How to Save a Webpage as PDF in Chrome (2 Ways)

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Summary

Chrome can save a webpage as a searchable-text PDF via Ctrl+P or ⌘+P by choosing Save as PDF and adjusting layout, paper size, scale, and background graphics. That built-in print flow works for simple pages with good print stylesheets, but it can miss lazy-loaded images, hide wanted sections, clip wide tables, or capture only part of a scrollable container because Chrome reflows the page for paper instead of capturing the screen. PageSaver handles those cases by scrolling and capturing the rendered page, keeping links clickable, offering Reader Mode for clean article-only PDFs, and saving full-page PNGs, though normal captures are image-based so their text is not selectable. Use Ctrl+P for straightforward pages where searchable text matters, PageSaver for long or problematic pages, and Reader Mode for clean readable copies, with Single Page versus Multi-Page and quality settings chosen based on screen reading versus printing.

Chrome can already save any webpage as a PDF, no extension needed. Press Ctrl+P (⌘+P on a Mac), set Destination to Save as PDF, and click Save. For a short, simple page, that's honestly all you need.

It gets harder when the page is long, loads its images as you scroll, or looks nothing like the screen once it's "printed". This guide covers both ways: Chrome's built-in one, and PageSaver, the free extension we make here at PixelsTech for the pages where printing falls short.

Save a webpage as PDF with Chrome's print dialog

This works in Chrome on any computer, and it's the method Google's own help page describes for printing:

  1. Open the page you want to save.
  2. Press Ctrl+P (Windows, Linux) or ⌘+P (Mac). You can also use File > Print.
  3. Next to Destination, choose Save as PDF.
  4. If the page is wide, set Layout to Landscape. Under More settings you'll find Paper size, Scale and Background graphics.
  5. Click Save and pick a folder.

The PDF you get has real text, so you can search it and copy from it. That's the main thing printing does better than a screenshot-based tool.

When printing to PDF is good enough

For news articles, recipes, receipts, booking confirmations and documentation pages, Ctrl+P usually does a fine job. Many of these sites ship a print stylesheet, which is a set of rules that only applies when the page is printed or saved as PDF. A good one hides the menus and ads for you.

If the preview on the right of the print dialog looks right, save it and you're done.

Where printing a webpage to PDF goes wrong

Printing doesn't take a picture of what you see. Chrome lays the page out again for paper, and that's where the surprises come from:

  • Blank spaces where images should be. Many pages only load an image when you scroll near it. This is called lazy loading. Print before scrolling, and those images were never loaded.
  • Missing parts of the page. The same print stylesheet that hides ads can also hide things you wanted, like a sidebar or a comment section.
  • Text cut off on the right. Wide tables and code blocks don't always fit on a portrait page.
  • Only part of a long chat or web app. Some sites scroll inside a box rather than scrolling the whole page. Printing often gets just the part that fits in that box.

Some of these have quick fixes inside the print dialog: scroll to the bottom first, turn on Background graphics, or switch to Landscape. The last one usually doesn't. That's the case where a capture tool earns its place.

Save the page with PageSaver instead

Install PageSaver from the Chrome Web Store, open the page, and click the PageSaver icon in the toolbar. You'll see a few choices:

  • Save as PDF saves the page the way it looks on your screen. PageSaver scrolls through it from top to bottom while capturing, so images that load on scroll get loaded, and links in the PDF stay clickable. It also looks for content that scrolls inside its own box, which is where printing usually gives up.
  • Save as PDF (Reader Mode) saves just the article: headings, text and images, without ads, menus or sidebars. It needs a free PixelsTech account, and it's the one to pick for anything you plan to read later.
  • Save as Image saves the whole page as one tall PNG.

The same options are on the right-click menu, so you don't have to open the toolbar.

One trade-off to know about: a normal Save as PDF is made from images of the page, so you can't select or search the text in it. If you need to copy text out later, use Reader Mode, or Chrome's print dialog.

One long page, or normal pages?

In PageSaver's settings, PDF Page Mode decides how the page is laid out. Single Page, the default, keeps the whole webpage as one long page, just like scrolling it on screen, which is best for reading on a screen. Multi-Page splits it into regular pages, which is what you want if you plan to print it on paper.

PDF Quality is in the same place. High quality keeps small text sharp but makes bigger files. If a PDF ends up too large to email or upload, here's why PDFs get big and how to shrink them.

PageSaver is free to install and comes with a monthly allowance of free saves. Saving a page as Markdown is always free.

Which one should you use?

For a simple page where you want searchable text, use Ctrl+P. For a long page, a page full of lazy-loaded images, a chat, or anything where the print preview looks wrong, use PageSaver's Save as PDF. And for an article you want to keep and actually read again, Save as PDF (Reader Mode) gives you the cleanest copy.

If you try PageSaver and a page doesn't save the way you expect, use Report Issue in the right-click menu. That's how most of our fixes start.

CHROME BROWSER EXTENSION PAGESAVER SAVE AS PDF WEBPAGE TO PDF PRINT TO PDF

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