ChatGPT conversations contain valuable information — research, code solutions, brainstorming sessions, step-by-step instructions. But OpenAI does not provide a native PDF export feature. Here is how to save your conversations as clean, readable documents.
Free — 3 PDFs per month. No credit card required.
Three methods, from simplest to most reliable.
The fastest way to get a ChatGPT conversation into PDF format is to use your browser's built-in print function.
The problem: This captures ChatGPT's entire interface — the sidebar with your conversation history, the model selector dropdown, the message input box, and all the interactive controls. The conversation content you want is buried in the middle of several pages of UI chrome.
ChatGPT's share feature creates a public link to your conversation. The shared view is cleaner than the main interface and prints better.
Trade-off: The shared view is cleaner, but the conversation is now publicly accessible via the link. You can delete the share link afterward, but anyone who accessed it before deletion will have seen the content. This method also does not work for conversations you want to keep private.
For the most control over formatting, you can copy the conversation content and paste it into a document editor.
Trade-off: This gives you the most control but is also the most time-consuming. Code blocks often lose their formatting when copied, and you need to manually clean up the pasted content. For a single important conversation it might be worth the effort; for regular use it is impractical.
Every method has the same core frustrations.
Browser print captures ChatGPT's entire interface — the conversation history sidebar, model selector, message input box, and all interactive controls. The conversation you want is a fraction of the total output.
Code blocks in ChatGPT conversations often extend beyond the print margin. Long lines of code are clipped at the page edge instead of wrapping, making the output unusable for code-heavy conversations.
The left sidebar showing your complete conversation history is captured in the print output. There is no way to collapse or hide it before printing — it adds 1-2 pages of irrelevant content to every PDF.
The share-link method produces cleaner output, but it makes your conversation publicly accessible. For sensitive, proprietary, or personal conversations, sharing is not an option.
ChatGPT's dark theme produces PDFs with large areas of black or dark gray background, which wastes printer ink and looks odd on screen. Light mode looks better printed but has inconsistent styling in the PDF output.
Extract just the conversation. Apply a professional template. Three clicks.
Navigate to the conversation you want to export at chat.openai.com in Chrome. No need to create a share link or change any settings.
The extension extracts just the conversation content — your messages and ChatGPT's responses — while removing the sidebar, input box, model selector, and all interface elements.
Pick a template — Dark Mode is especially good for code-heavy conversations, with JetBrains Mono font and proper line wrapping. Click Generate PDF and download your clean document.
| Feature | Browser Print / Share | Pretty PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Steps required | 5-8 steps | 3 clicks |
| Sidebar removal | Included in output | Automatic |
| Code block formatting | Clipped at margins | Wrapped with monospace fonts |
| Templates | None | 5 professional templates |
| Conversation focus | Includes all UI chrome | Extracts conversation only |
Free — 3 PDFs per month. No credit card required.
Install Free Extension