print job.
What I like:
- Hyperlink preservation from Office apps
- Multiple printer profiles for different workflows
- COM interface for automation (developers will appreciate this)
- Can output to PDF/A, PDF/X, PNG, JPEG, and TIFF
Downsides:
- Free version shows an ad window during installation
- Some features locked to the paid Professional tier ($16.90/year)
- Heavier install than Bullzip at ~90MB
3. doPDF
If you want the smallest possible footprint, doPDF is 5MB installed. That’s it. No GhostScript dependency, no background services eating RAM.
It does exactly one thing: turn your Print command into a PDF file. No watermarks, no merging, no batch operations. For people who just want something lighter than the Microsoft built-in (which occasionally produces oversized files), doPDF compresses output better while keeping text sharp.
I tested the same 47-page Word document with Microsoft Print to PDF (2.8MB output) and doPDF (1.9MB output). Same visual quality. The compression difference adds up if you’re emailing a lot of PDFs.
4. CutePDF Writer
CutePDF has been around since the early 2000s. It’s not flashy, it doesn’t get updates often, but it works. The free Writer version creates PDFs from any printable document. If you also install the free CutePDF Editor alongside it, you get basic editing capabilities – rearrange pages, add headers/footers, extract pages.
One thing CutePDF does well: it handles unusual paper sizes without complaining. If you’re printing engineering drawings, architectural plans, or custom-sized labels, CutePDF handles non-standard dimensions better than most free alternatives.
How to Print to PDF on iPhone and iPad
Apple doesn’t label it “Print to PDF” but the functionality is there, hidden behind a gesture most people don’t know about.
Method 1: The pinch-to-zoom trick
- Open the document, web page, or email
- Tap the Share button (square with arrow)
- Scroll down and tap Print
- On the print preview, pinch outward (zoom in) on the page thumbnail with two fingers
- The preview expands into a full PDF view
- Tap Share again to save to Files, send via email, or AirDrop
This works in virtually every app. Safari, Mail, Notes, Photos, Pages – if it shows up in the print preview, you can turn it into a PDF this way.
Method 2: Shortcuts app (iOS 15+)
For repeated use, create a Shortcut with the “Make PDF” action. Then you can trigger it from the Share menu without going through the Print dialog. Saves about 4 taps per conversion. I set this up on my phone and use it probably twice a week for receipts.
How to Print to PDF on Android
Android added native PDF printing in version 4.4 (KitKat). If your phone was made after 2014, you have this.
Step-by-step
- Open the document or web page
- Tap the three-dot menu > Share or Print
- If you see Share first, look for a Print option in the share sheet
- In the Print preview, tap the dropdown at the top and select Save as PDF
- Tap the PDF icon (download button) to save
On Samsung phones, there’s also a “Save as PDF” option directly in the Share menu for some apps. Samsung’s implementation is slightly better – it preserves formatting more accurately than stock Android in my testing across a Galaxy S24 and a Pixel 8.
How to Print to PDF on Linux
Most Linux distributions include CUPS-PDF or a similar virtual printer out of the box. Ubuntu, Fedora, and Mint all handle this natively.
If it’s not already set up
sudo apt install printer-driver-cups-pdfAfter installation, “PDF” appears as a printer option in any application. Output files land in ~/PDF/ by default. You can change the output directory in /etc/cups/cups-pdf.conf.
LibreOffice on Linux also has a direct “Export as PDF” option (File > Export as PDF) that gives you more control – compression level, image quality, PDF/A compliance, encryption. For office documents, this is better than the print route.
How to Print to PDF Online (No Software)
Sometimes you’re on a shared computer or a Chromebook where you can’t install software. These browser-based tools work without any download.
Smallpdf
Smallpdf’s converter handles Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image files. Upload your file, it converts to PDF, you download the result. The free tier allows 2 operations per day. Quality is consistently good – I’ve never had layout issues with standard office documents.
For more PDF tools beyond printing, see our guide to the best free PDF editors that cover editing, merging, and annotation.
Google Docs
If your document is already in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides: File > Download > PDF Document. Done. This preserves formatting well for simple documents. Complex spreadsheets with charts sometimes lose alignment, though.
Web-based converters for specific formats
If you need to convert specific file types to PDF, we’ve covered the most common ones:
- How to convert Word to PDF free
- How to convert Excel to PDF free
- How to convert images to PDF free
- How to convert PowerPoint to PDF free
Print to PDF vs Save as PDF vs Export to PDF
These three options look similar but produce different results. Picking the wrong one can cause real problems.
| Feature | Print to PDF | Save as PDF | Export to PDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyperlinks preserved | Usually no | Yes | Yes |
| Bookmarks/TOC | No | Sometimes | Yes (configurable) |
| Form fields | Flattened | Sometimes preserved | Configurable |
| File size | Usually smaller | Medium | Configurable |
| Accessibility tags | No | Sometimes | Yes (if enabled) |
| Works in any app | Yes | Only if app supports it | Only if app supports it |
When to use Print to PDF: you want a visual snapshot of exactly what would come out of a physical printer. Great for archiving, receipts, screenshots of web pages. Doesn’t matter if links are lost.
When to use Save/Export as PDF: the document needs to remain interactive. Legal contracts with clickable cross-references, reports with a working table of contents, forms that people need to fill out digitally.
Here’s the thing – if you’re sending a PDF to someone who just needs to read it, Print to PDF is fine. If the recipient needs to interact with the document (click links, fill forms, use bookmarks), use Export to PDF from the source application.
Troubleshooting Common Print to PDF Problems
PDF file is way too large
The Microsoft built-in printer doesn’t compress images aggressively. A document with photos can balloon to 50-100MB as a PDF. Two fixes:
- Use doPDF or Bullzip instead – both compress better by default
- After creating the PDF, compress it with a free tool (Smallpdf, ILovePDF, or our guide on how to compress PDF files)
Text appears blurry or pixelated
This usually means the source application rendered text as images instead of vector text during printing. It’s common with some older applications and certain web pages. Try:
- Using a higher DPI setting (600 DPI instead of 300)
- If it’s a web page, use the browser’s built-in Save as PDF instead of the OS-level Print to PDF
- If it’s a Word document, use File > Save As > PDF instead of printing
Pages are cut off or margins are wrong
Check the paper size setting in the Print dialog. If your document is Letter size but the printer is set to A4 (or vice versa), content gets clipped. Also verify the scaling – 100% scale on a wide document will chop off the right side. Drop to 90% or 85% and see if everything fits.
Fonts look different in the PDF
Some fonts don’t embed properly during Print to PDF. The output substitutes a similar font, which changes spacing and appearance. This is more common on Windows than macOS. Solutions:
- Use standard fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri) for important documents
- Use Export to PDF from the source app, which typically embeds fonts correctly
- Install the font on any computer where you’ll view the PDF
FAQ
Is printing to PDF really free on Windows and Mac?
Yes. Both Windows 10/11 and macOS have built-in Print to PDF functionality at no cost. Windows includes Microsoft Print to PDF as a default printer, and macOS lets you save any document as PDF through the Print dialog. No third-party software needed for basic use.
What is the difference between Save as PDF and Print to PDF?
Save as PDF converts the file directly using the application’s export function, preserving interactive elements like hyperlinks and bookmarks. Print to PDF sends the document through a virtual printer driver, which creates a flat PDF that looks exactly like the printed version but may lose clickable links and form fields.
Can I print to PDF on my phone?
Yes. On iPhone/iPad, use the Share menu and select Print, then pinch-to-zoom on the preview to create a PDF. On Android, go to Print from the Share or More menu, select Save as PDF as the printer, and tap the save button. Both methods work with any app that supports printing.
Why is my Print to PDF option missing in Windows?
The Microsoft Print to PDF feature may be disabled. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off, find Microsoft Print to PDF in the list, check the box, and click OK. If it still doesn’t appear, open PowerShell as Administrator and enable the feature through the command line.
How do I print multiple files into one PDF?
The built-in Print to PDF creates one PDF per print job. To combine multiple files, print each to PDF separately, then use a free tool like PDFsam, Smallpdf, or ILovePDF to merge them. Alternatively, tools like Bullzip or PDFCreator let you append pages to an existing PDF during the print process. Check our guide on how to combine PDF files for free for detailed steps.