Convert Apple Mail emails to PDF
Apple Mail can export both single messages and entire mailboxes, but macOS makes the good options easy to miss. File → Save As with "Raw Message Source" produces a true RFC 5322 file (an .eml in all but extension); Mailbox → Export Mailbox… writes an .mbox package containing the folder's full archive. Both preserve the original headers — unlike Mail's PDF export, which prints the display view and discards the routing information.
Drop either export into this converter: each message becomes a transcript-style PDF with the labeled header block, body text and attachment manifest. The .mbox route is the one to use for anything bigger than a handful of messages — one export, one drag, and the full version merges the entire mailbox into a single chronological, Bates-numberable PDF.
Everything runs in Safari (or any browser) locally. For messages headed into a dispute file, that means your mail never leaves the Mac.
Open the converter — free, no upload
Exporting from Apple Mail
- Single message: select it → File → Save As → format "Raw Message Source" → saves as .eml.
- Whole mailbox: select the mailbox in the sidebar → Mailbox menu → Export Mailbox… → choose a destination. Inside the exported folder is an mbox file.
- Quick alternative: drag a message from the list to the desktop (saves as .eml on modern macOS).
Questions
The export gave me a folder, not a file. Where's the mbox?
Apple exports a package directory; inside it is a file literally named "mbox". Drop that file into the converter — it parses fine without an extension.
Why not use Mail's built-in Export as PDF?
It prints what's on screen: abbreviated headers, no Message-ID, no attachment record. Converting the raw source keeps the verifiable parts.