How to embed a PDF in an email

By Nick Pears ·

You can't put a live, multi-page PDF inside the body of an email: none of Gmail, Outlook or Apple Mail documents a way to show one there. What works in every mail app is a picture of the first page, placed in the email and linked to the PDF, so a click opens the whole document.

For the link, you can turn the PDF into a link that opens in the reader's browser with nothing to download. We make EveryPage. Every step below for Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail comes from that mail app's own help page, checked in October 2026.

Why a PDF can't sit inside an email

Mail apps show attachments in their own area or open them in a preview; none of them documents a way to show a scrollable PDF in the message itself. The closest is Apple Mail on a Mac: "images or one-page PDF documents" are displayed directly in the message (Apple Support). Apple's help doesn't say what Mail does with a longer PDF.

The HTML tricks a web page uses don't carry over either. The <object> tag that can embed a file on a website is not supported in Gmail, Outlook for Windows or Outlook.com (Can I email). And Outlook's attachment preview is still a preview of an attachment: classic Outlook shows an error instead of a PDF preview unless Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed (Microsoft Support).

The method: a picture of page 1 that opens the PDF

1. Get a link to the PDF

Upload the PDF to PDF to link and copy the link; no account is needed. The reader taps it and the PDF opens in their browser, page by page. Without an account the link lasts 7 days; a free account keeps it working until you choose to end it and shows how many times it was opened. A Google Drive or OneDrive share link works too.

Step 1, turning a PDF into a link, in 60 seconds.

2. Make a picture of page 1

  • On a Mac: open the PDF in Preview, choose File > Export and pick PNG or JPEG from the Format menu (Preview Help). Check the image shows the page you want.
  • On Windows: open the PDF, press Windows + Shift + S and drag a rectangle around the first page. Snipping Tool saves the snip to your Screenshots folder (Microsoft Support).
  • With Adobe Acrobat: choose Convert, then Image format, and pick JPEG or PNG (Adobe Help).

3. Put the picture in the email and link it

  • Gmail: drag the image into the compose window (Gmail Help). Then type a line under it such as "Read the full PDF", select it, press Ctrl + K, paste the link and click Apply (Gmail Help).
  • Outlook (classic, Windows): Insert > Pictures to add the image, select it, then Insert > Link and paste the link (Microsoft Support). This is the one mail app whose help documents linking the picture itself.
  • New Outlook and Outlook on the web: put the cursor where the picture should go, then Insert > Pictures (Microsoft Support), and add a text link under it.
  • Apple Mail: drag the image into the message where you want it (Apple Support), then select a line of text under it and choose Edit > Add Link (Mac Help).

Gmail's, new Outlook's and Apple's help pages document links on text, not on pictures, so a text link under the image is the step that works everywhere. If your mail app lets you link the picture too, do both.

Or paste the link on its own

Outlook.com and Outlook on the web turn a pasted link into a preview with "a link title, thumbnail image, and description of the link" (Microsoft Support). An EveryPage link to a document anyone can open carries a picture of its first page for previews like this, the same one Slack or iMessage shows, so the preview may show the page and you may not need step 2. Links behind a password or an email gate show no page picture.

Or attach the PDF

An attachment is still the right choice when the reader needs to save or print the file. Gmail shows attachments at the bottom of the message (Gmail Help), and Apple Mail shows a one-page PDF inside the message. If the PDF is too big to attach, see how to send a large PDF by email.

Questions

How do I embed a PDF file?

On a web page, paste an embed code from a PDF host so the document shows in the page. An email can't hold a live PDF, so put a picture of page 1 in the email and link it to the PDF.

Can you embed a PDF in the body of an email?

Not as a live, multi-page document. Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail don't display one in the message body; Apple Mail shows a one-page PDF in place. Put a picture of page 1 in the email and link it to the PDF instead.

How do I embed a PDF with a clickable link in an email?

Get a link to the PDF, make an image of page 1, insert the image in the email and add the link. Classic Outlook lets you link the picture itself with Insert > Link. In Gmail, new Outlook and Apple Mail, add a text link such as "Read the full PDF" under the picture.

How do I embed a PDF in a Gmail email?

Drag an image of the PDF's first page into the compose window, type a line under it, select it, press Ctrl + K, paste a link to the PDF and click Apply. A link from EveryPage opens the PDF in the reader's browser; a Google Drive link works too.

Why can't I attach a PDF to an email?

Usually because it is over the size limit: 25 MB in Gmail and Outlook.com, 20 MB in iCloud Mail, and attachments grow by about a third when sent. Compress the PDF, or send a link to it instead.

Does the reader need an account to open the link?

Not with an EveryPage link, unless you add a password or an email gate: it opens in any browser with nothing to download or sign in to. With Google Drive or OneDrive links, check the sharing setting allows anyone with the link.

Related

PDF to link, sending a large PDF, and how to track a PDF sent by email.

Put the picture in the email, the PDF behind it.

Upload a PDF