Your lawyer asks for an email you received, and your reflex is to forward it. That is the worst way to hand it over. A forward creates a new message that no longer shows what you received, and the other side can challenge every document that comes from it.
This article gives the method, mailbox by mailbox, to give your lawyer an email and its attachments in a form that can be used in proceedings.
Version française : Comment envoyer un email à son avocat : en PDF, jamais en transfert.
In short
When your lawyer asks for an email you received, do not forward it. Save it as a PDF and send the PDF as an attachment in a new email. One email, one PDF.
A forwarded email is a new message that rewrites the original. A PDF keeps the message as it appears in your mailbox.
The same rule applies to attachments: download them from the original email, never from a forward, and send them as separate files.
Why forwarding is the wrong reflex
Forwarding feels like the obvious way to hand over an email. It is the worst one for a dispute.
A forward creates a new message. Depending on your email software, the original header (sender, recipients, date and time) can be reformatted, shortened or replaced by the date of the forward. Attachments may be dropped or detached. The layout is often altered, and quoted text can be cut.
Your lawyer then receives a document that no longer shows what you received. In a dispute, the other side will point at every gap.
A forwarded email is a copy of a copy. A court wants the original, or the closest thing to it.
Why a PDF is better
A PDF export captures the message as it is displayed in your mailbox. Sender, recipients, date, time, subject and body are frozen in a single file.
That file can be numbered, listed in an exhibit index and filed with the court without being reprocessed. In French proceedings, a party who relies on a document must communicate it to the other side (article 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure), and a clean, complete PDF makes that step straightforward.
The limit: a PDF is not proof of authenticity
A PDF is not an absolute guarantee. A PDF can technically be edited, and a determined opponent can say that yours was.
It remains far more reliable and far more practical than a forward. If an email is truly decisive and its authenticity is likely to be contested, tell your lawyer. A report by a court bailiff (commissaire de justice) recording the email directly in your mailbox is the stronger tool, and it is worth arranging before the message disappears or the account is closed.
Do not delete the original email, whatever you decide. Keep it in your mailbox.
How to save an email as a PDF
The principle is the same everywhere: use the email’s own Print command, then choose "Save as PDF" instead of a physical printer. Nothing is printed on paper.
Find your email service or app below. Menus change from one version to another, so if a label differs slightly, look for the Print command and the "Save as PDF" option.
Webmail in a browser (Windows or Mac)
For every webmail service, the last step happens in your browser’s print window. The wording depends on the browser and the computer:
- In Chrome and Edge, set the destination to "Save as PDF".
- On Windows, some print windows list a printer called "Microsoft Print to PDF". Select it and click Print: a window then asks where to save the file.
- In Safari on a Mac, open the "PDF" menu at the bottom left of the print window and choose "Save as PDF".
Gmail. Open the email, click the three dots at the top right of the message, choose Print, then select "Save as PDF" as the destination, click Save, name the file and save it.
Outlook.com and Outlook on the web. Open the email and use the Print command (the three dots menu, or the printer icon in the toolbar), then choose "Save as PDF" and Save.
Yahoo Mail. Open the email, click the three dots in the toolbar, choose Print (or press Ctrl+P on Windows, Command+P on a Mac), then select "Save as PDF" and Save.
iCloud Mail (icloud.com). Open the email, click More, choose Print, then select "Save as PDF" in the print window.
AOL Mail. Open the email and click the Print icon. A window opens showing the message. Click the Print icon again, as AOL’s own help page describes, then select "Save as PDF" in your browser’s print window and click Save. Follow AOL’s Print icon rather than pressing Ctrl+P on the mailbox page, so that the PDF is made from the message view.
Outlook on a computer
New Outlook for Windows. Open the message, select More actions, Print, Print. In the Printer list, select "Microsoft Print to PDF", click Print, then choose a folder, type a file name and click Save. Microsoft notes that the new Outlook does not offer PDF among its "Save as" types, so this print route is the way to do it.
Classic Outlook for Windows. Open the message, click File, then Print. In the Printer list, select "Microsoft Print to PDF", click Print, then choose a save location, type a file name and click Save. Microsoft states that no actual printing is required.
Outlook for Mac. Open the email and choose File, then Print. Open the "PDF" menu at the bottom left of the print window, choose "Save as PDF", type a file name, choose the folder and click Save.
Apple Mail on a Mac
Select the message, click File in the menu bar and choose "Export as PDF". Pick a destination and click Save. The classic route also works: File, Print, then the "PDF" menu at the bottom left of the print window, then "Save as PDF".
On an iPhone or iPad
Mail app. Open the email, tap the reply (arrow) icon, swipe up and tap Print. In the print preview, spread two fingers apart on the thumbnail of the first page: the preview turns into a PDF. Tap the Share icon, then "Save to Files", choose a folder and tap Save.
Gmail and Outlook apps. Open the email and tap the three dots at the top. In Gmail, tap Print; in Outlook, tap "Print Conversation". Then use the same two-finger gesture on the preview, tap Share and choose "Save to Files".
On an Android phone or tablet
Gmail app. Open the email, tap the three dots, then Print. At the top of the print screen, open the drop-down list of printers and select "Save as PDF", then tap the PDF button and choose where to save the file.
Outlook app. Open the email, tap the three dots at the top, then Print. Choose "Save as PDF" in the printer list and pick a location.
Before you send it
Check the PDF. Open it and confirm that the sender, recipients, date, time and subject are visible, and that the whole message is there. If the date or the recipients are missing in the PDF, export it again from another view or another device.
Rename the file clearly. A name that states the date, the sender and the subject saves your lawyer from guessing, for example:
2024.03.16 - Email from J. Smith - Delivery date confirmation.pdf
Attach the PDF to a new email. Do not forward the original, and do not paste the text into the body of your message.
If the email belongs to a longer exchange, export each message separately. Do not rely on a single PDF of the last message with the older ones quoted underneath: the quoted part is not the original header of the earlier messages.
If the email has attachments, download each one from the original email itself, not from a forward or from a copy someone sent you, and keep its original file name. Send the attachments as separate files in the same new email, next to the PDF of the email that carried them.
Add one line saying who sent you the email, whether it reached you directly, and how you received the attachments. Your lawyer needs it to show where each file comes from.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send a screenshot or a photo of the screen instead?
A screenshot is better than nothing and worse than a PDF. A photo is worse still. They rarely show the full header, they are hard to read when the message is long, and they cannot be searched. Use the Print command.
Can I send several emails in one PDF?
It is better not to. One email, one PDF, each with a clear file name. Your lawyer can then number and cite each email precisely.
I have a different email program. What should I do?
Look for a Print command in the message menu, then choose "Save as PDF" or "Microsoft Print to PDF" as the printer. If you cannot find it, tell your lawyer which program you use rather than forwarding the email.
Why can’t I just forward the attachments?
A forwarded attachment is a copy of a copy. The forward does not show which files were attached to the original email, nor whether a file was added later. If the other side or the court asks where a document comes from, your lawyer would have no answer. The email as a PDF, with its attachments downloaded from it, answers that question.
Should I still keep the original email?
Yes. Keep it in your mailbox, untouched. It remains your best answer if the PDF is ever challenged.
In summary
Never forward an email that may become evidence. Print it to PDF from the email itself, name the file clearly, and attach it to a new message addressed to your lawyer.
Valentin Simonnet is a lawyer at the Paris Bar. He practises business litigation and white-collar criminal defence.
